It's all very well to say "names will never harm me", but the truth is words can and do hurt. Verbal abuse and constant belittling obviously do genuine damage. Sufficient unrelenting verbal, written, and pictorial bullying can do serious psychological harm to almost anyone, given enough time.
I haven't seen the pilot-mocking page, so I'm not commenting on that specifically.
I'm just a little disturbed that people are still trotting out the old "sticks and stones...." singsong, with its mindless lack of both accuracy and basic compassion. Especially given some of the truly vile and vicious sh*t posted online these days, or disseminated via other technological means.
And given there isn't actually any justification for getting ones jollies by publicly humiliating others. So why on earth should targets of unprovoked attacks be exhorted to tolerate the intolerable? Human beings are not objects to be used at will by immature cowards for purposes of public entertainment.
Again, too much online alleged "humor" these days goes FAR beyond anything remotely tolerable or defensible. It is not good-natured teasing. It is not simple name-calling. Very few people could withstand it for long. More power to those who can, but for them to mock those who can't is just more of the same problem, the equivalent moral low ground.
In short: perhaps we could refrain from adding to the onslaught by sneering at the victims?
Last edited by cordwainer; 29th Dec 2017 at 07:32.