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Society = "Generally Healthy"?
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Society = "Generally Healthy"?
The current poll has been rattling around in my head for a while now... then I stumbled across this vid, and thought I'd share:
Granted, we have no idea what preceded this clip, but do you think the response - laughter - a sign of health? Do you think this is a typical or atypical response?
Granted, we have no idea what preceded this clip, but do you think the response - laughter - a sign of health? Do you think this is a typical or atypical response?
ankh_f_n_khonsu- Number of posts : 545
Registration date : 2008-09-15
Re: Society = "Generally Healthy"?
that's ridiculous! personally i think that being able to laugh at anything in life is an indicator of both madness and enlightenment. the highest emotional expression is laughter, and being able to seek it in all situations endows particular gifts. in this case i would say what you hear is not "laughter" in the sense that i mean in the preceding statements, but the sort of idiot gibbering that comes from fear. is this a typical response? absolutely. the popularity of "cops"-esque television programs and other sanctioned violence in america is a symptom of our drunkenness on hatred and self-loathing, this society cultivates an ultimately apathetic or openly malicious attitude towards being. evil will always appear as authoritarianism under a different name, here called "law - order". what you hear in this video is a fear that the mind opts not to process - witnessing violence only offers certitude that the threat of violence also hangs over your head; much easier to laugh at others who have been made victim than confront yourself as potential future-victim, slave to punishment/reward dualities, oppressed automaton. easier to just laugh than to expose your own powerlessness, yes?
another thing, i live in pittsburgh, i don't know if you cats are hip to the whole political scene but the g-20 just bum-rushed the city with 4000 out of town police officers and national guardsmen. if this video made an impression on you as being an unjustified show of force, consider that pittsburgh, last week, became the first place outside of russia where a sonic weapon has ever been used on civilians. an increasingly militaristic authority will always result in an increasingly ignorant population. ignorance in turn breeds more fear. the self-destructive impulse of ego-afflicted mankind plays out to the logical extreme and we are left with bleak aftermath...just try to keep your wits and humor about you! afterall, nothing's so bad you can't find something to laugh at in it
another thing, i live in pittsburgh, i don't know if you cats are hip to the whole political scene but the g-20 just bum-rushed the city with 4000 out of town police officers and national guardsmen. if this video made an impression on you as being an unjustified show of force, consider that pittsburgh, last week, became the first place outside of russia where a sonic weapon has ever been used on civilians. an increasingly militaristic authority will always result in an increasingly ignorant population. ignorance in turn breeds more fear. the self-destructive impulse of ego-afflicted mankind plays out to the logical extreme and we are left with bleak aftermath...just try to keep your wits and humor about you! afterall, nothing's so bad you can't find something to laugh at in it
ezavan- Age : 37
Location : middle of nowhere
Number of posts : 113
Registration date : 2009-06-08
Re: Society = "Generally Healthy"?
Yeah, I religiously watch Democracy Now! - which covered the summit and protests extensively - so I'm painfully aware of "what democracy looks like". What happened in Pittsburg was a disgrace - but no surprise. I suspect it may be worse for the upcoming G-8 summit in Canada...
ankh_f_n_khonsu- Number of posts : 545
Registration date : 2008-09-15
Re: Society = "Generally Healthy"?
A few days ago, as I was walking somewhere from somewhere, I came upon an odd sight that immediately reminded me of this topic. Standing at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to turn, two semi-thuggish... homeless(?) males ("perpetrators?") approached from my left flank. The two men seemed... disturbed... very agitated, and they were focused on a single target - another male ("victim?") diagonally across the intersection. "Perpetrators?" called out to "victim?", who seemed a bit slow... "Victim?" was wearing nicer clothes (e.g., clean & white), but for all I know he was homeless or ??. Anyway, this was a very busy street, around 1 p.m., and there was construction nearby so many brawny males were passing by. But no one seemed to pay much attention to "perpetrators?" calling down "victim?". Almost immediately after calling out to "victim?", "perpetrators?" ran through oncoming traffic to bum rush "victim?". They pulled him off the street, beating and kicking him, and continued to beat him as he lay on the sidewalk. People just walked by.
Seeing this complacency, I took action, but that's not the point of my comment - it's in the response of people who saw and couldn't be bothered to help or put themselves at risk. Worse still, I was aware of several people watching, laughing, and encouraging "perpetrators?" to beat "victim?" sufficiently. These voyeurs had been on their way to ?? just minutes before, but now they were taking the time to encourage a beating.
This got me to thinking about another ... disturbing cultural trend: bumfights.
See Homelessness.Change.org for the original article:
Is all this indication of a 'healthy' society, capable of "self-authoring healthy self-soothing strategies" (as discussed in comments to the poll)?
Seeing this complacency, I took action, but that's not the point of my comment - it's in the response of people who saw and couldn't be bothered to help or put themselves at risk. Worse still, I was aware of several people watching, laughing, and encouraging "perpetrators?" to beat "victim?" sufficiently. These voyeurs had been on their way to ?? just minutes before, but now they were taking the time to encourage a beating.
This got me to thinking about another ... disturbing cultural trend: bumfights.
See Homelessness.Change.org for the original article:
Last year, more "bum fight" videos were uploaded to YouTube than ever before. Could this renewed interest in dehumanizing videos that exploit the homeless have anything to do with the recent rise in violent crimes targeting the homeless?
"Bum fights" are videos of homeless people being beaten or forced into humiliating acts. Usually, those filming (and instigating the antics) use money or alcohol to lure homeless people into participating in these schemes, often with no knowledge that they will be posted on the web.
Many "bum fight" videos fall into one of two equally-disturbing categories:
Physical violence
Examples: "Bums Fight In Street," "$20 Ass-Wooping," or "Bum vs. Dog"
Homeless people doing humiliating things
Examples: "Bum Smashes Head Into Glass" or "Desperate, Crazy Bums"
I haven't seen many of these videos myself (since I don't want to give the "filmmakers" the idea that people like their content by increasing the number of views). But I understand that the subjects of the films are often intoxicated or mentally unstable.
In other words, people who need to be helped, not humiliated.
If the nature of these videos isn't bad enough, they are rising in popularity, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. In July, nearly 86,000 degrading videos of homeless people were posted on YouTube, 15,000 more than a year earlier. And since "Bum Fights" began gaining popularity on the web in 2001, over 6.8 million videos have been sold.
You read that correctly. More people have bought "Bum Fight" videos than Mamma Mia! DVDs.
So perhaps it's no coincidence that the rise in popularity of "Bum Fight" videos has coincided with an increase in violence targeting the homeless. In 2008, 106 homeless attacks were reported, 27 of those resulting in death. Ten years ago, only 60 attacks on the homeless were reported. But, according to the NCH, incidents targeting the homeless often go unreported.
Furthermore, 95 percent of the perpetrators in these attacks are men, most of whom are white and under the age of 25. The increase in violence has brought new urgency to pass hate crime legislation for the homeless both federally and in states and cities across the country.
But the question remains: What is with the increasing fascination with Bum Fight videos?
Is all this indication of a 'healthy' society, capable of "self-authoring healthy self-soothing strategies" (as discussed in comments to the poll)?
ankh_f_n_khonsu- Number of posts : 545
Registration date : 2008-09-15
Re: Society = "Generally Healthy"?
I watched one of the Bum Fights videos just to see what all the fuss was about... and was pretty disgusted. Also of the same vein: "Bling Bling's Bling-A-Long":
Join Bling Bling in a musical tour of the Land of Bling, replete with whacked-out images you'll never forget. Billed as the world's #1 crackhead, Bling Bling is most notorious for his starring role in BUMFIGHTS, the series of ruckus videos featuring all manner of violence, crime, and pranks perpetrated by street dwellers. Love it, hate it, or just be appalled, you're certain never to forget the fare Bling Bling has on offer here.
Khephra- Age : 59
Number of posts : 897
Registration date : 2008-08-10
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