My Habit of Speaking and then Boycotting

It only recently occurred to me that my reactions to people fall along the same lines as my behaviour toward companies I disapprove of.  The companies I disapprove of fall under the category of animal testers for the most part.  Any company that does animal testing is a company I hate.  I usually send them a strongly worded letter or communication of some sort, and then I never buy from them again.

Well, it looks like I do the same thing with people.  I read articles by other writers on www.wrytestuff.com, which I where I submit the majority of my work at the moment.  If I like what they have to say, I give them favourable comments and ratings.  If I don't like it, I still comment, give a lousy rating, and then never read their work again.  If these articles were unbiased reports I wouldn't lay blame at the feet of the writers, since a reporter only reports what is true (unless they're a lousy reporter).  Facts are simply facts, and since it's my mission in life to learn as much as possible, I like knowing facts.

Most of the writing I read these days are position pieces, however.  A piece of writing where someone is expressing an opinion is a position piece.  They're expressing their position on a matter - where they stand in other words.  I've written plenty of position papers of my own, so I recognize them when I see them.  A lot of my own writing is in that form.  I do some fact-driven pieces, but my opinion pieces seem to be more popular, which actually surprises me a bit.  My personal experience POV pieces get even more attention.  People really like to read about what other people have gone through personally, which never fails to shock me.

So, anyway, when it comes to leaving comments these days, the comments are usually directed at whether or not I agree with a position.  The gentleman I wrote about in this blog a few days ago would be an example, and despite originally agreeing with a lot of what he said, I ended up disagreeing with him in general by the time he finished making his arguments.  Well, I read an article by a woman today that I completely disagreed with.  She was comparing gay marriage to paedophilia.  Nice huh?  If anyone who reads this knows me, they know I support LGBT causes, and am in favour of gay marriage.  As far as I'm concerned, the more love in the world the better.  Being heterosexual doesn't diminish my feeling on the subject.  I'm against racism and bigotry.  I generally kick people out of my house when they make bigoted remarks, my ex-husband being a weird exception (for reasons that would probably require years of therapy for me to figure out).

My point is, I left a comment that was pretty nasty about her complete lack of knowledge on the subject matter, gave a personal example, and will likely not bother to respond to her if she makes a return comment.  So much for my need to have the last word, apparently.  My need to try to force people/companies into obscurity outweighs any need I have to keep making statements.  The more attention people get for making ridiculous arguments, the more people will take them seriously.  With companies I express my disapproval for refusing to give them profit for doing something I feel they shouldn't be doing.

I'm like this with actors and musicians, too.  Tommy Lee, convicted of spousal abuse, etc.  Mel Gibson, same deal, with the anti-semitism thrown in for good measure.  I would never pay a cent for any of their work ever again.  No more Motley Crue CDs, and I don't care if they do make another Lethal Weapon because I won't be buying it.  I'm not Jewish, but Mr. Gibson needs to shut his yap.  Religious freedom is something I support, despite the fact that I'm against organized religion in my personal life.  I think people should be allowed a choice, and my opinion on the matter is not their problem.  It wouldn't work for me, but freedom does.

Maybe it's just that I've come to a more accepting point in my life.  I don't accept that things can't be changed, or that they shouldn't be, but I do accept that there are nutbags in the world, and that you simply can't convince them of anything even roughly approaching logic and rationality.  Nutbags, by definition, are nutbags.  Logic and rationality are foreign to them.  And never the twain shall meet!