The Loneliness of Consideration

There are many things that rouse my ire. Mostly, they stem from other people. In fact, the only thing that annoys me beyond belief that is not caused by a fellow human being is when inanimate objects start misbehaving – it usually happens when you are in a rush, or already cheesed off with something else. It is at times like that when I feel like the entire universe is against me, but that just shows how little I comprehend the size of the universe.

I digress. I want to discuss consideration, kindness, and awareness of your surroundings. I was recently involved in a discussion regarding an inconsiderate commuter who kept his large rucksack on his back when standing on a packed train. He was also oblivious to the fact that his luggage was taking up extra space behind him, and as an extension of his body it would attack other commuters with every move he made. This is an example of a fundamental lack of awareness, and no consideration for others. Personally, I find this intolerable. If you consider only yourself, then who should think about you?

Maybe on a good day, I wouldn’t care as much – I have been led to believe that I am quite laid-back, sometimes with vexatious effects for those around me – but the fact remains that when you are living on a planet that is as overpopulated as ours is today, you really need to think about how you impact other people’s lives. The small things count just as much as the big things, and knocking your selfishly-placed belongings into other people unnecessarily is not the best way to progress.

Dog eat dog, look after number one, etc. I have heard these many times before, and it appears that this is the credos of the masses. The main problem I see with it is that someone has to lose. Often it is more than one person that suffers, when a singular being cares only for the self. But that focusses on purposeful greed and carelessness, which really is a topic for a slightly different discussion. I just wanted to point out that it doesn’t fit in with consideration and kindness.

I think part of the problem is thought, and this can branch off to the lack of thought (choosing not to think) or conversely, the inability to think (stupidity). For the first, we can lay the majority of the blame on the subject, although it could be argued that they will only have learned this from others, their environment, role models and so forth. Whereas that might have some truth, we all have the ability to choose, whether it was a divine gift or not. I doubt that choosing not to consider others was part of the plan, but I am the wrong person to ruminate on that. The latter is a disease that is crippling the human gene pool. Stupidity is rife in every city and town across the planet. We, as a race, are increasingly half-witted – there are some very intelligent people about, but they are hugely outweighed by the dense and the doltish. So who do we blame for these inept fools that don’t realise they are stupid?

I am not the [proven] most intelligent man in the world. There are some people out there that know more than I do on a wide range of subjects, I acquiesce. However, I simply cannot tolerate stupid people that are unaware of their own stupidity. Anton Szandor LaVey said: “It’s too bad stupidity isn’t painful. Ignorance is one thing, but our society thrives increasingly on stupidity. It depends on people going along with whatever they are told. The media promotes a cultivated stupidity as a posture that is not only acceptable but laudable.”

I couldn’t agree more.