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I think your observation is correct. Historically our western cultural tendency has been to attribute all blame or accolades to an individual's character, which I think is rooted in part in religious notions (how else can character not be a product of environment and genetics, which are not under one's control?) but mostly as a byproduct of our need to explain the wealth/status gap in the context of a supposed meritocracy. As we've grown more enlightened, as a society, to the reality that pretty much everything comes down to dumb luck in one way or another, we've started using this to excuse ourselves of our negative characteristics in order to relieve societal pressure to change, because either we don't really want to change or just because it is easier. It's made even worse by the application of labels to the excuses. Once you assign a label to yourself it becomes part of your identity, your memetic self, and now needs to be defended and possibly even reinforced. Which isn't to say that our old mindset is entirely correct either. "None of the blame" and "all of the blame" are just two extreme perspectives no the same reality. I guess what I'm saying is that some things are significantly more difficult for some people than others due to factors beyond their control, and we should be more understanding of that than we are, but at the same time that doesn't necessarily mean they shouldn't work towards change, if change is what they desire, or that there shouldn't be consequences to being unwilling to invest that effort. For context, I was somewhere north of 320lbs when I graduated college and have lost, and kept off, about half of that. It was by far the hardest I've ever done in my entire life. I wage constant war with my own body, every day, to maintain my current weight and I'm willing to do it because I took up a hobby where weighing less is significantly beneficial. As such, I have a very low opinion of people who think that because they have to exert little to no effort to maintain their weight then for others it must be just as easy. However, I also have a pretty low opinion of people making excuses for their weight, and believing that they shouldn't have to deal with at least some of the consequences of it. If you don't mind being fat so much, because you like eating more than what you think you'd get out of being thinner, that's fine, I can respect that, but you don't get to make that decision and not accept the consequences. You are entitled to be treated like a person regardless, but you don't get to complain about having to pay extra to fly because you need two seats. |