....which is why they use them to try to inrtimidate others.
Those who care to respect other human beings and would like other human beings to respect them act in such a way that earns respect by giving respect. Negative acts appear beget negative acts, positive acts beget positive acts.
I agree that all of our personalities and characteristics vary and there are strings of similarities that draw people together on some issues and aspects of life and living, but there are places were even those that are drawn together on many strings of issues are divergent in their thoughts.
Labels in many cases are meant to describe the extreme examples of what they describe. I often think about the use of political labels where so called "conservatives" whine about how the "liberals" are being too regulatory. In a literal sense one would describe a liberal as someone who would be glad to have everyone do as they see fit, in another sense the complaint might be that a liberal is spreading the use of rules and regulations around liberally.
I also find it interesting that many so called "conservatives", while they might be conservative about conserving "what's theirs" or at least what they feel is theirs, but act very liberally when it comes to their use of natural resources or polluting the environment. According to some, the environment and natural resources are not there to conserve for sustainable use and future generations, but there to exploit and pollute in exchange for short term profit and gain. When it comes to defense spending, is there anything conservative about it? Yet whose pet branch of government is defense, but the "conservatives"?
If one looks up what for many have long been considered deadly sins and compares them to what have long been considered virtues that oppose those sins, they are likely to find the word "liberality" in the virtues column. Would that suggest that many self described "conservatives" by their attitudes and acts and condemnation of "liberals" mean to say they have a disdain for liberality or the definition of liberality and/or liberal?
Like you Boltlady, I believe we all see, do and agree differently down a variety of lines and that there are some things that people suggest are mutually exclusive that are not as well as labels that people use that either are not accurate or used in a context which confuses their meaning with regard to what they are used to describe. "Socialism", just like "capitalism" used politically and without qualifiers, descriptors or further definers and explanation are often used by opposers of the exteme definitions to describe and demeans something that is far less extreme or far different than some want to make it sound. Socialism comes in many levels and degrees and is used to some degree in places no one would ever think, but some would use the word to conjure up images of the worst aspects of communism. The same is true of how some people use "capitalism" to conjure up imperialist cold heartless greedy calculating adding machine who have no thought or care about humanity, except what they can squeeze out of them for profit.
The reality is that a mix and balance of social responsibility and freedom to make a profit when and where one can is probably more sustainable and more beneficial to humanity in the long term than unbridaled capitalism or unchecked socialism since each extreme seem to share the same common factor of a degree of selfishness, self-centeredness, and self-interest for those that promote them. The reality is that live in societies which include other people, each thinking of themselves as important as the next on a base level and each going out and looking to satisfiy their particular needs and desires, all of which are unique overall., even if they match others in many aspect. The reality is that we cannot all simply take what we want, when we want it as there are the obvious conflicts of interest and desires we see that arise daily, even in a world population where most people understand most of what they have to do to live along side one another and that involves a lot of give and take as well as self control and respect for others in the same way they would like others to be respectful. Most people recognize and realize or were taught early on in life that at least one reason not to steal from others is that we would not like to have others steal from us.
I never liked hanging around with people who would think it was cool to be destructive or to steal, because one day I learned such people who have no respect for that of others, had no respect for me.
Whatever label or group I may fall under, I am wary of those who may be in the same group whom I see lie, cheat, steal or cause harm or destruction to others they deem to be "enemies" or opposition, because if they have no respect for any values or mores at specified times, why wouldn't they or couldn't they ignore other values to do the same to anyone within their own group?
A fair example of this might be If one spouse would leave their spouse and children to be with another person why would the person they left their spouse and children for fool themselves into thinking that person wouldn't leave them just as easily when it might possess them to do so?
I think we've perhaps seen enough evidence that no "group" of people is without members who might have lied, cheated or otherwise done something believed by most in our society to be wrong. I believe we all are equally as capable of doing something wrong as much as we are capable of doing the right thing. Some are inescapably drawn into dilemmas and situations where no matter what they do, it will be wrong, some don't seem to think about the consequences of doing anything wrong or simply are incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong. It seems most people try and make an effort to give some thought to their actions and how they might affect others (or themselves) and take some care and exert some self control or simply control over their own minds and acts as best they can with consideration to all in life that they simply cannot control, such as the act of others and acts of nature.
Parents are the primary source of teaching for humanity, they are charged, like any creature, with teaching their offspring how to survive the world they have been brought into. As life for human beings has become more complex than simply going our and procuring basic food, shelter and maybe something to cover-up from the cold as well as learning what's "out there" that is dangerous such as other animals, bodies of water, cliffs, etc etc. we have a lot more to learn about. There seems to be a practical reason for family units, whether the parents are formally married to one another really makes no difference if they are committed to one another and more improtantly to doing all the things parents do to provide basics for their children and teach their children how to survive so they can bring children of their own into the world. When childhood survival rates increase, having lots of children so that just a few would survive to procreate becomes a problem, not a solution as rapidly multiplying populations require that all the things that human need as well as expell increases with their numbers and the sum of all this activity at some point begins to knock up against ceilings of viability and sustainability.
Humans seem to have the basics of how to survive individually down, but have not appeared to have looked up from that task to learn how to teach their offspirng about the larger picture.
They've taught when you have garbage, you take it to the dump, but we haven't yet processed the thoughts and ideas that delve into human survival based on what happens when millions of people are bringing their garbage to one place and there is so much garbage because there are so many people, the garbage begins to take over space needed by humans to live.
Until parents and teachers in school alike begin to figure out how humnaity survives that, education of our offspirng will not be complete or sufficient.
Sorry for the tangent, your post got me thinking about a lot of things.
Have a GREAT day!
Knot
