Watching yesterday as my mind worried the issue of Mitt's young abuse of another. Kept trying to imagine how I would have felt if a group of classmates had grabbed me, thrown me to the ground and cut off my hair. Even just imagining it hurts tremendously. And, yes, Lord of the Flies came to mind even before someone else mentioned it. Trying to imagine, to get inside a head, even of a teenage boy, that would, that could, believe that they had any right or mission to DO something like that to another living being. Trying to imagine a soul that doesn't even understand at any level how wrong doing such a thing was/is. And finally, trying to imagine that having done it, does not even remember doing it.
The victim remembered with terror. The other perpetrators remembered with shame. Only the leader does not remember at all. I actually hope he's lying: that he does remember, does feel shame, and is too shamed to admit it. That would be better than it's never having surfaced in his consciousness. It would at least be a beginning.
Yes, it's personal: I married a man who'd been attacked by a group of kids at his college campus. In fact, I met him because of that attack. He'd been put into the hospital because of it, and one of the foreign students had visited him there, and had become friends there, and had invited him to the party where I met him. Those kids, too, were children of privilege, and had been allowed to maraud without consequences -- until then. In China's favor was they finally sent those kids to reform camp. Also, to the students' credit, is they had some BIG demonstrations, and pretty much shut the university down for a week. I am, however, under no illusion: if he'd been an unpopular kid instead of a star basketball player in a year the team was winning big, the outcome would likely have been similar to Mitt's outcome.
As humans, being, we seem to work along the strand of who we are born to be. If we come with the right stuff, we hammer off the less attractive parts, and work on enhancing what is better in us. If we're lucky, our family, friends, and culture help us in this endeavor. If not, we blow frogs apart as preteens, knee competitors in the groin as students, and blow apart whole cities and countries as adults. If we are very very lucky, we are made to see what we have done, helped to understand that other breathing beings are just as important as we are. We, in a word, gain empathy.
Guess I'd have to say that not only has Mitt failed himself, his church failed him, and his culture failed him.
And I guess what is even more distressing to me, is that this is not likely to change even one vote to the negative, though he may get a few extras for gay bashing. Just checked:Yep.
