How would it make you feel?
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by J.S. Magruder, Unknown News
whynotresist.blogsome.com
April 23, 2007, 2007
Many years ago, I witnessed what I could not have understood was evidence of an emerging phenomenon where otherwise intelligent human beings would feel not only free, but encouraged to
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abandon logic in favor of encouraging their emotions.
Sitting on the front steps of our home in a crowded city neighborhood, I was vaguely aware of my neighbor playing with her then four or five year old son on the sidewalk. The kid made a dash for the street and she noticed just in time to avoid his being hit by a car. What followed, for all of us to witness was a lecture by the mother about how horrible the driver would have felt for the rest of his life, had he run the boy over.
Come again? There was no scolding about the dangers of running in the street, threats of privileges being taken away -- simply a lecture on how it would make someone "feel bad." At the time, I chalked it up to Yuppie parenting and went inside contemplating how gentrification of my neighborhood was making me "feel."*
What I could not have known then, was the effect a couple decades of television talk shows and pop-psychology would have on American society's collective ability to employ critical thinking. It's not pretty.
I enjoy reading the comment threads at the bottom of stories in small town newspapers. Free from the editorial constraints of a letter to the editor (and the requirement of a name and city attached to authorship) the comment threads provide a disturbing view into the failures of our educational system. I'm not talking about punctuation, grammar, or anything that may be remedied with a Fowlers or a copy of Strunk and White.
Just about any day, one may log-on and read comment threads where a poster will chide another with the argument ending;
"How would you feel if ... ?"
This is most often applied in cases where the public does not feel that adequate "justice" has been meted out in a particular situation, though really, it could apply to just about any subject. I'm not certain if the phenomena has coincided with courts permitting "victim's statements" at sentencing from family and friends of the actual victim (six degrees of victimhood, anyone? How far out does actual, demonstrable harm extend these days? I mean harm -- not "feeling bad") or if the shift towards embracing emotions over logic helped to establish such policies. Either way, approaching issues that effect the community by how they effect our emotional well-being is not evidence of a terribly sophisticated society. How long before we resort to pillories and public stoning?
It is fascinating to read comments where the first cry is always "It's the law! They broke the law!" Then, almost invariably, the subsequent cry is for some sort of violent, vigilante justice such as castration, or some equally appalling reaction to the crime. Should anyone (and it happens) leave a comment that burying people up to their necks in excrement in the public common is perhaps not the best way to reform offenders, the comment will be met with a chorus of posts crying;
"Think about how you would feel if it were your ___________ (fill in the blank)."
Certainly, that's an argument ender. There isn't really anywhere a person can go without looking like a cold, heartless bastard after having the "how would you feel?" finger waved in their cyber face.
Sometimes, a brave poster will try to explain that the issue is not about how one feels, but will quickly be shouted down with accusations that he/she must be guilty of the "crime" which they are perceived as "defending." Think drug raids by police are out of control? You must be a drug user. Think forcing sex offenders out of city limits is a bit draconian? You must be a pedophile. Otherwise, you'd clearly be able to "think about how it would make you feel if it were YOUR child ... " and so on.
As my husband pointed out, thinking about how something would make you feel might be an interesting exercise, but one oughtn't base their actions upon it. "Winning the lottery would make me feel great -- but I wouldn't actually play, or encourage the establishment of more lotteries."
Certainly, there is a place in daily life for empathy -- I'm not about to argue that we should all become emotionless beings. I would argue though, that one's feelings ought to be corralled and placed aside in some attempt at objectivity (if that's even possible -- but for the sake of argument, let's assume a reasonable stab can be made at it whilst still acknowledging our inherent biases). Of course, acknowledge your frustrations, anger, sadness, etc. Then, (as thinking individuals are wont to do) set them aside and employ some logic.
* * As Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedy's nailed it years ago:
Your mommy told you this / And your daddy told you that / Always think like this / And never do that / You learned so many feelings / But what is there to that / Which are really yours / Or are you just a copycat / You're so boring boring boring / Always tape machine recording / You're so boring boring boring / I've heard all this before / Planless and mindless / Scraps from anywhere / Bunch of used parts / From garbage pails everywhere / Frankenstein became a monster / Just like you / Your scars only show / When someone talks to you / You're so boring boring boring / Always tape machine recording / I've heard all this before / I've heard all this before / Your emotions make you a monster
Indeed.
© by the author.
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It is fascinating to read comments where the first cry is always "It's the law! They broke the law!"
Then, almost invariably, the subsequent cry is for some sort of violent, vigilante justice such as castration, or some equally appalling reaction to the crime.
Should anyone (and it happens) leave a comment that burying people up to their necks in excrement in the public common is perhaps not the best way to reform offenders, the comment will be met with a chorus of posts crying;
"Think about how you would feel if it were your ___________ (fill in the blank)."
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There's much more than this at Unknown News.
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