People suck. I love people.

I've always had a love / hate relationship with people.  And by people, I mean the entire human race.  This is not to say that I'm some sort of psychotic, misanthropic recluse shying away from all human contact in favor of life with llamas.  Or Wilson.  Far from it.  I enjoy the company of my fellow (wo)man as much as the next guy.

The human spirit, and the words and deeds that spring from it, is wondrous to behold.

So, while I might be a general misanthrope, I like individuals.  Taken by themselves (or in small groups), people are entertaining and worthwhile companions.  Their views are usually reasonable or, at the very least, comprehensible, and each has something to contribute, some valuable life experience or insight shared by no one else in the populace.

In my somewhat-short life, I've met very few people -- aside from the mentally ill or elected Republicans -- who made me question our shared humanity.  And even the mentally ill usually have something valuable tucked away in the recesses of their brains.

On the other hand, large groups of people are called mobs for a reason.  Inexplicably, when gathered in large groups, people can easily be herded in a direction that contradicts basic human decency.  When combined with fanaticism or blind adherence to political or religious doctrine, those large groups of people are capable of scary things.

Time to get ready for work.  The next post will tie in the Spinach Inquisition to a critique of Republicans.  Ooooh... political discourse.  I'm sure you're all super-excited now. 

 

By the way, in case you were wondering what I'm listening to right now:  Pandora.  It's currently playing a quick mix of my Sundays, Pixies, Guster, Matthew Sweet, Mojave 3, Pilotdrift, and Broken Social Scene stations.