let me hear your voice tonight (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alexseanchai) wrote2011-11-13 03:55 pm
alexseanchai) wrote2011-11-13 03:55 pm
(no subject)
Quoth zillah975, in a post she prefers me not to link: What I think would be awesome would be if, from now forevermore, everyone in the world would say to themselves every morning when they wake up, "First, do no harm." And then try their very best to keep that in mind, and try their very best to stick to it. I think that would be awesome.
First, do no harm.
Driving down the interstate, running thirty minutes late, listen to the whole song or read the lyrics. Don't flip off the jackass who just cut you off on the interstate, because the jackass might be late to work too and having just as bad a day as you are, and getting flipped off is going to make the jackass have an even worse day. That's harm. Don't do it. Also, don't cut somebody off on the interstate. That's harm. Don't do it.
Don't play games with the telemarketer who calls you during dinner. He needs the money to buy dinner the same as you do, and he has a really shitty job. (I used to work—well, we didn't call it 'telemarketing', because graduating from that university is considered an opt-in to getting donate-please phone calls from that university, but it was telemarketing, so I know it's a shitty job.) You making his day worse? That's harm. Don't do it.
Don't swear at the checkout girl when she screws something up. She's having a shitty day already. She's probably having a shitty life; most people do. Maybe her parents are fighting again. Maybe her significant other's being abusive. Maybe her kid is sick. You don't know. That's the point. She's got Schrödinger's day, and you don't know whether it's good or bad until you pop the box, which if you're polite you won't do. If she's having a good day, you swearing at her will make it a bad one, and if she's having a bad day, you swearing at her will make it horrible. That's harm. Don't do it.
Cold margaritas and hot señoritas, smiling with long dark hair— Don't treat the pretty woman you see as there for no other reason than to be pretty. That's harm. Don't do it. Applicable to all genders, actually, but kyriarchy being kyriarchy, it's more harmful to treat a woman as being there only for eye candy than it is to treat a man the same way. This goes double if the pretty woman is of color, because read the open letter from black feminists to SlutWalk. If someone treats you as though you're just there to be pretty, call him out (because it's probably a him), of course, because he's doing harm to you and he shouldn't be. But don't insult him. That's harm. Don't do it.
Don't buy from Walmart, because of how they treat their employees and their widget makers' employees. Buying from Walmart is harmful; don't do it. But harm to you is harmful too, so if you shopping anywhere else will put too big a bite in your pocketbook for you to pay your bills, consider the harm done to you versus the harm done to others and make your choice. Sometimes all the available choices are harmful, and doing nothing is not an option. I can't say 'that's harm; don't do it' here, but be mindful of the harm you're doing, and apply harm reduction strategies where you can.
Think before you speak. Think before you act. Try not to act in anger or in pain. This won't always be possible, but try.
Quoting zillah again: But if we all just started out with the desire to first, do no harm, and then were really mindful of it, and really tried, I think the world would be a whole lot better off.
zillah975, in a post she prefers me not to link: What I think would be awesome would be if, from now forevermore, everyone in the world would say to themselves every morning when they wake up, "First, do no harm." And then try their very best to keep that in mind, and try their very best to stick to it. I think that would be awesome.First, do no harm.
Driving down the interstate, running thirty minutes late, listen to the whole song or read the lyrics. Don't flip off the jackass who just cut you off on the interstate, because the jackass might be late to work too and having just as bad a day as you are, and getting flipped off is going to make the jackass have an even worse day. That's harm. Don't do it. Also, don't cut somebody off on the interstate. That's harm. Don't do it.
Don't play games with the telemarketer who calls you during dinner. He needs the money to buy dinner the same as you do, and he has a really shitty job. (I used to work—well, we didn't call it 'telemarketing', because graduating from that university is considered an opt-in to getting donate-please phone calls from that university, but it was telemarketing, so I know it's a shitty job.) You making his day worse? That's harm. Don't do it.
Don't swear at the checkout girl when she screws something up. She's having a shitty day already. She's probably having a shitty life; most people do. Maybe her parents are fighting again. Maybe her significant other's being abusive. Maybe her kid is sick. You don't know. That's the point. She's got Schrödinger's day, and you don't know whether it's good or bad until you pop the box, which if you're polite you won't do. If she's having a good day, you swearing at her will make it a bad one, and if she's having a bad day, you swearing at her will make it horrible. That's harm. Don't do it.
Cold margaritas and hot señoritas, smiling with long dark hair— Don't treat the pretty woman you see as there for no other reason than to be pretty. That's harm. Don't do it. Applicable to all genders, actually, but kyriarchy being kyriarchy, it's more harmful to treat a woman as being there only for eye candy than it is to treat a man the same way. This goes double if the pretty woman is of color, because read the open letter from black feminists to SlutWalk. If someone treats you as though you're just there to be pretty, call him out (because it's probably a him), of course, because he's doing harm to you and he shouldn't be. But don't insult him. That's harm. Don't do it.
Don't buy from Walmart, because of how they treat their employees and their widget makers' employees. Buying from Walmart is harmful; don't do it. But harm to you is harmful too, so if you shopping anywhere else will put too big a bite in your pocketbook for you to pay your bills, consider the harm done to you versus the harm done to others and make your choice. Sometimes all the available choices are harmful, and doing nothing is not an option. I can't say 'that's harm; don't do it' here, but be mindful of the harm you're doing, and apply harm reduction strategies where you can.
Think before you speak. Think before you act. Try not to act in anger or in pain. This won't always be possible, but try.
Quoting zillah again: But if we all just started out with the desire to first, do no harm, and then were really mindful of it, and really tried, I think the world would be a whole lot better off.