Just...WTF?

[agilebrit]

What is is about people who tear other people down? Especially in the LJ community? For heaven's sake, if you don't want to deal with someone anymore, how hard is it to ignore them? Why do you have to spread hatred and gossip? I have no idea what set off the latest thing, and I don't want to know. It's none of my business. I guess I just don't understand what it is about some people who feel the need to destroy those they disagree with, in a personal way.

Okay...I make fun of badfic. But I make fun of the fic, not the author, at least usually. And you know, if I get asked for help, I provide it--and without any snarky comments about how horrible the grammar and spelling is that I need to fix, either. Because, I thought that's what we're supposed to do for each other. Help. Not backbite, not tear down, but lift up and build.

I'm sure I'm poles apart politically from most of my friends in this community. But if someone posts something I disagree with in their LJ, I'm not going to get into a personal pissing match with them. I might point out my point of view, gently but I won't attack them personally, and I won't talk bad about them behind their backs. Because they're my friends, dammit. Granted, they're online friends whom I've never met in real life and probably never will--although I'd love to. But I never forget that there's a person on the other side of the keyboard, and I treat them the way I'd like to be treated.

Do I want someone ragging on me in my LJ? No. Therefore, I don't rag on someone else in theirs--or anyone else's either.

[deep breath] Okay. Rant over. For now.

Comments

[dragonflymuse.livejournal.com]

I don't know why this happens. It does, and it hurts my friends. Therefore it hurts me. Hurts me because my friends shut down, cut themselves off from the forum or the medium in which I first met them - the theatre where our friendships were created and started to thrive.

It's simply a useless endeavour. It's evil. It's deadly.

And it frightens me.

Re:

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

I think part of it is simple jealousy--which is why one of the Commandments is "Thou shalt not covet." Someone sees someone else doing really well at something, or achieving something spectacular, and instead of being happy for the person, they try to bring them down to their level.

And another part of it is our wonderful education system. It's all about self-esteem and building yourself up...but too many people build themselves up by tearing other people down. They have knee-jerk reactions to things, and rather than thinking it through and asking themselves WHY they had that reaction, they do and say hurtful things. All the polls nowadays ask "How do you feel about such and such an issue?" Well, you know what? I don't give a rat's ass about how you "feel." Tell me what you think. Use the damb brain God gave you; it's there for a reason.

Which may seem contradictory, because I'm reacting in an angry, emotional manner to this...but I know why I'm angry. I'm angry because people I care about are getting hurt, and I don't like it when that happens.