Thinking about Those Armed Protesters against Safety Precautions.

[MineralMan]

Last edited Sun May 10, 2020, 10:29 AM - Edit history (1)

The photo of that one guy yelling in the faces of Michigan State Police officers in masks made me remember something I heard way back in my high school days. Some moronic kid was being very rude to another student who had a disability. A girl I knew stepped up to him and just said, "See how you are?"

I thought at the time, "What an odd thing to say." But, the rude boy shut up and wandered off. I pretty much forgot about the incident, but those four words stuck in my mind, and made me think once in a while about why they were effective.

People who display their inability to control their behavior in public can't see how they look to others. That girl's question was designed to get the rude boy to stop and think and, just maybe, recognize how moronic and cruel his behavior was. It worked that time.

Maybe there's a way to hold up a mirror in front of those angry, rude, dangerous armed protesters. Maybe there's a way to say, "See how you are?" that forces them to see themselves as others see them.

[brewens]

1. Do these wackjobs with the guns, and others not only resisting precautions but intentionally

violating them, make you feel more comfortable about going out and doing your shopping? Me neither. How does that help these businesses those people want so desperately to reopen? That's backing up the day I might feel safe going to a bar or anything considerably.

With people being taught to make believe it's all a hoax, a guarantee you someone right now has symptoms and is telling themselves it's just a cold, and going about their business like they usually would. People like that could be entirely responsible for the virus breaking out all over again, especially after summer.

[MineralMan]

2. Of course they don't. That's not their goal, anyhow.

Such protesters are almost entirely focused on themselves and their feelings about having "freedom" or "liberty."

They absolutely do not care about anyone else's freedom or liberty. Some of the protesters think only of their right to bear arms to protect themselves from some undefined and undefinable fears. Others have convinced themselves that gays or people of color are stealing what is "rightfully theirs."

They are not rational people at all. They are simply reactive people. They are all emotions and no reason at all.

[rampartc]

4. "freedom, in the slogans of the strong,

means unlimited license to exploit the weak" will durant

[MineralMan]

5. Exactly.

[MineralMan]

3. There was an armed protest in Texas recently.

It was the usual thing, with right-wingers trying to intimidate people by bearing arms and wearing a motley collection of "tactical" clothing and gear. They were doing what all such protesters do - displaying bravado and toughness.

Until, that is, the SWAT team showed up. The protesters were very quickly convinced to put their arms down and their hands behind their backs to be cuffed. Their "bravery" was nothing of the sort. Instead, it was their fear that was on display. Their firearms and "tactical" gear were forgotten as soon as real LEOs with arms showed up.

Such people are not brave. They are cowards who are using firearms to feel brave.

See this unfold at:

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/05/07/arrests-swat-team-armed-protesters-texas-bar-owner-reopens/

[Wounded Bear]

6. Self-awareness is the first casualty of narcissism...nt

[MineralMan]

7. Yes. It comes with the territory, I think.

It may well be that narcissism is incurable. It could be that showing people their own behavior would do nothing to change that behavior in most cases.

However, the attempt needs to be made, I think. That high school girl's retort to the rude boy called out his behavior as unacceptable and invited him to examine it. The boy left his taunting of the disabled student. Was the boy changed? I don't know. Probably not, but his behavior stopped when called out.

Perhaps there is a lesson in that, but I'm not sure exactly what it is. I do know that meeting self-absorbed idiots on their own level does no good, and simply reinforces their behavior. The reason I brought up that incident was that a different approach accomplished its goal. Maybe we can think about that and find ways to turn some people's thinking back on how they appear when they do stupid things.

I don't know.

[Wounded Bear]

8. It's a pre-requisite...

I think it is curable, but probably not beyond about 5 years old. In your example, yeah, it probably didn't have a long term affect, but if it was repeated every time the kid acted like that, maybe. The older the child, the harder it is to teach them social skills.

Infants are like that, basically selfish needy brats that need constant attention. As children age, normally they are taught that not all of their wants are needs and that there are limits on what they can demand from others. Some children learn that too well and turn into meek individuals who have difficulty asking for what they need, while others never really get it and remain needy bawling brats long into adulthood. Trump is a good example.

I hate to fall back on the old RW "blame the parents" model, but there is something to the concept that children need to be taught to share and get along with others.

[MineralMan]

9. Yes. We do learn to control our wants and needs as children.

We do, at least, if we have parents to teach those things to their children. In some cases, parents never do that, for one reason or another. We sometimes see that failure to teach in public places.

Many of the narcissistic gun-toters we're seeing out there protesting have children of their own. I have to wonder what lessons those children are being taught at home. I can't imagine the lessons are good ones, somehow.

Maybe it's simply a matter of parents teaching their children to be like their parents, generation after generation.