Current Events > Why do a lot of Americans seem to think negatively of compassion and knowledge

(+) Yeah! (+)

There seems to be a distinct... disinterest in being compassionate and being knowledgeable. Especially in certain American populations.
In fact a lot of American pop media, for the last 20 years or so, seem to marginalize and demonize those who seek intelligence for fun

People who "care too much" are ostracized or made fun of, called "bleeding hearts" and such
Those who try to advocate for the suffering are told they are whining

Why is this?
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Another thing

Why do certain people have a problem with others bringing in their different culture to a neighborhood

Why are some certain American populations so afraid of change?
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Because change means something new, and new stuff is scary.
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Americans have an issue with knowledge despite advancing technology and medicine more than the rest of the world combined since its inception? Not to mention it is the most charitable country in the world.

Capitalism teaches you to care only for yourself and that helping others is bad.
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MARKINGRAM22 posted...

Americans have an issue with knowledge despite advancing technology and medicine more than the rest of the world combined since its inception

you're talking about America
I'm talking about Americans
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Examples, pls.
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DK9292 posted...

Examples, pls.

"nerd" is a pejorative that doesnt just apply to people who are overly pedantic
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DK9292 posted...

Examples, pls.

No universal healthcare.
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St0rmFury posted...

DK9292 posted...

Examples, pls.

No universal healthcare.

Fair enough.
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I hate the anti-intellectualism and scorning of intellectual curiosity that is prevalent among some Americans. It often really is a class thing, unfortunately. It's the working and some of the middle class that is most guilty of this.
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Sativa_Rose posted...

I hate the anti-intellectualism and scorning of intellectual curiosity that is prevalent among some Americans. It often really is a class thing, unfortunately. It's the working and some of the middle class that is most guilty of this.

sometimes it's almost as though it's in the vested interest of certain people to keep the working and middle classes thinking getting smarter is dumb
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YOUHAVENOHOPE posted...

Sativa_Rose posted...

I hate the anti-intellectualism and scorning of intellectual curiosity that is prevalent among some Americans. It often really is a class thing, unfortunately. It's the working and some of the middle class that is most guilty of this.

sometimes it's almost as though it's in the vested interest of certain people to keep the working and middle classes thinking getting smarter is dumb

Nah, I don't really buy that. It's the lack of intellectual curiosity that's the real problem. I grew up with these people and went to the same schools as them. Many of them stopped giving a shit about school by the end of 7th grade. If something was rigged against them, it was their families, not the system.
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Two parts to it.

1. The haters are insecure about their own intelligence and morality so they try to take people down a notch.

2. There's a lot of obnoxious people who claim to be smart and compassionate. Think pseudo-intellectuals and virtual signaling.
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I remember someone saying 'empathy will be the death of the west' and it was the dumbest most shitbrain thing I heard for at least a month after that.
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RoadsterUFO posted...

Its easy to seem compassionate when youre using the money of others.

It's your money, too

Everybody pays in
Everybody benefits
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YOUHAVENOHOPE posted...

It's your money, too

Everybody pays in
Everybody benefits

Not everybody wants to pay in,
There are many who don't want to pay for benefits and would rather not have them in general.
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The reality of the situation is never as black & white as you portray it.
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YOUHAVENOHOPE posted...

RoadsterUFO posted...

Its easy to seem compassionate when youre using the money of others.

It's your money, too

Everybody pays in
Everybody benefits

but who is contributing more? often it's people would would receive more than they are giving that like the system, and vice versa.

Yes, it "benefits" everyone, but it doesn't help everyone the same amount. For some people, it is worse for them. It's not surprising that people who benefit from a new systems would support it and others would be against it. Not shockingly, that's exactly why some people would prefer keeping things the way they are, while others want the change in the first place.

big science isn't as fact as lots of liberals like to think it is

statistics can be skewed

liberals like to think conservatives are arguing things like f=/=ma, but its far from that
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I have compassion, but not for the hobos who are homeless of their own accord. The crazies, fine, they cant help it and its sad. But the druggies/drunks who attack tourists in Waikiki or leave their crap on the sidewalks and cost the state millions to clean it up? I find it hard to sympathize with them.
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fuzzylittlbunny posted...

I have compassion, but not for the hobos who are homeless of their own accord. The crazies, fine, they cant help it and its sad. But the druggies/drunks who attack tourists in Waikiki or leave their crap on the sidewalks and cost the state millions to clean it up? I find it hard to sympathize with them.

your post screams that you are looking for reasons to not be compassionate
the first thoughts are people that don't deserve it
that's really negative thinking
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YOUHAVENOHOPE posted...

fuzzylittlbunny posted...

I have compassion, but not for the hobos who are homeless of their own accord. The crazies, fine, they cant help it and its sad. But the druggies/drunks who attack tourists in Waikiki or leave their crap on the sidewalks and cost the state millions to clean it up? I find it hard to sympathize with them.

your post screams that you are looking for reasons to not be compassionate
the first thoughts are people that don't deserve it
that's really negative thinking

Why is that looking for a reason to not be compassionate? Because I dont want to help people who hurt others? Helping people is one thing; helping blindly is another.

Oh wait, never mind, I now recognize who Im talking to and your mindset from other topics. I have no reason to continue this conversation.
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fuzzylittlbunny posted...

Why is that looking for a reason to not be compassionate? Because I dont want to help people who hurt others? Helping people is one thing; helping blindly is another.

it's possible to feel compassion for the homeless and criminal and not want to help them directly
I myself refuse to help individual bums unless I happen to have some pennies or something I want to get rid of
but I still feel sorry for people who get into those situations because contrary to popular belief, it's FAR easier to get into it and it'll affect some people you would never have expected it from

you're doing the thing here, the very thing im talking about
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YOUHAVENOHOPE posted...

fuzzylittlbunny posted...

Why is that looking for a reason to not be compassionate? Because I dont want to help people who hurt others? Helping people is one thing; helping blindly is another.

it's possible to feel compassion for the homeless and criminal and not want to help them directly
I myself refuse to help individual bums unless I happen to have some pennies or something I want to get rid of
but I still feel sorry for people who get into those situations because contrary to popular belief, it's FAR easier to get into it and it'll affect some people you would never have expected it from

you're doing the thing here, the very thing im talking about

Its not possible for everyone. People have different mindsets, and mine is that if you willingly cause significant harm to others with no remorse or put yourself in a bad position due to repeated bad decisions when you couldve changed that path, then you dont deserve help or compassion.

Im not looking for reasons not to be compassionate; Im just stating that I have reasons not to be.
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Also, "You're overthinking it" is common advice. People don't think enough here.

fuzzylittlbunny posted...

Im not looking for reasons not to be compassionate; Im just stating that I have reasons not to be.

But you also have reasons to be compassionate. Chief among them is not reproducing the conditions that lead others towards resentment and distrust of one another.
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"virtual" signaling? lol

8-bit_Biceps posted...

"virtual" signaling? lol

Doing something primarily for the purpose of 'signalling a virtue' to an audience for the purpose of getting cred. When people accuse others of virtue signalling, they're accusing that person of being insincere in their support of whatever it is they're supposedly virtue signaling about.
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I blame donald trump
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hollow_shrine posted...

fuzzylittlbunny posted...

Im not looking for reasons not to be compassionate; Im just stating that I have reasons not to be.

But you also have reasons to be compassionate. Chief among them is not reproducing the conditions that lead others towards resentment and distrust of one another.

Im not positive, but its my guess that the main conditions of creating violent druggies here is parenting. Locals will actually threaten their kids (eh, you like me smack you?!) and carry out those words, even in public. I dont think I would be able to erase decades of abuse with some change. But they do have free therapy at some of the homeless shelters that those people refuse to go to.

And the parents that dont abuse their kids can just be outright neglectful. I see middle schoolers out at midnight when theres a curfew of 10 IIRC.

I cant help them, but there are professionals who can; professionals who those people refuse to see.
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fuzzylittlbunny posted...

professionals who those people refuse to see.

some people can't afford the money, the time, just don't know

or some combination of the three

I feel that people really need to understand the level of destitution we're talking about here, that it exists, and that it is more pervasive and widespread than you think. people who don't know HOW to do their lives correctly because they weren't shown how and can't afford to fuck up because they don't have a support structure behind them like others

certain americans have a hard time understanding this though because support structures are not tangible things
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No, I mean theyre free. Thats why theyre helping out in homeless shelters. The homeless certainly have the time considering that they spend all day lying around parks and sidewalks, and they can certainly find them seeing as how tons of them loiter around soup kitchens which are next to shelters.

I understand that people might not know how to live their lives, and thats why those people do deserve compassion as Ive stated. But unless they were abandoned at birth, its highly unlikely that they werent taught that violence is wrong, especially if the victim is screaming in pain.

Oh yeah, and just so were clear, I dont think negatively of compassion or knowledge like your title says. My entire point is that certain people deserve compassion while others dont.
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fuzzylittlbunny posted...

The homeless certainly have the time considering that they spend all day lying around parks and sidewalks, and they can certainly find them seeing as how tons of them loiter around soup kitchens which are next to shelters.

i think you could try to understand what would make someone not want to improve their lives beyond that

drugs are one thing
laziness another
but could it be that some people just don't have hope?

humans can adjust to the most adverse situations you know
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YOUHAVENOHOPE posted...

fuzzylittlbunny posted...

The homeless certainly have the time considering that they spend all day lying around parks and sidewalks, and they can certainly find them seeing as how tons of them loiter around soup kitchens which are next to shelters.

i think you could try to understand what would make someone not want to improve their lives beyond that

drugs are one thing
laziness another
but could it be that some people just don't have hope?

humans can adjust to the most adverse situations you know

Well then, like I said multiple times before, as long as theyre not violent drunks/druggies, then they have my compassion. To lose all hope likely means that they had to have endured a lot of tragic experiences out of their control, which is why I would feel for them. But if they lost hope because theyre in jail for life for the senseless murder of a stranger, then I have no compassion.
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