Are you, as an individual, superior to most other US citizens?

[bryant69]

Just to conclude the trilogy.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2163141&mesg_id=2163141

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2163394&mesg_id=2163394

Once again I apologize to any that I might offend by asking this question. I also apologize to non US DUers.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Kutjara]

1. Of course I am...

...I'm practically perfect in every way.

- M. Poppins

[Tigermoose]

2. Care to define superiority?

nt

[bryant69]

3. Not really.

I assume that superiority is the quality that justifies looking down your nose at the "sheeple."

Bryant

[Bluebear]

8. "Sheeple" does not mean people are "superior" to them

I never use the term, ever, but come on: it's a contraction of sheep and people, in other words, people who vote without researching, just following the herd.

What gave you the idea that superiority complexes come into play, to have a trio of polls about the word?

[bryant69]

10. Interesting

So you are saying you don't think that people who vote after having researched are superior to those who vote without researching?

But as i've seen the term used, I think it has a broader definition than that anyway.

Bryant

[Bluebear]

14. Superior? No. More informed citizens, certainly

But voter apathy goes back centuries. People may notice dangerous societal trends and say such uninformed citizens are being led "like sheep to the slaughter", but I question how one would feel "superior" to them.

[JuniperLea]

9. You know what they say about assumptions

What makes you think that because people are using the term "sheeple" that they are automatically feeling superior? I pity sheeple, lemmings, moths to the flame.


There but by the grace of God...

Thankfully, I'm immune to most flavors of Kool-Aid.


All people are created equal. Have you ever asked a sheeple why they follow? Have you ever asked them to explain why they follow? Have you ever asked them why they believe what they believe? It's enlightening.

[JuniperLea]

4. Is there a reason for all this? eom

[bryant69]

6. I find it interesting

There's a disconnect between the use of the term sheeple and what using that term implies.

Many (the majority at last count, although not a vast majority) DUers are comfortable calling their fellow citizens sheeple, but they are not as comfortable asserting that they superior to their fellow citizens. Like I say, it's a disconnect.

Part of it is presumably the awareness that saying "I'm better than most other people" doesn't play nearly as well with fellow DUers or with lurkers as "the american people are sheeple."

Bryant

[JuniperLea]

12. I think you are way off in your assumption

I think the vast majority of people here understand that we are all equal, and furthermore, I think most people here are willing to fight very hard for the "sheeple" to have the rights they are so willing to give up. I think they are deluded, but I don't think they are stupid. I think they are afraid, just like BushCo wants them to be.

[bryant69]

15. equal politically or equal in capability or equal in understanding?

What kind of equality are you talking about?

I don't know why you would use the term Sheeple if you didn't mean it to imply that you were better than those you were talking about. It's clearly a derogatory term.

Bryant

[JuniperLea]

17. You are assuming again

There are certain human reactions that explain the behavior. They are afraid. No, they are terrified. They are also most likely unable to wrap their minds around the fact that the leader of our great nation is a freak and he's ruining a once grand country for his own greed.

It's not unusual for people to go into denial. It's not unusual for people who are being mentally or physically abused to disassociate. It's not their fault. They are not lesser people because this is their reaction.

Why do you feel the need to interject something sinister? Why do you feel the need to belittle those who choose to use a certain term? You are assuming you know what's in the hearts and minds of people here. That is a bit strange to my POV. What are you trying to prove?

[bryant69]

22. I'm almost willing to believe that you genuinely see sheeple as

a benign and nuetral term. I don't think that's the case with most people. To seal it though, how would you feel if you were described as a sheeple?

It's hard to say what exactly i'm trying to prove, except i clearly find the term sheeple repulsive and I'd like people to think twice before using it.

Anyway i'm out for a bit so won't be posting.

Bryant

[JuniperLea]

23. I would laugh because I'm the farthest thing from a follower there is

I question authority rigorously. I do not follow and when I attempt to lead, I give reason and I don't force.

If someone came up with a term that resembled me, I'd take it. If I didn't think it fit, I'd argue it. Try to extract a reason for their actions from the average sheeple, and you will get anything but a good answer. That's because they have no idea whatsoever why they are following. Seriously. I have a family full of sheeple and they will get angry when faced with anything close to logic.

Jesus called his followers his flock and they are commonly known as sheep... and Jesus himself the lamb of God. Sheep are gentle creatures.

[bryant69]

27. So do you think the way you live your life is superior to the way

a sheeple lives his or hers?

Also do you want to move htis to the religious terrain? The term is occasionally used to refer specifically to Fundies, but it's usually used more generally (or such has been my experience).

Bryant

[JuniperLea]

29. The word "superior" to me means the worth of a life

No life is worth more than another. If you want to get religiously technical, God loves Bush, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Jack the Ripper and Elton John (thrown in for the gay-haters) every bit as much as he loves you or me. We are all children of God. Love the sinner, hate the sin. Whatsoever you do to the lesser of men, you also do unto me. I've lived the fundie life and from my perspective, the majority of them think they are superior to the rest of us.

Sheeple to me is not condescending. I hate few things more than I hate condescension. It's merely a one word description of a group of people who will follow the leader no matter what. I feel for them. They are not to blame. They are being manipulated.

[bryant69]

30. I guess i just can't see it that way

It strikes me as quite condescending - i suppose it depends to some extent in how it is used.

[Finder]

18. There are 3 types in the world...

Sheeple, Shepherds, and all the rest. Sheeple simply follow out of loyalty to their shepherd who can be a good one or a bad one. The rest of the people do not follow blindly nor do they expect others to follow them but make their own decisions.

[Balbus]

5. Are we talking penis size?

[karlrschneider]

7. Well, I was wrong one time...I thought I had made a mistake.

:D
:silly:

[TroglodyteScholar]

11. I'm no better or worse...

I just sometimes pay attention to things that reside outside the realm of my daily interpersonal exchanges. Sadly, I consider that a luxury. A lot of people are stuck in their own headspace out of necessity. It's certainly nothing to judge a person by unless they're actually proud to be ignorant of world events.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

13. no...but I, as an idividual, am superior to the Gov't of the US

as is (rather, as should be) every other citizen. But no, the gov't owns us and controls us...the exact opposite of what the founders desired. We are not what we were created to be...

sP

[sweetheart]

16. "Are you with us or against us?"

Am i with us or against us? Am i superior or inferior? It all harkens to a fool patriarch
mentality of a local maxima of "superior".

And in that sense, there are 'superior' persons, great human beings who love and forgive,
who wash others in light and absolve their sins, that they live better and deeper lives,
were they dare to love and conceive of a better world.

"I am" is my response to that false question.

[JuniperLea]

19. Nicely said, sweeheart

I think most of us genuinely care for our fellow human beings. Better to be called a sheeple than a dumbass... and if we were truly wanting to be derogatory, I think we would have chosen the latter.

[sweetheart]

24. If you love you must believe in something greater

Its about 'more' than just you, than just me, and to be superior or inferior is to
cut one's self off from others, to not believe in love, but one's self, however inflated or
deflated, and hardened in a bunker-self, never establishing a greater kingdom outside,
rather keeping jesus a fairytale in dreams, and all that christian stuff that everyone is
so very well versed in, a storybook on sundays.

But if 'god' is merely the idealization of a higher power, then those who are flight
with the spirit of their innermost romatic heart that *knows* ecstatically that it doesn't matter.

In the film, 12 monkeys, the protagonist finally realizes that everywhere is the florida keys
when everywhere is one's death, and he discovers love in the end, reaching out to something
greater than himself, and his martyrdom a fated already in a hail of bullets, and his ghost
is the speaker in the film, like with american beauty, a ghost tells the story, writer n-frame
removed.

I believe you and I love each other, that we love life and beauty, and that our trials and tribulations
are really just little stupid things, between animals in a pen trained to behave badly, and between
souls who only see the light there is benign love. I hope we are lead by those who see the light,
who know in their hearts the counsel of the light, cuz' dammmit in words, they are otherwise deluded.

namaste,

[JuniperLea]

25. Speak to the good in all people

And you will see the good.

I believe it is time to get back to basics.

[Bluebear]

21. Elegant. nt

[Donald Ian Rankin]

20. Some possible ratings

:- My surname starts with an S, so I'm inferior to most US citizens in alphabetical order

:- I'm 23 years old, so I'm inferior to most US citizens in age.

:- I'm 180cm tall, so I'm superior to most US citizens in height.

:- I'm 78Kg, so I'm about probably superior to most US citizens in weight, but not by much.

:- My full name has 22 letters in it, so I'm probably superior to most US citizens in length of name.

What the hell were you thinking about when you posted this?

[genie_weenie]

26. I am far worse and here is why.

As a tax resister, I cause additional paperwork for the US government also I cause the government to have to replace my taxes with monies fleeced from good old Americans and I make the FBI and IRS have to give overtime hours (paid for by the US taxpayer) to capture me.

Conclusion as I cause the Government man hours and monies I take these away from needed US programs (what those programs are I don't know, I guess making more 1000lb J-DAMs...)

[alarimer]

28. While I think this poll is maybe meant as a joke

I do believe that not everyone is equal in every way and it is silly to pretend otherwise. Some people are smarter; some are faster; some have various other talents that make them superior in some way.

Now I am not saying you should treat people differently based on this.

[JuniperLea]

31. IMHO, no one life is worth more than another

According to more than a dozen tests and a card I carry, I'm smarter than 98% of the population. I'm worth no more and no less than the guy I found sleeping in front of the office door who is now enjoying my breakfast bagel.