What is your emotional flashpoint?

[Jacco]

I was just on Facebook and story came up regarding vaccines. Well naturally the anti-vaccine people were out in force on the comments and as I was reading through them, I found myself getting legitmately angry.

Now, I never NEVER get mad at things online (or really even everyday things like politics or religion) so this was interesting to me. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the whole subject of vaccines was an "emotional flashpoint" that could set me off quickly and easily.

Let me be clear: I am not trolling, and I do not want to start arguments in this thread. I am simply curious about other people's emotional flashpoints and why they care so much. So don't give anyone shit about their posts. Simply read it and try to understand it if you disagree and move on.

So, what is your emotional flashpoint issue and why?

 

[Esotera]

I guess reading about how all the governments in the world have been conducting mass surveillance on all of us for the last few years, it makes me even angrier that no-one seems to care. I will also second the anti-vaccine movement with homeopathy and other quack science.

 

[Zhukov]

Police brutality.

Something about the idea of abuse of power coming from those who are granted exceptional legal status drives me nuts. I don't quite have the vocabulary to describe how furious I feel when I see videos of cops beating or tazing people.

It's one thing to feel angry. It's quite another to feel both angry and helpless.

Luckily the police where I come from are generally pretty good. All the cops I've personally dealt with were total pros. Although some of the stuff I've heard them say while off the clock gave me pause.

 

[sky14kemea]

Bullying. Specifically when people are bullying others for their own entertainment.

Having been a victim of bullying, and also a bit of a bully before that, I kind of know both sides. (You could say me getting bullied was karma? Though I think it went a bit beyond that).

Anyways, I just hate to see people being singled out and picked on, no matter what the subject is.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

Religious debates, which I try to stay away from as much as I can, but sometimes they just leak through.
Anyway.
It's not so much the fact they exist(although that is a contributor) it's the fact that if you go somewhere and someone says so much as "God bless you" (which is a compliment) people have to get so riled up.

It was when I looked up Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down" and found a freaking religious debate in the comments that I just had enough.

Thankfully though, my faith in coexistence is redeemed every time I see people of opposing viewpoints respect each others opinions and differences and realize that they're just as valid as their own instead of going
"lol, ur stupid."
It warms my heart a little each time.
To be fair, that happens all the time in the real world but it almost never happens online which is why it makes me so please.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I can't think of anything too specific, probably because I don't have Facebook or anything so i'm not drawn into arguments over these things at all. I don't even open those sexism/racism/whateverism on this site even. I can't make any jokes in those without someone (probably American, sorry guys your sense of humour is terrible XD) taking it the wrong way and flying off the handle at me.

Ok cop out answer time: I hate when people just ignore, disregard or are just thoughtless over other people's feelings. I am naturally empathetic/sympathetic/considerate towards pretty much everyone regardless of anything and everything. That random criminal on TV? Y'know he's probably pretty lonely in a prison cell fretting over his upcoming trial... Gosh I hope he's ok.

Oh actually, that case of that League player getting arrested for making a bad joke on Facebook? Yeah, that's just fucking bad. I can't even agree with people saying "oh just give him community service." What you're banning jokes now?

US legal system OP, nerf pls.

Riot pls.

 

[krazykidd]

Racism . I will avoid anything that is about racism . Books , movies , games ( to a lesser extent ). Threads about racism i try to avoid , but sometimes curiosity get's the better of me , and i rarely post in them . Doesn't even matter which race it is . Hell i can't even stand when people talk about race without animosity . I'm going to stop here because even just writing this is making me remember instances that made me angry.

 

[AidoZonkey]

I get angry at a few things, Chain facebook posts is the one that sets me off all the time. Most of them are inaccurate and are just use as scare mongering (My favorite being one about a date rape drug that can be passed through contact of a card). They just make me furious as people don't check their facts and blindly post. Google search people, or Bing search lets not be biased here.

 

[piinyouri]

A lot of stuff.
Some of it seemingly trivial, others not so much.

Pretty much any time I see someone being unbelievably ignorant I get riled up.

I'm pretty unstable though, probably hovering right around bi-polar.

 

[The White Hunter]

Many many things will set me off into rage or despair, partially because I'm rather unstable and partially because I have extremely overdeveloped sense of justice and if an authority won't do anything god damn it I fucking will.

Thats why I had to have anger management at school.

 

[The White Hunter]

I guess reading about how all the governments in the world have been conducting mass surveillance on all of us for the last few years, it makes me even angrier that no-one seems to care. I will also second the anti-vaccine movement with homeopathy and other quack science.

I too got angry about that.

As for the vaccine thing, here in the UK loads of people have been getting measles and shit and becoming extremely ill because of the anti-vaccine twats. My mother had the sense to let me be immunised against potentially crippling diseases thankfully. Rather than being a stuck up anti-science hippie.

 

[Dirge Eterna]

I am pretty laid back and calm 99% of the time. My wife gets pissed that I won't fight with her and that I am rational and able to argue without getting overly emotional. She wants to have angry make up sex lol. But two things really set me off quickly and upset me to a great deal. 1. Messing with my family or friends, I have a protector type of soul. 2. Messing with my money or possessions. I work hard for what I have and I grew up dirt poor so what I have I really value. to a slightly lesser extent denigrating the country and taking advantage of things. While the US isn't perfect I wouldn't live anywhere else and I have lived overseas for several years in different countries. I have my own opinions on ways we could be better but to just talk shit and offer no solutions is bullshit. When I see people siphoning off the state just to get over I get pretty upset. If you genuinely need help that's one thing but to take advantage of the system just to get over that pisses me off to no end.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I get really annoyed when I'm talking with people irl and somebody starts talking shit about someone who isn't there. I don't mind general talk or mentioning something that's a known joke about them, but proper criticising and insulting is too far for me.

 

[OneCatch]

I guess reading about how all the governments in the world have been conducting mass surveillance on all of us for the last few years, it makes me even angrier that no-one seems to care. I will also second the anti-vaccine movement with homeopathy and other quack science.

This. A fair bit of my family is extremely cautious of vaccinations (back in about 1924 or something a family member had a nasty reaction to one - thus they are all verboden). Luckily the core family is pretty sensible about it, but trying to persuade older relatives to get their damn vaccinations is fun.

Also, personally for me is people attempting to defend Pinochet. I probably came close to 'first ever mod wrath' last time I got involved in a discussion about him here (let alone elsewhere), so now I purposefully stay away from the subject, and vacate threads that it crops up in.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

Gossip and talking behind people's back. I hate it, it's devious, cowardly and disrespectful to the person being talked about. No good ever comes from it.

 

[Full]

A lot of stuff.
Some of it seemingly trivial, others not so much.

Pretty much any time I see someone being unbelievably ignorant I get riled up.

I'm pretty unstable though, probably hovering right around bi-polar.

It's vague, but my answer would have been this but just worded differently.

If I had to think of anything specific that's just one true thing that always does, I'd be here at this edit screen for a while. Maybe when people trivialize the struggles of others for seemingly no reason, I guess.

Anyway, I prefer to not purposefully think about things that make me mad because they always pop up randomly in my head anyway, and it was probably hard enough to forget about them.

 

[Silvanus]

Though I feel the same way as the OP & Esotera regarding vaccines & homeopathy & "quack science", I must say I don't tend to get riled up about it. I'll argue, I'll roll my eyes, I'll even sometimes go out of my way to research more evidence to use, but I'll not get genuinely angry.

Police brutality.

Something about the idea of abuse of power coming from those who are granted exceptional legal status drives me nuts. I don't quite have the vocabulary to describe how furious I feel when I see videos of cops beating or tazing people.

It's one thing to feel angry. It's quite another to feel both angry and helpless.

Luckily the police where I come from are generally pretty good. All the cops I've personally dealt with were total pros. Although some of the stuff I've heard them say while off the clock gave me pause.

I think this is the biggest one of mine, too, actually. I attended a protest just over a year ago, and the London Met came out in force, preventing the protesters from leaving for eight+ hours (for three of which we were kettled). Some of the protesters acted like tools, definitely, but no protester endangered people as much as the police did. The police charged horses at us, beat those at the front with batons, and left us without a toilet for so long.

Christ, I'm still so angry about it. At the time, I remember going up to individual policemen several times and arguing, arguing, arguing, telling them they were all culpable, telling them they were breaking EU law. I only wish I'd been harsher. I've imagined so many harsher things to say, asking them whether they have children, asking them whether they'd be willing to do the same to their own kids. Argh.

 

[Generalissimo]

Gossip and talking behind people's back. I hate it, it's devious, cowardly and disrespectful to the person being talked about. No good ever comes from it.

100% agreed. if you have a problem with someone, say it to their face or say shtum.

OT:
Religious preachers. i don't care what you're preaching, i will drag you off your high horse and (verbally) beat you to your knees until you promise to stop being a prick. i have done this multiple times, and not regretted it.

i have done this in front of friends

i have done this in front of family

i have done this in front of the general public.

lesson? DO. NOT. PREACH. IN. FRONT. OF. ME. i WILL endlessly bash you for it, made one guy cry once. when i go after you, any assemblance of decency and mercy goes out the window. go and spread your lies and bigotry elsewhere!

why yes, i am hardline atheist.

 

[the December King]

Cruelty or abuse to animals is my trigger, and no rational argument can come from hearing about horrible acts committed on animals.

The people responsible should be killed. I'd say tortured and then killed, but thinking that they would associate their own predicament with their victims is giving them the grace of intellect and sympathy that, if they had in the first place, would have never resulted in such cruel acts being perpetrated on the innocent.