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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: robert a belfer who wrote (204223)	4/26/2007 10:59:45 AM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 793999

Why is damage necessary for a remark to be cruel? This is my sense of how cruelty is determined in interpersonal exchanges. Critical remarks can be damaging but they can also be neutral or positive. There are two parties to any communication and the determination of cruelty has to consider factors from each side. If a comment is intended to be cruel, then it is cruel. If it is not intended to be cruel but nonetheless damages the recipient, then it is cruel. If it is neither delivered nor received as cruel, then it isn't even though some third party may perceive it as cruel. Teasing between affiliated people is an example. A third party witnessing the trading of insults might think them cruel but for the principals they may be a bonding or learning experience. In this case, if there are people reading Crow's words who 1)really are invested in the proposal to wash and reuse toilet paper and 2) together enough to deal constructively with input such as that, then I don't see how it can be considered cruel. That kind of commentary is constructive within a group because they set boundaries. Even moonbats have boundaries. There are always things that are too weird even for groups others consider to be weirdos. A healthy person who hears one of his beliefs parodied by a group with which he identifies will not be damaged but will instead reevaluate those beliefs and make adjustments so as to fit in. This is a constructive process, not a cruel one.