Grace,civility, & class

[nohorn]

Up to now I haven't been too concerned with grace, civility and class. And then a thought came to me that they are the opposite of I see on the internet, the vile hateful remarks on bloggs and comment forums. They are directed toward politicans and anyone else, even those who make a simple statement I wish I knew whether they were coming only from the young or do they come from all ages. I suppose public figures read them, I wonder if their ego acknowledges them. In earlier days, say Winston Churchill era, the politicians only had a few hateful letters. Those who took the time to pen and mail. Nowadays it is just a few strokes of the keys. I wonder when and if the hateful comments could ever be tempered? Maybe I worry too much. It just doesn't seem right.

[wildwood]

Unfortunately, it is the vicious and spiteful remarks that always stand out. Even on AB there are some who are so far up themselves that it is a wonder they can walk straight up.
The vast majority however are polite and considerate people who genuinely help others with problems and answers.

[jake-the-peg]

The internet now provides people with a voice - you can blog and you opinions can be there for the world to see.

No polite newspaper editor deciding whether or not your letter is inappropriate, no bow tied BBC journalist treating politicians with the reverence they feel they deserve.

People still felt the same way they just didn't have a voice then.

Winston Churchill was boo-ed on the streets when he stood for re-election after the war - he wanted England 'back to normal' the people wanted 'a land fit for heroes'

I'm pretty sure if your average ex-sqaddie then had a PC and the internet there would have been some pretty vile things written.

So all in all back then there was one section of society censoring the other deciding what was and what was not acceptable behaviour.

There are pros and cons to it but overall I'd be more worried about the way the internet allows small fringe groups to appear larger and gain more importance that they deserve rather than the tendency for people to use spiteful language.

Sticks and stones and all that!

[nohorn]

Thank you JTP and Wildwood. Your insight is interesting. Yes there are fringe elements that get more exposure than reality of their size making them seem more important than they are. I also like to think about the possibility of people of one voice, how they could organize a massive protest (government overthow?), power to the people o in the hands of a charismatic leader. Actually, we have not yet realized the enormous power of the internet yet Maybe Hitler/Mus would not have gotten as far as what they did if the internet existed. Or maybe they would have achieved it perhaps faster? However, we are what we are in our heart and the internet identifies such.

[wolf63]

There are many angry people in the world and most of them seem to comment on forums etc on the internet.

Even going into a totally innocent YouTube clip is an eye opener, I think that it was Amazing Grace that I was listening to, the comments were aggressive, racist, sexist and full of words my mother forbade me from speaking as a child (her dad taught me them).
The commentators were arguing amongst themselves and all this over a song.

These people are allowed to breed - that is indeed a frightening thought.

Susan

[nohorn]

To Wolfe 63, that is exactly what I am talking about. It permeates everywhere. I am concerned about the evil in human's heart. And then they will breed.