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"When we see one man oppressed or injured by another, the sympathy which we feel with the distress of the sufferer seems to serve only to animate our fellow-feeling with his resentment against the offender. We are rejoiced to see him attack his adversary in his turn and are eager and ready to assist him."
- Adam Smith
I am curious as to it sometimes seems that a person, or group, goes to great length to help or support somebody with no apparent regards to the consequences to others. I have two examples in mind.
1. The first example was a woman who desired to help a man who had lost his employment and fallen on hard times. Her strategy was three fold.
Firstly she sought to motivate him by focusing on all the possible negative outcomes of unemployment. She would constantly harp on the inevitability of homelessness if he did not face up to his situation seeking to motivate him by fear of consequences. Of course he already knew and was deeply concerned by his parlous financial condition. All she was accomplishing was get him completely stressed out but she felt she was "doing something to help".
Secondly she sought to motivate him by shaming him into getting a job. This seemed to onlookers to be a campaign of humiliation to force him to get a job. She was adamant that that if he could be sufficiently shamed he would get a job.
Thirdly she tried to get others to pressure him to get a job. That looked like a campaign of vilification.
There was no advice on how to apply for jobs or find vacancies. Every entreaty from this man, and everyone else, was rejected.
This "help" continued until she had rendered him so distraught that he was at the very point of suicide.
2. The second example pertains to the current fixation on transsexual rights. I gather that in some USA states gender is self identified. If I understand correctly a biological male can simply identify as a female and enter any change room or other female place regardless of the feeling of females who do not wish to see a penis in a change room. I understand the schoolgirls who have so objected have been labelled as bigots.
Do any of my fellow forum members have any observations on this strange phenomena of helping other without regard for the harm to others?
- Adam Smith
I am curious as to it sometimes seems that a person, or group, goes to great length to help or support somebody with no apparent regards to the consequences to others. I have two examples in mind.
1. The first example was a woman who desired to help a man who had lost his employment and fallen on hard times. Her strategy was three fold.
Firstly she sought to motivate him by focusing on all the possible negative outcomes of unemployment. She would constantly harp on the inevitability of homelessness if he did not face up to his situation seeking to motivate him by fear of consequences. Of course he already knew and was deeply concerned by his parlous financial condition. All she was accomplishing was get him completely stressed out but she felt she was "doing something to help".
Secondly she sought to motivate him by shaming him into getting a job. This seemed to onlookers to be a campaign of humiliation to force him to get a job. She was adamant that that if he could be sufficiently shamed he would get a job.
Thirdly she tried to get others to pressure him to get a job. That looked like a campaign of vilification.
There was no advice on how to apply for jobs or find vacancies. Every entreaty from this man, and everyone else, was rejected.
This "help" continued until she had rendered him so distraught that he was at the very point of suicide.
2. The second example pertains to the current fixation on transsexual rights. I gather that in some USA states gender is self identified. If I understand correctly a biological male can simply identify as a female and enter any change room or other female place regardless of the feeling of females who do not wish to see a penis in a change room. I understand the schoolgirls who have so objected have been labelled as bigots.
Do any of my fellow forum members have any observations on this strange phenomena of helping other without regard for the harm to others?
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