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People seem to be incredibly judgemental and lacking in compassion for people in different circumstances. There are a lot of people out there who haven't been

People seem to be incredibly judgemental and lacking in compassion for people in different circumstances. There are a lot of people out there who haven't been exposed to drugs who believe that people who take drugs actually deserve to die. Recently in New Zealand several people ended up in hospital after taking dodgy "MDMA", the sheer number of comments on Facebook about how they had it coming, or they deserved it, or how they shouldn't have been admitted into hospital were disgusting. Regardless of whether they did was right or wrong, these are still human beings, they still have friends and families. Just the other day I walked past a dead heroin addict being wheeled into an ambulance. They had it coming to them, but I didn't feel like they deserved it. Nobody deserves to die on a street corner from an overdose. It's the same thing with prison. Out of sight, out of mind. If people have never met someone who has gone to prison, then to them it's an abstract concept. They can't imagine the pain or suffering. I've met a couple of people who've served time for drug related charges. Neither of them wanted to commit the crimes they did, but they hit rock bottom. When you're addicted to methamphetamine, you don't exactly think clearly or logically. But people don't see this. They see the world through the lens of their own reality and their own circumstances. It's the same thing that causes wealthy people to say that poor people just need to get better jobs. They have no concept of the world that these people live in.

Thrwr11 9y ago
Addicts are people and deserve help, sure. Most of the hate towards them comes from their bad behavior and how that affects other people. Deathwishes are just one way to cope with the inability to actually do anything about, say, noisy or violent drug addicts or criminals who don't care about other people.
- meschi 9y ago
  I haven't seen one "noisy violent drug addict" in my life. I am not saying they don't exist, but the vast majority of drug users or even addicts are not discernible as such. Anyway, that is my European perspective.
  - Thrwr11 9y ago
    Mine is a european perspective, too. And most of these people really have nothing left to lose apart from taxpayer paid welfare -> ordinary civility is absent, disputes are unnegotiable. (Unless you want to have your property / home / loved ones sabotaged.). Personality disorders are rampant. You not looking close enough is not a solution to the drug problem.
  - 7Z7 9y ago
    You don't have a "European" perspective. You have a wherever-you-are-from perspective, and potentially a whatever-you-choose-to-see one too. I'm from Ireland, we have noisy violent junkies, amongst others less noisy and less violent.
  - oreo81 9y ago
    As a european, you must be a huge fan of gypsies.
cm2187 9y ago
I think the lack of sympathy for addicts doesn't come from the assumption that they can just stop being addicts or have a rational behavior once they became addicts, but from the thinking that they became addicted of their own free will when they started taking hard drugs. It's not like the dangers and consequences of drug addiction aren't widely known. Actually I can only think of a handful of Hollywood movies where hard drug consumption isn't associated with becoming a junky. People take bad decisions, it's a free world, let them live, but they own the consequences down the line.
- oreo81 9y ago
  >it's a free world Not as free as it should be.
tropo 9y ago
Adjusting that to match what I know: If people have never met someone who has LOST A CHILD TO MURDER, then to them it's an abstract concept. They can't imagine the pain or suffering. I've met a couple of people who've LOST THEIR CHILD. That daughter can never be replaced. The father just about bankrupted himself traveling 1500 miles each way to be at the court for every hearing. It's been over a dozen years, largely fighting over the issue of being fit for trial. There has been a conviction-turned-mistrial related to the killer having a disagreement with his court-assigned lawyer over his plea. The killer refuses to take medication and may be of questionable sanity. He is likely to go free soon. The father still shows up to court, older and poorer every time, dedicating his life to keeping the killer locked up by keeping the prosecutor and judge aware that somebody cares. You're lacking in compassion for people like that broken forever-grieving father when you argue for less punishment.
- romwell 9y ago
  One is not lacking in compassion for the father by also wishing to improve the situation of the murderer. Compassion is not a zero-sum game.

Thrwr11 9y ago

Addicts are people and deserve help, sure. Most of the hate towards them comes from their bad behavior and how that affects other people. Deathwishes are just one way to cope with the inability to actually do anything about, say, noisy or violent drug addicts or criminals who don't care about other people.

meschi 9y ago
I haven't seen one "noisy violent drug addict" in my life. I am not saying they don't exist, but the vast majority of drug users or even addicts are not discernible as such. Anyway, that is my European perspective.
- Thrwr11 9y ago
  Mine is a european perspective, too. And most of these people really have nothing left to lose apart from taxpayer paid welfare -> ordinary civility is absent, disputes are unnegotiable. (Unless you want to have your property / home / loved ones sabotaged.). Personality disorders are rampant. You not looking close enough is not a solution to the drug problem.
- 7Z7 9y ago
  You don't have a "European" perspective. You have a wherever-you-are-from perspective, and potentially a whatever-you-choose-to-see one too. I'm from Ireland, we have noisy violent junkies, amongst others less noisy and less violent.
- oreo81 9y ago
  As a european, you must be a huge fan of gypsies.

cm2187 9y ago

I think the lack of sympathy for addicts doesn't come from the assumption that they can just stop being addicts or have a rational behavior once they became addicts, but from the thinking that they became addicted of their own free will when they started taking hard drugs. It's not like the dangers and consequences of drug addiction aren't widely known. Actually I can only think of a handful of Hollywood movies where hard drug consumption isn't associated with becoming a junky. People take bad decisions, it's a free world, let them live, but they own the consequences down the line.

oreo81 9y ago
>it's a free world Not as free as it should be.

tropo 9y ago

Adjusting that to match what I know: If people have never met someone who has LOST A CHILD TO MURDER, then to them it's an abstract concept. They can't imagine the pain or suffering. I've met a couple of people who've LOST THEIR CHILD. That daughter can never be replaced. The father just about bankrupted himself traveling 1500 miles each way to be at the court for every hearing. It's been over a dozen years, largely fighting over the issue of being fit for trial. There has been a conviction-turned-mistrial related to the killer having a disagreement with his court-assigned lawyer over his plea. The killer refuses to take medication and may be of questionable sanity. He is likely to go free soon. The father still shows up to court, older and poorer every time, dedicating his life to keeping the killer locked up by keeping the prosecutor and judge aware that somebody cares. You're lacking in compassion for people like that broken forever-grieving father when you argue for less punishment.

romwell 9y ago
One is not lacking in compassion for the father by also wishing to improve the situation of the murderer. Compassion is not a zero-sum game.