| | Tell me if I am incorrect, but it looks like you used a particular scenario as a focal point to reinforce your article; specifically, those where someone has to tell someone else that they are fat, and it's their problem. Forgive my coarsness of description, I'm trying to be direct. Was there any reason you bore focus to that example? I'm just wondering how it came to you, nothing more.
You say:
There used to be a pretty sensible distinction between lashing out at someone for something he or she had no control over—race, sex, height, national origin, etc.—and matters over which the person had or could gain ample control—e. g., how well one speaks a language, how one dresses, one’s hygiene, and so forth.
Where is that distinction? Is it clear enough to be enforced? If so, who is to enforce it? This seems presumptive to me. Are their actual "standards"?
Now mind you, I am as big a fan of civility and common manners, courtesy, and so on as the next person. I find it to be a dying art. I swim in the lack of them being applied every day, down to almost a tribal level, given where my office happens to be.
I think that it is more of a problem of people engaged in self-struggle feeding off those that are already in the process of self-struggle. This entire state is very sad. It has always existed in one form or another.
The problem to me is how we speak of it, and still remain respectful to our selves when doing so. All this is very delicate. Delicate, that is, if we are coming from the basic posture of mutual respect, tolerance, forgiveness, and reverence for life. If not, of course the situation is much easier to deal with. Fuck the fatties.
Best,
rde
(Edited by Rich Engle on 10/08, 12:33pm)
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