I Found Myself Wishing Death and Misfortune Upon Others

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Abstract

ath because they believed in a cause that I deemed “stupid”.</p><p id="37c8">But, did they really deserve to suffer through the illness and die that way?</p><p id="a28f">I was shocked to realise that I was wishing death on hundreds of strangers that I didn’t even know. I had no way of understanding what they were like in their daily lives. What they were working as, what their beliefs were and how they lived before the lockdown.</p><p id="28fe">What if one of these strangers was protesting simply because he has a family to feed and a lockdown meant that he had no work. What if someone there was a regular volunteer at a pet shelter and had a family that would be devastated at her death.</p><p id="352c">Thinking back and reflecting on my own thoughts, I started to understand my reaction. I was simply angry that they were undermining the efforts of so many. I was as passionate about my beliefs (that everyone should be tucked away safely at home) as they were theirs.</p><p id="5ce9">That I believe, is completely normal.</p><p id="ead4">Emotions are a part of human nature that we cannot escape from. Just as we feel happy when something good happens, we feel hate and anger when the actions of others doesn’t line up with our own beliefs.</p><p id="894a">In these cases, wishing misfortune and death becomes figurative. I don’t really want all of these people to die slowly and painfully. I’m simply letting my internal anger and dissent manifest in a physical form.</p><p id="68c5">Under no circumstance would I intentionally cause physical harm to anyone. I have never planned to and will never try to bring about situations that could jeopardise the safety of someone.</p><p id="8017">Yet every time I’m dumbfounded by a situation, I will probabl

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y still catch myself cursing at that individual or group of people. And I will definitely not be alone. For I now recognise that this is simply a way for my emotions to reveal themselves.</p><p id="88a9">And just like how we say “I hate you” when we’re fuming, “I hope you die” is something that we think at the peak of our emotions. Without any physical actions, it will simply be a passing thought with no harm intended. That is completely normal.</p><p id="582f">You may also be interested in reading:</p><div id="a15f" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-disgrace-hiding-behind-the-masks-f9a64d612435"> <div> <div> <h2>The Disgrace Hiding Behind the Masks</h2> <div><h3>How society’s ugliness and selfishness surfaced in our rush to protect ourselves</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*LEPkq1PSPaFPd4NK)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="a133" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/reflections-about-societys-mental-state-3c0653db1df6"> <div> <div> <h2>Reflections about society’s mental state</h2> <div><h3>How we can rethink our stance on mental health</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*[email protected])"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

What that reveals about human nature

As I read the news about the anti-lockdown protests, I found myself annoyed and furious. After all the work the healthcare professionals are putting in to help patients, after the sacrifices everyone made to enter lockdown and after countries like Italy showed the world the true danger of the virus.

Who were these people to walk around without any protection, placing everyone else at risk. They were spreading misinformation amongst themselves and spouting arguments that were nonsensical. If only they could pause for a minute to listen to experts.

I was fuming, reading about how they were misusing the “second amendment” to carry guns into a protest that shouldn’t be happening in the first place. I couldn’t understand how they thought all this was a hoax just to inject a “fake vaccine” into them.

But that wasn’t all. I caught myself secretly hoping that they caught the virus. I was wishing that they would suffer the full brunt of the virus before they faced the ultimate consequence, death.

That’ll teach them, I thought to myself. Deep within my consciousness, I somehow justified this vile notion of wishing death upon them by convincing myself that they deserved it. That they deserved death because they believed in a cause that I deemed “stupid”.

But, did they really deserve to suffer through the illness and die that way?

I was shocked to realise that I was wishing death on hundreds of strangers that I didn’t even know. I had no way of understanding what they were like in their daily lives. What they were working as, what their beliefs were and how they lived before the lockdown.

What if one of these strangers was protesting simply because he has a family to feed and a lockdown meant that he had no work. What if someone there was a regular volunteer at a pet shelter and had a family that would be devastated at her death.

Thinking back and reflecting on my own thoughts, I started to understand my reaction. I was simply angry that they were undermining the efforts of so many. I was as passionate about my beliefs (that everyone should be tucked away safely at home) as they were theirs.

That I believe, is completely normal.

Emotions are a part of human nature that we cannot escape from. Just as we feel happy when something good happens, we feel hate and anger when the actions of others doesn’t line up with our own beliefs.

In these cases, wishing misfortune and death becomes figurative. I don’t really want all of these people to die slowly and painfully. I’m simply letting my internal anger and dissent manifest in a physical form.

Under no circumstance would I intentionally cause physical harm to anyone. I have never planned to and will never try to bring about situations that could jeopardise the safety of someone.

Yet every time I’m dumbfounded by a situation, I will probably still catch myself cursing at that individual or group of people. And I will definitely not be alone. For I now recognise that this is simply a way for my emotions to reveal themselves.

And just like how we say “I hate you” when we’re fuming, “I hope you die” is something that we think at the peak of our emotions. Without any physical actions, it will simply be a passing thought with no harm intended. That is completely normal.