MustardYellow
Well-known member
- Joined
- 24 Nov 2023
- Messages
- 1,143
I'd say I'm open minded. I'm always open to new ideas, opinions etc and quite happy to be wrong! I've changed loads of my opinions in the last 10 or so years. I've listened to lots of different arguments on both sides of the Gaza/Israel situation and I've formed my opinion based on that. As I say, I'm not that strongly invested that I'd ever do anything about my opinion (march, donate etc) but I have an opinion nonetheless. Rather than spend £75 to get the train to London on a Saturday to hold up a sign and walk around for a bit, I'd rather go out for lunch with my family, or spend the day with my girlfriend.Extremists at marches - well there's a first Like I said, it's a minority and no I haven't seen the footage, I don;t really wish to, but wouldn't condone it for one minute, just like I wouldn't condone any extremist dickhead spouting hatred. For balance, have you seen the footage of all those peaceful protestors, from both "sides" of the argument who are marching for peace and a ceasefire? Guess that doesn't get people all hot under the collar, so doesn't make such good news, even if it is equally legitimate. Have you considered that you're simply consuming the media that is being pushed to you? And maybe compare that to the fine upstanding citizens who arrived in central London a few summers ago to "protect are monuments", who turned out to be a bunch of nationalist pissed up thugs threatening violence and trying to kick off with anyone that looked like they "wanted some"?....and then there's the folk marching in protest at the "Muslamic rayguns" (at least I think that's what he said - look it up!) a few years back. The point being, there are dickheads on all sides of all arguments and it is really easy (and desirable for some "media outlets") to focus on those because it makes good copy, but in reality it distorts the truth....and makes it really easy for echo chambers to exist for "like minded people" to get ever more lost in. Protests are though becoming more and more angry as more people become entrenched and more people consume more media that confirms their beliefs or bias...and so the spiral goes on.
As Ste said, that is one bizarre comparison on the houses!
You think people think they're saviours - that's your perception, your opinion. It's how you chose to view them and maybe, just maybe, you are subconsciously doing that for some reason. Maybe because it's easier to mock/pour scorn/call them fools, than it is to admire what they are trying to do and the attention and focus they are bringing to some dire situations and human suffering, the like and magnitude of which we will probably never see in this country. Therefore it is only natural for many that as the 7th (depending on who you ask) richest nation on the planet, many see that we have the means to help those or aren't so well off in the world.
Again, not wishing to patronise, but it very much sounds like you feel you've got the world worked out at 20 and that you'll always feel the same about stuff. Good to know you're own mind and all that, but I think the majority of older denizens on these boards might beg to differ. Hopefully you've got a long innings ahead of you and you'll try to keep an open mind along the way!
When I say I don't 'care' about things, I use the word a bit loosely. There are things that I do care about and situations I can sympathise with, but I choose to not let them bother me. I prioritise other things.
I think people think they're saviours because why do they believe it's their job and responsibility to solve the worlds problems? I work with someone who spends his life fighting for 'social justice', yet he's a man in his mid 40's living in a small 4 bedroom house with 6 strangers with no kids, no girlfriend, limited contact with his family (because they cut him off because of how he treats them), self-confessed loneliness and an admitted general unhappiness about where he is in his life - what's happening in Gaza should really be the least of his concerns!