Bullying is good. It encourages people who are behaving strangely or failing to develop social skills to do so. It's social Darwinism, being bullied because you are fat? Lose weight. Being bullied because you creep girls out? Start learning to pick girls who are actually interested in you. Bullied for being a slut? Stop spreading your legs for anyone who takes you out once. Bullied for being gay? Stop being so flamboyant.
And if you'd rather not change who you are, then fight back and earn your right to be different.
Society is not responsible for protecting you from mean people. Someone who is abnormal, bases their opinion of themselves on what other people think, is to weak to mount a defense, to stubborn to change, to unlikeable to get others to help, and to unintelligent to strike back verbally or with some sort of clever scheme deserves what they get: they were never going to contribute anything meaningful to society anyways.
Adapt or die.
87 comments
Bullied for being stupid? Start using your brain.
I was bullied when I was young, and that impeded my development of social skills enormously. I was just a bit shy before I started school, but being bullied made me VERY shy.
I was bullied mercilessly all through school (until I finally had enough in the barrage of increased harassment that followed an attempt to rape me, which took place right there in the fucking school - and got myself expelled to escape it) and contrary to popular belief, it didn't toughen me up. I deal with issues of confidence and self image to this day, and I'm 43.
Bullying isn't just something kids do, it isn't harmless and it doesn't help anyone. People who think that are usually bullies who are looking to justify what they do or have done .
Getting thrown to lions? Adapt.
Beheaded by zealots? That's your problem.
People tear up your bible? You're a bich for crying.
Red hair? Serves you goddamned right.
Poor? You deserve so much worse.
You don't want to get on your knees and literally suck off the leader of the pack? Bend over and be put in your place. They're enforcing their societal 'norms' and that's a good thing. Unless of course I think it's unacceptable, then society needs to change.
Being bullied because you're black? Being bullied because you're Jewish? Being bullied because you're disabled? Being bullied because you're clever? Being bullied because your parents don't fit in to their notion of "normal"?
It's not a matter of "developing social skills," but of exerting tyranny over those who are different. Society is responsible for protecting people from bullies - that's why we have laws; bullies can have injunctions taken out aganst them, get sued or arrested. There is a huge amount of evidence that bullying screws up people's lives and subverts the institution where it happens into somewhere that is more concerned with appeasing bullies than with doing its job. Judas_Iscariot might think of the families of those driven to suicide over bullying.
When I grew up, even the most conservative institutions took a strong line against bullying of all sorts. That some conservatives are proudly espousing the cause of the bully shows us just how low the right has sunk in the intervening period.
I was bullied too (although from what I see on TV, bullying over here is a lot less bad than in the US - we don't have sports programs and cheerleaders, so that might be a part of it), but I have to say it did make me a stronger person. I also have to say it never went over a certain level, I was never beaten and there was never a plot against me.
So I think a certain kind of bullying is healthy for kids, but there are lines you do not step over. This one is isn't just advocating some bullying he's adocating erasing those lines, which would be the worst thing to possibly happen,
"Bullied for being a slut?"
What parallel universe do you live in? Sluts are often quite popular. Like Kai Straw raps in "Slaughterhouse" : "a girl who was lonely, and was forced to pretend / but then blew a bunch of dudes and had a room full of friends".
"Adapt or die."
- You don't know much about people, do you? We've been adapting our various environments to suit us for several thousand years. Our efforts have included agriculture, urban planning and a little something we call 'laws.'
"Society is not responsible for protecting you from mean people."
- Ding dong, you're wrong. I realize that you are just a internet tough-guy who is probably sublimating his jealousy for the more assertive people in his life. However, there are, in fact, laws which prevent mean people from assaulting, menacing, stalking and raping people, as well as vandalizing other people's property. A bully who starts out these behaviors when he is young and is never given a reason to stop them is going to spend his adult life in prison, all the while insisting that he is the "real" victim.
So you don't know much about people, you don't know much about laws and you don't know much about human development. Is there anything you do know about? I mean, something that might impress some one besides yourself?
"Bullying is good. It encourages people who are behaving strangely or failing to develop social skills to do so."
And someone should conform to your arbitrary standard of "normal" why?
"And if you'd rather not change who you are, then fight back and earn your right to be different."
In case you haven't noticed, those who are bullied do fight back. The current trend is to do it with a gun, usually killing those who had nothing to do with the bullying anyway.
"Society is not responsible for protecting you from mean people."
No. Society is responsible for keeping sociopaths such as yourself in check, which is one of the reasons most people don't allow bullying.
Because that's totally how bullying works. It's not like you can be doing nothing wrong at all and get picked on because you're not part of the in-crowd or anything like that.
You're wrong, society should be responsible, in that it should be grown up enough to not tolerate this kind of childish bullshit from anyone anymore.
This is incredibly despicable considering bullying and social pressure push some kids, adults, and teens to the point they believe suicide is their only escape from the pain. Clearly they just couldn't assert themselves and beat up their bullies or change enough to fit in.
Often it's just the *perception* of being different that can trigger bullying. Someone starts a rumor or a student is believed to be gay. They don't even have to be "guilty" of the thing they're being bullied for. And bullying can be triggered by the most benign things. Don't wear designer clothes, have a haircut that isn't the most popular thing ever, play the clarinet in the school band....
There's nothing wrong with people who are bullied. There's a lot wrong with people who get satisfaction from harassing others. And people who condone said bullying.
Stalking has just been made a specific criminal offence over here. With all the furore in the press about Bullying (especially via text messages/Facebook etc), there are calls to make this a specific criminal offence too: in ALL it's forms, whether by kids or adults.
And - as per Rape/Child Abuse - Stalking will now have a Zero Tolerance attitude by the poilice, and the courts being merciless with offenders, it's time the bullies started being bullied themselves . Hey, don't like this dollop of Sauce for the Goose, then there's an alternative to being a builly: being a hyper -civilised person; treat others as you would want them to treat you, and all that jazz.
The sooner bullying becomes as socially unacceptable as Paedophilia and Drunk Driving, the better.
As someone who was bullied I really want to say "go die in a fire". And for making me go against my principles and wish you permanent harm I say "fuck you, asshole". I really, really try to avoid hating people but for you I'll make an exception. It helps that you're only technically a person.
I fuckin' knew it! The very first thing I thought as soon as I came to this site today was "There's going to be a comment about bullying. I just fucking know it." And BOOM! This fucker shows up. Quite bittersweet.
Now let's see, there is one problem in your argument that I'd like to point out: People don't fucking work that way. People don't change, least of all to the whim of someone they consider evil. But let me guess, that doesn't mean jack-shit to you, doesn't it? Because no matter what anyone says, you'll still see yourself as justified for having bullied others. That's just how bullies are when you get right down to it, completely irrational and childish. For me personally, as someone who was bullied for his weight and general awkwardness, bullying didn't really "improve" (by most people's standards) me in anyway shape or form. It just made me extremely cynical, gave me a general hatred for all living things, and an EXTREME hatred of all things "normal" (I consider these improvements, but people far wiser that I don't, therefor they're not). So, you can kindly go fuck off and die now. Oh, and be sure to leave these last words: "But I was the one who was flawed."
To put this bluntly, Judas_Iscariot is advocating a society where the majority of human beings are exempt from responsibility. It's that simple. He wants a society where we can abuse others, and then shift the blame to those others so we don't have to be criticized for what we did.
His argument could be compared to a bank robber claiming what he did was good for the bank because, says he, if the bank didn't have so many weaknesses he wouldn't have succeeded in robbing it. In this way, the bank robber denies any responsibility for having robbed a bank.
The problem is that Republicans tend to think a lot like Judas_Iscariot, yet they claim they stand for personal responsibility when clearly, they do not. They want certain classes of people EXEMPT from responsibility for their actions. In Judas_Iscariot's case it happens to be bullies, but this is just a symptom of a much more widespread problem.
To put this bluntly, Judas_Iscariot is advocating a society where the majority of human beings are exempt from responsibility. It's that simple. He wants a society where we can abuse others, and then shift the blame to those others so we don't have to be criticized for what we did.
His argument could be compared to a bank robber claiming what he did was good for the bank because, says he, if the bank didn't have so many weaknesses he wouldn't have succeeded in robbing it. In this way, the bank robber denies any responsibility for having robbed a bank.
The problem is that Republicans tend to think a lot like Judas_Iscariot, yet they claim they stand for personal responsibility when clearly, they do not. They want certain classes of people EXEMPT from responsibility for their actions. In Judas_Iscariot's case it happens to be bullies, but this is just a symptom of a much more widespread problem.
Bullied for being short, grow taller!
Bullied for being smart, be a dumbass!
Adopt antlike conformity or die.
Bullied for being Christian? Deny your Christ.
Bullied for being straight? Kiss a dude.
Bullied for being conservative? Turn liberal.
As someone who was bullied in the past I'd first like to say Judas is a dick.
What I don't understand, and perhaps never will, is why people kill themselves over what others said. I had a miserable childhood of constantly being bullied but not once did I think "I should kill myself to make them happy"
I don't know, maybe it's because I reacted to bullying with anger instead of needless angst for things that are not my fault.
However, anyone who thinks bullying will be eliminated... yeah right.
The world will not magically become this massive lovefest you might as well be waiting for the rapture to believe that.
Of course this also means that Judas better suck up to the fact that everyone can freely bully him for his despicable beliefs and the only thing he can do is adapt.
I think I'll give this OP the same baseball bat treatment as that Po guy in that other comment.
PEANUT BUTTER GROINY TIME!PEANUT BUTTER GROINY TIME!PEANUT BUTTER GROINY TIME!PEANUT BUTTER GROINY TIME!PEANUT BUTTER GROINY TIME!PEANUT BUTTER GROINY TIME!PEANUT BUTTER GROINY TIME!
*a cartoon banana dances in stupid fashion*
For those of you who have their reproductive organs on the outside , forgive me. It was not my intention to make you wince.
I also apologize for referencing a long gone outta style internet meme from a billion years ago.
And here I always thought fighting back for their "right to be different" was precisely what the gay community was doing.
Society may not be resposible for doing so but the school administration most cedrtainly is responsible.
By the way, it's not Social Darwinism and Social Darwinism was discredited 100 years ago.
Society is not responsible for protecting you from mean people.
Dear Judas_Iscariot,
I have an idea, one which will make you strong, real strong.
Being bullied for being stupid? Learn something.
Why don't I send some "personality teachers" over to your house? After your jaw have been shattered and your knee caps busted, you'll be sooo thankful to me. You'll change, you'll be smart.
In fact, I can send them over twice a week. You have lots of bones in your body, so this can go on for a few years.
Too stubborn to change? No problem: three times a week!
Bullying is good. You said so yourself.
Very harsh and riddled with holes and inaccuracies, but there is a grain of truth here.
Schools with rampant bullying are a crucible of sorts, and those who make it through either learn to bulldoze bullies and stand strong in the face of power plays and office politics, or fail to cope and sadly end up harmed by their experiences and face trouble adapting in their adult lives.
As someone who was badly bullied at school for being quiet, intelligent but at the same time from a poor family, I say cunts like you should die of amoebic meningoencephalitis, so go pour some dirty water up your nose.
Ugh! You're back from the dead! Not content with betraying our Saviour, you now alienate people who are different from you! Thanks a lot, asshole! "Behaving strangely...abnormal people" If it harms none, leave it the hell alone! I hope that the next time you reincarnate, you come back as an obese (and genetically predisposed to such a size), awkward nerd with Asperger Syndrome and bisexual tendencies and see just how "good" bullying is...prick! Social Darwinism indeed! People have committed freaking *suicide* due to bullying, you PoS!
@ #1477488: Red hair isn't necessarily a bad thing...I'm a redhead and I like my gingery locks.
Being a bully is socially abnormal.
Should we ostracise you for not meeting societal norms ?
Your argument makes the idea worth consideration.
Bullying is good.
As someone who was bullied as a child: go die in a fire, then jump into a volcano.
It's social Darwinism
Yes, and that is terrible. Your failure to understand this is is why you should DIAF.
Bullying can be good, when it's directed against the bullies.
Bullying is maladaptive. It wastes other being's energy and resources and at the worst someone who might have contributed to the social good of the other time and contributed genes which may have been useful into the future commits suicide. As a result society doesn't like bullies(except when the bullies dress it up as "morality") and so takes collective measures to ensure bullying is maladaptive for the bully, oftentimes measures which would be bullying if they were doing it against an innocent person.
Bullying can be good when it's directed against the bullies(and deadbeats who benefit from the system but aren't paying their fair share), preferably controlled by a commonly accepted organization(government) with a system of procedures(laws) to protect the wrong people(non-bullies) from being bullied.
Yes, because bullying is completely rational and totally only focuses on the areas you need to improve.
I think I'm going to reitterate the first commenter here - eat a bag a dicks.
Asshole.
To contribute my story of bullying: I was harassed quite heavily in school for two or three years until I finally snapped in 8th or 9th grade and started to beat the shit out of people. That actually made it stop, so I guess it did toughen me up. On the other hand, my social skills, which weren't that great to begin with, had suffered so much up to this point it took me years to learn how to interact normally with people. I'm 25 now and I guess I've turned out alright, but I'm still a bit socially awkward at times. And that's from only a couple of years of bullying, I've seen kids go through that kind of stuff for their entire school time. Needless to say, most of them are fucked up individuals by now.
So, go and fuck yourself. There's nothing good in bullying.
Why does it seem like, nowadays, social darwinism is defined as survival of the person who can post the most obnoxious viewpoints on the Internet without getting their ass kicked for it? Somehow, I don't think that is what Herbert Spencer intended it to be.
There are no words to express my hatred for you this moment.
I am a person who was bullied for not conforming to any of the availible stereotypes, and I was one of the ones who 'earned my right to be different' by fighting back. It led to the worst years of my life, and this was just in elementary school--I shudder to think what I would be like if this happened now.
As a result of being alienated at such a young age, I have serious issues that still haunt me and half of my grade at school hates me for being the one who did fight back. AND I'M THE LUCKY ONE who was strong enough to fight.
Social Darwinism my ass.
*Jill stares at the thread with haunted eyes.*
*Jill nods in a "Been there, man (and woman too)" fashion.*
*Jill applies hugs to all the posters who have been victims of bullying.*
SpukiKitty: Thank you for the much needed laugh.
Fuck you. I was bulled for not being a rich kid in a school (a Catholic one at that; so much for social justice) full of rich kids. I was also an easy target, being intelligent, wearing glasses, and not being good at sports. The fact that I'm gay didn't even enter into it; I couldn't even admit that to myself until I was in college, lest I bring on even more bullying, even though I did have plenty of attraction to members of the same sex.
And let me say this to all the people who say bullying makes you stronger: it does to some extent, but that doesn't justify being bullied. You people saying this almost sound like apologists for bullying.
@#1477736: Being suicidal about bullying isn't about making the bullies happy, but rather thinking that it's the only way to truly end the pain caused by bullying. I was suicidal quite a bit when I was bullied. Hell, I didn't think I'd graduate high school when I was 14, but thought I'd have killed myself before then. Thankfully it didn't happen (self-preservation instincts for the win), but when you're a child or teenager and all you know is the world at home and school it's hard to think that in the future your world will be so much larger than the one you're in at that moment and that things do get better after you're done with school, hence the "It Gets Better" campaign.
There are no words to describe what an odious human being you are. I think I dislike you more then Coulter, Phelps and Falwell combined, and all I have to go by is this one piece of vile anti-human hatred.
Just shut up, go to a hospital, and throw yourself into a used needle disposal. You vile, disgraceful, pathetic excuse. For a human. Fucking. Being.
Cruelty and hate only breed more cruelty and hate. Suffering only breeds more suffering, and pain only breeds more pain.
Sadly, some people just don't sweem to understand the damage that bullying can do...
Fun fact: once they start bullying you, they don't stop if you roll over and accommodate them.
So the overwright guy in your flip, off-the-cuff example? If he loses weight, they're still not going to leave him alone. The creepy guy? Same thing. The slut and the gay guy? Same thing. Why? Real simple--they've got a victim. See, once the bullies have found a good target, they usually don't willingly leave that target alone unless they're FORCED to.
Not only are you a jackass devoid of human empathy, you have pretty much no idea how other people behave.
Why am I not surprised your name is Iscariot?
It doesn't matter how much they change, Judas. Bullies are bullies, and once they latch on, they will never stop. They go on, and on, and on, until you have someone like me, a scared little 14-year old boy, who doesn't understand why they all hate him, even though they did everything they wanted. Someone who is only here through virtue of not paying attention in Boy Scouts, and not knowing how to tie their noose made of church ties to the light fixture in their room.
Bullying is not good. It corrects nothing. It is nothing but destructive.
See, the thing about fighting back, Judas, is that the other side still fights. And they fight hard.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
To post a comment, you'll need to Sign in or Register . Making an account also allows you to claim credit for submitting quotes, and to vote on quotes and comments. You don't even need to give us your email address.