I actually agree, but a weird thing happens to me where I get pissed at people saying these things about someone else, or about groups of people. I can totally let personal insults to myself roll off my back, because like you I've seen a lot of internet.
And I agree that the face-punching probably won't actually happen in reality. But the widespread phenomenon of supposedly normal or good people talking about complete strangers having "punchable faces" feels ominous to me. I guess my problem isn't with the insults as such, but rather the widespread cultural acceptance this kind of attitude has gained.
Sorry, but you can't decide you hate someone based on their appearance and also be a good person. That makes you a psycho. Look, we all do this to some extent in private moments. But turning it into a group sport? And, again, the acceptance of it all?
People who talked this way on the internet used to be called "internet tough guys", and we scorned them. Now it's de rigeur. Maybe it's just the new form of hating communists. Maybe we just need to have someone to hate, and it's not that big a deal. But it feels bad to me, very bad.
And I agree that the face-punching probably won't actually happen in reality. But the widespread phenomenon of supposedly normal or good people talking about complete strangers having "punchable faces" feels ominous to me. I guess my problem isn't with the insults as such, but rather the widespread cultural acceptance this kind of attitude has gained.
Sorry, but you can't decide you hate someone based on their appearance and also be a good person. That makes you a psycho. Look, we all do this to some extent in private moments. But turning it into a group sport? And, again, the acceptance of it all?
People who talked this way on the internet used to be called "internet tough guys", and we scorned them. Now it's de rigeur. Maybe it's just the new form of hating communists. Maybe we just need to have someone to hate, and it's not that big a deal. But it feels bad to me, very bad.