Why do we hurt those weaker than us?

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I watched a Judge Judy episode and it made me angry. A woman who had mental issues (she admitted to being in a mental hospital at one point) was being taken advantage of by the family she babysat. I couldn’t believe what I was watching.

Even though she couldn’t articulate her case, and had no proof it was clear to everyone she was being taken advantage of. I shared before how I have worked closely with special needs people and understand how some of them think. She could not understand how she was being manipulated and I thought the worst things of the person doing this.

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Now this isn’t just to talk about justified anger. This is also to talk about why we feel we can take advantage of people who are weaker than ourselves. There are always people weaker than ourselves. Benjamin Franklin is credited with the quote, “To be humble to superiors is a duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness” We respect others not because we are looking to get a benefit but because everyone deserves it. Now you don’t have to like people you respect and certainly don’t have to help them.

What has served me well in life is to respect everyone regardless of what I thought/felt about them. If I felt someone was worse off than me due to the circumstances of their life, it caused me to feel compassion for them. What should have happened is that instead of using that woman, they should have felt compassion for her. They should not have forced her to go to Judge Judy on TV to get paid. The woman looked like she was going to have a breakdown from the pressure and frustration. Why would you do that to anyone and even worse do it to someone who barely understands it?

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People can be cruel and I don’t like that. That woman who was hurting her looked like the worst kind of person and no doubt she will feel the effects of this as people learn about her. I don’t ever support violence against another, but I have taken pleasure when Karma works its magic. People need to feel compassion for those who are not at their level. Anything else is inhuman.