Will Smith overreacted in a culture that overreacts on everything. Take this new feature in Microsoft Word, for instance. Such over-the-top engineering of sensitivity has gotten totally out of hand, and it’s an example of unintended consequences from good intentions.
Excessive sensitivity breeds hypersensitivity — and that is the poisonous atmosphere in which Will reacted.
Obviously, there are other issues going on there — but before the internet the cable clans, we lived in a very different world. Whatever their marital problems, in that world — they would not have manifested themselves by slapping a comedian in front of a worldwide audience.
How did we get here?
Understanding that is the only way we’ll ever right this ship.
[W]e must accept responsibility for a problem before we can solve it.
— M. Scott Peck
In our culture of instant offense, we ban before we think. However, banning isn’t a sign of strength or resolve, but an admission of defeat, of showing how little we have engaged with whatever the bigger issue that belies the ban.
Instead of asking or addressing the roots of violent racism in the South in 2015 — far too difficult, far too intimidating — we focus on symbols. If we take a flag down, if we remove a TV show from the schedules, it shows we are doing something. It shows our hearts are in the right places.
Elaine’s exasperation x 10 =
How impossibly stupid it is that they banned The Dukes of Hazzard
But the high five is just so stupid!
From as far back as I can remember, I loved the Land O Lakes Indian. And then they butchered the spirit of it for the sake of sensitivity.
If such measures had any chance of actually making an impact that matters — I’d gladly sacrifice my precious brand of beauty.
For those who would try to educate me by saying I don’t understand the feelings involved in the removal of monuments and wiping Indians off boxes of butter:
No, you don’t understand . . .
That’s the great conflict of my position: How to keep Montana growing — without losing that thing that makes it Montana
— Governor Perry: Yellowstone
This nation needs to be asking the same question about the soul of America — and all she’s lost in perennial pursuit of shortsighted gain.
My God — what a show!
There’s a lot to be said for the spirit of something’s true intention:
And things that were just baked into society because they were historically male-oriented.
When I took Business Law in the early 90s, it was the Reasonable Man standard. By itself, replacing “man” with “person” is not a big deal — and there are others I’m open to as well.
But like everything else along these lines, where does it end? What problems does it solve?
And at what cost?
[C]onduct is measured against a community-wide standard of reasonableness rather than turn on the subjective mental state of the defendant.
That is what matters. Just as the right to vote and who can go into a manhole is what really counts — not what you call it. Sensitivity is a good thing, but hypersensitivity — is not.
When you water things down to be politically correct, our nation’s ability to discern decreases right along with it.
Ironically creating a culture that’s increasingly more easily offended and radically irrational . . .
Across the board
The hypersensitivity illustrated throughout this site is a microcosm of how America’s gone totally out of its mind. You see your concerns through the prism of politics — while I’m looking at brands of behavior that all share similar traits.
Right and Left: It’s all Two Sides of the Same Counterfeit Coin.
For most GitHub users, this is probably old news — but it was news to me. I came across an article that mentioned it and at first, I thought it was a joke.
I should have known better, but really . . .
this nation should know better
While I agree with Jim Carrey over the “spineless” standing ovation, I hope he was exaggerating in saying he would have sued for $200 million.
I would find that lawsuit to be far more disturbing than what Will did.
He should have been booted out of the Academy (not allowed to resign), and I hope that there are additional consequences to come. But must we go out of our minds over this?
Of course — this is America
And overreacting is what we do best.
Yeah, yeah, yeah — Will’s actions were wildly inappropriate and his assault is against the law, but barfights are far worse and we celebrate those. The world is up in arms only because of the setting and the fascinating fodder it offers. He made an ass of himself, and he’ll forever be paying for it.
On a daily basis, people make an ass of themselves on social media and get applauded for it.
But we’re not concerned about that message (unless it’s about the opposition, of course). We’re only concerned with harmful messages that are literal in nature, visually appealing, and take seconds to consume.
To be sure, we should be concerned about the message at the Oscars — but that damage is a drop in the bucket compared to the danger & destruction from messages not so simple to digest.
You’re smart enough to get it — but you’ve been conditioned not to.
You seize on narratives that suit you — and sometimes you’re right. But if someone tries to take the same principles behind one issue and apply them to another, it doesn’t compute.
Which means you’re operating on narrative — not principle.
Take the aftermath of George Floyd, for instance:
And I thought to myself, what have we come to at the university — that the first reaction to grave matters — and the rioting in the street after George Floyd died is a grave matter.
That the reaction is not to think it through, not to question, not to assemble facts, not to make arguments — but instead to wave banners and spout slogans such that you could hardly distinguish what they were doing from a manifesto that would come out of Black Lives Matter.
— Glenn Loury
Remove the references around George Floyd — and that behavior rings a bell.
Now I Remember . . .
As the patriots “Never Forget“
The aftermath of this
That the reaction is not to think it through, not to question, not to assemble facts, not to make arguments — but instead to wave banners and spout slogans such that you could hardly distinguish what they were doing from a manifesto that would come out of . . .
Accountability for the people behind the biggest and most costly lie in modern history (Democrats & Republicans alike):
Perish the thought
But Will Smith — we must crush this man as a message of monumental concern.
We will teach the Hollywood elite a lesson about living in a bubble — as we congratulate ourselves in our own.
Endless analysis over the above and the efforts in the images below — all have something in common:
They’re blunt instruments
In and of themselves, the discussions might be intelligent and valuable.
But they’re of negligible impact, as I don’t see a single person of prominence doing any analysis on how the problems that plague America are interrelated.
Repeatedly rehashing the same topics till the end of time is not the mark of Loury’s “looking at the deep questions.” This is not problem solving — it’s serving a market.
Like Black Lives Matter, they’re just pounding away at problems without any examination of the efficacy of their efforts.
Maybe when you’re done talking race, woke, and CRT for the ten thousandth time — we can consider approaching problems in a more multi-dimensional manner?
Just a thought
America has become all too cozy with run-of-the-mill information that caters to your cravings. Some suppliers are sincere, some are corrupt to the core, and there’s a faction for everything in between.
In any case, we’ve seen more than enough and it’s not working.
This nation operates under umbrellas of interests that don’t account for complexities outside of them. Just as Will Smith didn’t think about the long-term damage his actions would do, neither do you. He wanted instant gratification and so you do — you just go about it in different ways.
And I assure you — yours are far more destructive. But that’s complicated — and who wants that when you can just seize on the simple.
When protecting your interests
You don’t listen, you don’t learn, and you never admit you’re wrong (refusing to even recognize when you are). And yet you proudly pounce on Will over virtues you employ only part time. However flawed his apologies, and to whatever degree he’s sincere about taking responsibility and accepting the consequences:
At least he did it.
How many times have you done anything of the kind or held your own accountable?
You may not worship Hollywood celebs — but you have no qualms about worshipping celebrities in the form of politicians & pundits. You condemn the elite for their standing ovation — while you blindly do the same every day to defend your own crowd.
Glenn Loury once called my writing “brilliant” and was “blown away” by my site and signed up. But when I took his hero to task, he instantly abandoned the principles he preaches.
Had he listened — he could send a message that matters (thereby bolstering his own).
He did a cosmic disservice to the person he’s protecting:
A lot of that goin’ around
Compare the blunt instruments above to the surgical nature of my work below. They’re taking on pockets of our culture’s decline and accomplishing nothing.
I’m taking on the whole charade — where we could get to the bottom of this mess we’ve made of America.
You want what’s easy and get nowhere — or get to work and turn the tide?
Who’ll take the promise that you don’t have to keep?
Don’t look now, it ain’t you or me
One Voice Became Two 