Fat People are Lazy and Rich People are Greedy

Fat people are lazy, rich people are greedy, poor people are ignorant, black people are criminals, white men are corporate criminals, women are gold diggers, men are sexual deviants, Jewish people are money hungry, moms who feed their babies formula are selfish, moms who breastfeed are over protective, ugly women are desparate, attractive women are promiscuous, republicans are heartless, democrats are foolhearted and weak, gay people are perverted, Christians are judgemental, health fanatics are self-absorbed, red haired people have no souls, and cats don't care about anything.

I was watching a show last night about a floating condo called, "The World."  The World is a 12 story floating condo where millionaires can actually live.  It's a ship that travels the world and it bares a price tag of several million dollars, not to mention the management fees wich are upwards of 100k per year.  The ship has it's own television broadcast channel on which residents can address issues relating to their lifestyle. 

In the show I watched, I heard the interviewee explaining the dillema of afluenza.  What?  She started talking about the social concerns and social stigmas attached to being so affluent.  My first initial thought was, "Give me a break, Lady.  Tell that to the local family where the husband is working two jobs, the wife is working a full time job while going to school, raising three kids, and volunteering at the school and THAT family makes less per year then this rich lady makes in interest in one week.  It dawned on me that I was being quite judgemental at that moment.

I assumed that the rich have no clue what it means to struggle in what I would call "the real world," where a college education is new territory, transportation is something that happens only for necessary reasons, school clothes are procured from the Salvation Army, or Wal-Mart, or other family members.  As I watched the scene of this ship condo unfold (I would love to live on it), I saw tennis courts, grand movie theaters, buffet restaraunts where you don't even have to get your own food, and the coolest ever drop-down deck that makes any port a portable shore line for residents, I realized that the affluent have to work really hard to entertain themselves. 

Isn't that what we'd all want?  We work hard not to work, and what would happen if a not-so-rich gal like myself suddenly happened on some idea that took off financial.  I'd freakin' invest the profit!  Then what?  What if I ended up a multi-millionaire?  Not only would I want to live on that awesome boat, but I'd be slowly incurring expenses on my journey toward wealth.  I couldn't just give it all away, or I'd end up right where I am right now. 

So, my notions that there aren't any problems facing the hugely affluent are a result of our societal desire to discriminate against others.  Read most news articles and watch the hatred trickle down the comments.  When we assume the worst in humanity, it festers in us too.  We can't progress, nor can we ease up and let others move toward the greatness that is inherent in all of us, despite our prpensity for making mistakes.

Realistically, if we only loved those who actually were perfect, we'd all be pretty lonely beings.  That being said, yeah, we all make mistakes, but just because someone is a certain way, we can't possibly think we are so omnicient to know we have them all figured out (like, you know, thinking really affluent people are whiney or greedy or heartless). 

We tend to put big major, all-encompassing labels on people who have a singular symptom of something.  If you're fat, you're lazy.  Even if you work 60 hours a week, volunteer for Habitat for Humanity on the weekends, write songs at night, walk a mile a day while studying for your master's degree, and read books while you poo.  The fact that you're overweight is a sign that you're lazier then someone who is not.  That's how many see it.  Even if the thin person who watches what he eats doesn't have fits of freak-out-ed-ness because he has to try desparately hard not to eat a second bowl of speghetti because that mile walk inspired a whopper of a hunger signal to your hypothalamus. 

You have bad self control if you smoke.  Sure, both of your parents were chain smokers who said there was nothing wrong with smoking, that it was all a bunch of media hype created to divide society.  Sure you were technically smoke since you were a fetus because your mom never quit during her pregnancy, and the house was always so filled with smoke and nicotine you inhaled the equivalant of a pack a day even as a toddler.  Sure you've tried the patch, Wellbutrin, Chantix, cold turkey and hypnosis, but nothing has worked.  You were dared to smoke a pack at the age of 12 by a neighbor, but became addicted right away, stealing packs from your folks at that ripe age.  Now, when you buy a pack, you know very well someone's bound to give you a squished eyebrow look and tell you how disgusting a habit you have.  You are selfish, and even if you do go outside to smoke, you're a horrible parent for setting such a dreadful example to your kids.  You should be ashamed of yourself.  Just quit, you loser.

I could go on with all the examples I listed at the beginning of this blog, but why?  I'm sure there are people who will agree with these examples, and I guess I shouldn't even bother judging them.  Maybe they feel bad that they have these feelings towards others.  Maybe it started with their parents.  Who knows.

All I do know, is that most people don't want to be all the bad things they might seem to be to everyone else.  Most people, unless there truly is some sort of personality disorder, want to be good, decent people who do the right thing.  The probles is that our United States Society is so much more individual-based then social-based, and so no matter what you do, you're probably doing it wrong to some group of people.

I don't know that I have an answer for this issue.  I don't really.  What I can say is that whatever I do, I don't mean to be wrong.  I want to be right.  Have some faith and patience, and I might learn to be right.  I believe everyone's pretty much in line with that.  Or not.