The Worst Thing You've Ever Done

[dalekboy]

This piece is not about any one person specifically, it's about the way people are demonised in general.

I want you to think about the worst thing you've ever done. Something, no matter how long ago you did it, that you're still ashamed of. Don't shy away from it, think hard about the nastiest, shittiest, lowest thing you've ever done to someone.

Now, I want you to imagine people in general, and the internet as a vague group, deciding that's the person you really are.

Think about how they would react, how they would treat you, attack you, the things they would write about you - for a single act. It doesn't matter if it was a mistake, deliberate, or if there were extenuating circumstances - they don't care. There's little to no forgiveness out there, almost every time folks talk about you, it will be in relation to whatever it was you did.

How would that make you feel, as the weeks became months and years, and people still brought it up? How would you feel about the fact that no matter what else you did, there would always be someone there ready to bring up that single bad decision and start the whole thing up again? That every other positive act in your entire life would be deemed unimportant or irrelevant compared to this single event.

I'm not saying there should be universal forgiveness. Some people repeatedly do horrid things to others. I'm not saying there shouldn't be a price to pay for a single error, sometimes we have to make amends. But if the only issue you can find with a person is one really bad thing they've done, then doesn't that suggest there may be more to them than that one act?

Remember this the next time the crowd starts baying for someone's blood over a single mistake, especially if you're part of that crowd. Other people are as complex and have as many layers as you do.

You, and I, are not just the worst thing we ever did.

And neither is anyone else.

Comments

[mondyboy.livejournal.com]

I agree about the group sex use by the media which makes the whole thing sound consensual. It fucks me right off.

However johns would argue that he has paid a price. He's paid the price of losing his job, losing the trust of his family and shaming himself on a national tv. So you could argue that the channel 7 gig is perfectly justified because his paid his penance.

Of course that's bullshit. And the reason for this is because we love our sports people and are willing go give them a million chances. And the problem is that there was never an angry enough 'mob' to out johns and the ten other bastards in their place. All we did was forget.

If the Perth issue is true - then I have no issue at all with the 'mob' making it clear what they think of this person. I'm not advocating violence. I'm advocating awareness. And if we lived in a society where the victim didn't need go through the terror and pain of the assualt than this person would possibly be in prison and there'd be no need for live journals calling this prtdon out.

And the same goes for the douche bag who molested you. No don't cut off his balls. But by fuck don't tolerate him either.

This perth person used their power to do a terrible thing. And while they mea culpaed and all that the fact that the person felt that he could go to swancon because he'd been forgiven meant that the mob response was needed. That said, anyone who advocated any violence against him or his friends is as bad as he is. And probably worse.

Sorry for the rant mate. I know your thoughts on these issues, it's just that whether it's about johns or Perth or some other issue - if the crime involves the physical and psychological pain if others than maybe the mob is needed to make that person understand that they are not wanted