The Superiority Complex.

I'm not normally one to go on a rant, but I hate the seeming need to belittle others in order to make oneself feel superior. As you can probably guess I've been coming across this rather a lot of late, which is why I'm finding the urge to vent.

As an example, there was the girl who tried to get informed on how not to offend non gender specific people by asking what pronoun should be used. Instead of being helpfully informed, she was laid into and told what a terrible creature she was because she didn't already know.

Then there was a vegan in a zero waste group concerned about the ethics she was torn between on not wasting food and not eating animal products. She admitted that rather than see pizza with meat toppings thrown in the bin when her colleague had had enough, she ate it herself. Other vegans gave their thoughts, some saying they would struggle with the same conflict, others saying that not eating animal products would win out, as bad as they felt about seeing food waste. Then one just had to storm in and call absolutely everyone in the conversation ‘pathetic excuses for vegans!’ He then proceeded to belittle them and swear at them.

Now, it seems to me that this man had the opportunity to put his view forward and maybe even educate everyone on why he felt that vegan ethics should come before food waste, but he didn't enlighten anyone, just insulted them.

In this zero waste group this wasn't the only time someone acted this way, but this was the worst attack I saw on others and the one that made me feel that it wasn't worth the hassle of being in the group. It seems it was a common problem because the pinned message at the top of the page asked that people be understanding that everyone is at a different stage in their journey of cutting down on waste and to please be supportive not critical.

The biggest irony for me is that this is coming from people who profess to be caring and empathic!

The pattern seems to be, to butt in, make them feel stupid, ignorant and selfish for not knowing something they were never told, then sit smug with the comfort that their superior knowledge makes them a more noble person. Meanwhile, their hit and run victim is left feeling battered and no better informed for it.

Do they do it because that's what's been done to them and they want to feel what it's like on the other side? Or is their mind still very similar to that of a child who has yet to learn empathy and assumes anything that they know or like is known and liked by everyone else automatically? Or are they frustrated because the word is not spreading quickly enough for everyone to come around to their way of thinking?

Admittedly it can kind of feel good to know that you know something that someone else has yet to learn. However, I find it much more fulfilling and satisfying to teach them something new and see them grow from it, than to knock them down and belittle them. If they really feel they are more intelligent and caring than someone else, surely the more noble way to demonstrate that is by showing empathy and educating, not by being a complete buffoon and acting entirely the opposite!

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