The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

Some jackass writing something on the Fox News website really pissed me off today. A few people on twitter were talking about an article, so I click on it, as I often do on twitter, and I start skimming this thing. It’s about Chaz Bono. It’s really hateful, designed to insult and inflict pain. It is by a “doctor.” I guess I shall link it for posterity, though I don’t suggest actually reading it. I just pulled up the article to make sure the link was right and I immediately got frustrated again.

There’s nothing I can do about it, though. He’s a stupid, hate-filled fuck, but he has every right to write about this shit on the internet as I have to write this blog. Frankly, me being pissed at him is exactly what that guy wants. I am supposed to yell, and scream, and he will bathe in my anger and become stronger. That’s the entire point of the article, and the only reason it was written. There will always be idiots who write shit like this, and there will always be idiots who believe it. Trying to deal with those people is a losing battle, and not one I really want to get involved in. It’s not worth it. However, there is another danger to stuff like this, which is maybe more subtle.

Press like this makes it seem like this is the way the world actually is.

When I get mad at the article, I’m not really mad at this “doctor.” I mean, I am. Fuck that guy. But if it was just one guy being a dick, it wouldn’t bother me. What gets me is that I look at this article, and I see how many editors must have looked at this before it got put on a big professional website, and how many people are going to link to this article as a source for something else. I think of how many people will read that article and not be filled with rage or write it off as completely stupid. I think of all this, and I get angry at the world. I get angry at a world where there is so much hate for absolutely no reason. A world where we can’t move past stupid, inconsequential shit like this that keeps us apart and keeps us all from being happy.

I know the world is not like this. Every day I interact with fantastic people who would never be consumed with such hate for no reason. I’m in class with these people. I work with these people. I game with these people. I’ve never actually seen that kind of hate in real life. Maybe I’m just crazy lucky. In fact, I’m sure I am. But still, the majority of people are about love, not hate. They’re nice. They care. They don’t hurt people for stupid reasons like this. They’d rather not hurt people at all.

But every time I see an article like this, that knowledge that while there is certainly shit out there in the world, the majority of it is made of good… that knowledge is shaken a little bit every time something like this comes up. It always comes back. I haven’t lost faith in the world yet, and I really don’t think I ever will, as long as the people in my life keep being the awesome people in my life. But the fact that, even for a moment, it can be shaken is scary. I’m sure others aren’t as firm in this. Others could fall apart reading shit like this. It’s an attack on the idea of being happy in this world, and that is such bullshit.

There’s always a new thing to be mad at. I can’t spend my life being mad. That’s why I don’t seek this stuff out. A life of anger isn’t fun. I don’t want that. I don’t want to be a horrible douchebag like the author of that article. I believe in love, and I want to live with love, and make love to love, and all kinds of shit like that. I refuse to let any number of terrible articles or news reports stand in the way of that.