29 thoughts on “A Test Of Human Decency . . . And We Passed”

  1. “We” did not pass. The Norwegians passed. I venture to guess Swedes and Danes would, too, given their medical and legal systems and cradle-to-grave security because everyone pays for the services they all take for granted will be there.

    The US of A? SOME of us would pass. Not all. Even our TV fare has gotten remarkably violent since torture (aka “enhanced interrogation”) became the norm in the last administration and the current administration hasn’t done much to fix it (I think they’re just more successful at keeping their black sites hidden).

    For instance, Scandal and The Blacklist have become horrible at showing extended scenes of torture and violence. Scandal, in particular, started out pretty good, but has continuously devolved. In both cases, the lead characters are pretty bloodthirsty and often cruel, and they know it’s all covered up by the US government because of the illegal and unconstitutional laws passed since the Bushista years. No “good guys” to the rescue. The “good guys” ARE the “bad guys” and act like psychopaths (may, indeed, BE psychopaths)…, and no one bats an eyelash. It’s presented as “normal behavior.”

    I utterly refuse to spend a penny on movies that preview with incessant violence and special effects. If there’s no plot structure, there’s no storyline and paying to watch schlock would just depress me for the wasted money and wasted time. Needless violence and/or crashes and blood and gore inserted to take up time when dialogue talking about it would serve as well by not wasting time, it would move the story along, not jolt the psyche of the viewers, and it would cost much less to make.

    In reality people are tending to act like their Hollywood Heroes and emulate their violence. Gaaaaah. Totally tasteless and tacky.

  3. This is extreme and on point:

    Or maybe you think I’m the crazy one in mentioning any of this. If that’s the case, I encourage you to look around you and see the results of what happens to people when they eat yoga mat chemicals, aspartame-laced diet sodas, synthetic food preservatives and cheap vitamins contaminated with heavy metals. Unless you are living in a complete state of denial, you can’t help but notice that humanity has become a race of near-mutants who barely have a shred of health and sanity remaining.

    A modern young man growing up today in America and living on processed foods is little more than a shadow of the strong, vibrant young men who worked the farms just three generations ago. Today’s generation of youth is pathetic, weak, academically inept and heavily pampered with their video game consoles, Ritalin drugs and air-conditioned schools with a watered-down curriculum. They’ve been dumbed down, stripped of nutrients and medicated to the point where literal zombies now walk among us.

    (Battle for humanity nearly lost). But is it true?

    The anecdote in JT’s post may or may not be an epitome or microcosm of civilization, but we can all agree that it should be.

    This is a less radical sounding rap, but on point too:

    The number 35,615 is a conservatively low number for the barbarically needless daily deaths the poorest of the poor die. If we were to add the next two leading ways the poorest of the poor die, water borne diseases and AIDS, we would be approaching a daily body count of 50,000 deaths. Yes, upwards of 50,000 people per day are needlessly dying on Earth. These deaths are dictated by the greed of a very few, and the rest of us are not changing it — or this ultimate sin wouldn’t be happening, now would it? Let us not forget that the vast majority of these needless deaths are of children 5 years of age and under. One person every 2 seconds needlessly dies from starvation, water borne diseases or AIDS.

    (Starvation Net). Want pretty or want real?

  5. Mespo, Then you are a highly functional introvert, as am I. But, after being “on” socializing @ a cocktail party, dealing w/ clients all day, I bet you need to recharge your batteries. Do loud noises bother you? Extroverts derive their energy from socializing, introverts expend their energy socializing and recharge in solitude. All hard wired shit. Introverts in our culture need to adjust to our highly extroverted paradigm. But that does not make you an extrovert. Just adaptable, which introverts are MUCH better @ doing than are extroverts.

  7. Did y’all know that this is a commercial, Where people are asked to send warm clothes to Syria? it says it at the end: Children in Syria are freezing. Please send to….(in Norwegian)
    And besides, even if this were not a commercial….
    These types of posts imply a kind of messages that lack profundity in analyzing humans on this planet. This simple mindedness of “good people” as opposed to “bad people” and that all it would take is a choice! and a “good society”…
    these sort of binary oppositions are helas way too simplistic…
    I always sound cynical don’t I. My apology, I can’t help it…
    Keith

  9. nick:

    Believe it or not I was quite the introvert as a child but I could tell it wasn’t getting me anywhere so I became quite the smart alec in response. Can’t you tell?

    I also think compassion is cultural with some intuitive overlay. Dinesh D’Souza says there’s a saying in India that the “tears of my neighbor are just water” implying that unless you are related by blood or marriage, the suffering of those around you is meaningless to you. I’m not saying that’s the prevailing attitude now but to some significant part of the culture it was.

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