Does Misery Love Company?

I think it must...  I recently wrote a simple analysis concerning why a particular state government money-saving proposal is doomed to failure.  (When aren't they?)  The specifics aren't really relevant, but what I found really intriguing was the common thread running through the public comments concerning this analysis.  The majority of the negative comments seemed to come all from an emotional rather than rational perspective.  There wasn't really any attempt to argue or debate a particular point I raised, but most of these people simply wanted yours truly to be hung out to dry for raining on their parade.


The bottom line seemed to be that the content of my analysis didn't matter in the least.  All that mattered was that I was judged not to truly "feel their pain."  It seems that we've all become so accustomed to the constant white noise of whining that certain kinds of individuals no longer even attempt to articulate their differences in a clear and concise argument.  It's much simpler to attack one's opponent personally, accusing them of a lack of empathy--or worse.  I guess some people won't be happy until we all say that, yes, we are indeed as miserable and forlorn as you are.  Problem is...I'm not.


As a university friend of mine used to say in the late '80s when he was at a loss for words, "Sigh."  I think that about sums it up for tonight.




By the way, I took the above photo last month from a Washington State Ferry.  I don't mean to imply that the photo is forlorn or sad.  I happen to think it's beautiful.