Jellay Posted November 7, 2019 Report Share Posted November 7, 2019 Mind over Judgement (If you are a reader with certain sensitivities, you may find this article uncomfortable. Reader discretion advised) If you’ve lived in the city for long enough, then by now you’ve probably either been akin to hearing if not completely immersing yourself in the general public’s language and mannerisms when it comes to day-to-day life in Los Santos. How we speak, how we act, how we walk, perform, and live. Most days your general conversation is filled with laughter, jokes, general comradery. People talk about life and love and where they’ve gone to eat that day and what tomorrow will bring...on the more ‘humane’ side of the spectrum anyway. The more you listen however, the more you’re bound to hear some choice words that wouldn’t exactly fall under the category of ‘pleasant’. Especially (and unfortunately) when it comes to folk who, by the ‘unwritten and predetermined standard’ that the city’s population has deemed as acceptable in societable terms, are considered ‘different’. And in this case? Different, is equated to being ‘dangerous’ in a sense. Ever hear a woman speak with a deeper voice than most others? Ever speak to a person with certain mental ailments? Have you ever happened upon a conversation between different nationalities? Well, if you have, you know that most of the time whoever is involved in those conversations don’t particularly take a ‘friendly’ approach to them. Derogatory vocabulary is often exchanged in these conversations, an aim to generally diminish self esteem or trigger an aggressive, angry response. The reason? Most say it’s ignorance on the aggressor’s part. People either don’t understand the demographic or the reasoning behind why certain people choose to identify in a certain way, or why it is that an individual suffers or struggles from mental illnesses that are completely out of their power to control and that is what constitutes a sort of aggressive tone in conversation. It’s generally derived from the old saying that ‘people fear what they do not understand’, and from that fear do people often choose to go on the verbal (and sometimes even physical) offensive to keep their comfort zone safe and secure. Many others say the reason behind such belittling actions is an attempt at a show of power or control, bordering along the lines of ‘egomania’, believing that two genders or a healthy state of mind is the only way to function or be an acceptable part of society, and trying to exercise such a mentality over them gives them some semblance of control over people. It generally walks near the same thin line as supremacy when it comes to racism, which I know is a bit of a stretch in terms of comparison but, well, all roads lead to Rome in some cases. The myriad of reasons goes on, and on, and on, from trying to look cool in front of their friends to being mean spirited just for the sake of doing it. Regardless of the reason, there’s one thing we all need to keep in mind. Under our skin, through our bodies, only one color beats through our hearts: Red We’re all human beings at the end of the day, we all breathe and think and love and suffer just like everyone else, just like your friends and neighbors and just like me. We’re all in pain and all in love and all just trying to survive in a city rife with injustice and supremacy and corruption. Whether you’ve been paying attention or not, we as a society have been moving through a sort of social reform for nearly a decade now in concerns to some issues, and other battles have been stretching for even longer, since the 1960’s! People are choosing to identify themselves in different ways, mental illness is a topic of conversation that’s been getting more and more attention over the course of recent years, and the way we address each other as individuals and human beings is paramount to maintaining a healthy and stable society. We need to pull together, not further apart. Respect your fellow man, be courteous to your neighbor, because you never know when you’ll need to rely on them to help you in a pinch. There are forces all around us that are conspiring in the dark, people who are out there coming to hurt us and instil fear and misdirection in our hearts. The only way to keep them at bay is with each other, so the next time you think about belittling somebody just because they’re ‘different’ than you, consider how you’d feel if you were in their shoes. We’re all human people. Let’s get to acting like it. Rhea Moraine WEAZEL NEWS 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
