This journal is mostly public because most of it contains poetry, quotations, pictures, jokes, videos, and news (medical and otherwise). If you like what you see, you are welcome to drop by, anytime. I update frequently.
... I dunno. I've had sentiments like this expressed to me when I complained about and fought life's unfairnesses, and I remain unconvinced. Yes, I have a computer and the education to use it (not to mention the electricity and stable life), but that doesn't mean that it was fair that people have assumed I'm a thief because I'm Black or that my first boyfriend was never stopped from hitting me and intimidating me. More broadly, I saw this come up in recent discussions, such as the one on sexual harassment in fandom, where people said to those complaining of being harassed, "If you were in Dubai they'd put you in jail for having tempted the men who harassed you, or if in Saudi Arabia they'd stone you for it, so you have nothing to complain about!"
It's absolutely a good thing to keep perspective on the size of an unfairness, and to remain aware of all one's blessings -- I totally agree, and if his essay can remind someone that their problems aren't so bad, that's good. But I've seen the idea that it could be worse used to say that people should stop trying to make things better, the fact that someone's life isn't complete misery used to discredit their reports of injustice, so I can't agree with this essay without reservations.
Ah yes, I see, that _is_ a different take on the matter. My understanding of it was what you'd said in the second paragraph, simply that one shouldn't whine about minor inconveniences, that's all, rather along the lines of this story:
Thank you for the link. I certainly think that any adverse circumstance I have faced would have been much harder to deal with if I had felt that I was being singled out for a worse time than anyone else. Bad, unpleasant, sad and shocking things can hit, seemingly at random. So can positive things. It does not, however, mean that one should accept that nothing can be changed...and there are many, many situations and circumstances in the world where people have been dealt a devastatingly bad hand in life and deserve the best efforts to try to shift the balance. A sense of perspective on one's own fate is, I think, important...and, perhaps, a more global sense of what truly is unfair.
I consider myself to have had a lot more to be thankful for, than otherwise...and hope to remember that when I need to.
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kortan--many thanks! :)
Comments
It's absolutely a good thing to keep perspective on the size of an unfairness, and to remain aware of all one's blessings -- I totally agree, and if his essay can remind someone that their problems aren't so bad, that's good. But I've seen the idea that it could be worse used to say that people should stop trying to make things better, the fact that someone's life isn't complete misery used to discredit their reports of injustice, so I can't agree with this essay without reservations.
http://med-cat.livejournal.com/589152.html
But sure, it doesn't negate true unjustices, nor should it preclude anyone from trying to make things better.
...and this:
http://med-cat.livejournal.com/55183.html
Re: ...and this:
Re: ...and this:
I consider myself to have had a lot more to be thankful for, than otherwise...and hope to remember that when I need to.
http://deniswright.blogspot.com/2013/08/ten-lessons-about-life-revisited.html