My son asked me

[Jim Warren]

Hello fellow misanthropes :hi:

Anyway, seems the lad has been reading some Swift and Pope; and he says:

So, is it people you like but just can't stand humanity (Swift)

or,

is it humanity you care for but can't stand people. (Pope)

I hate it when he nails me like that, but a'guess I'm Swiftian.

You?

[supernova]

1. I think I'm Popian, rather than Swiftian

I care about the general welfare of my fellow humans and and want the best for them, even if I don't get along with them very well in the day to day.

[DemExpat]

2. I love my family and a few close friends dearly, but I am Popian!

I have concern and a deep empathy for humankind, but it is the individual groups and people who I have trouble with - tolerating and accepting their clamouring for attention, and their, to me, often misguided actions.

OTOH I qualify as Swiftian too in some circumstances - when I love individual people but feel like dropping a big one on humanity as a whole when I see what a tragic mess of cruelty we collectively make...:nuke:

:D

DemEx

[LWolf]

3. Swift.

I care about individual people. I am horrified by humanity as a species overtaking and destroying the planet.

When I think of an individual, I think of all the things that make them so unique, so incredible, of all the beauty, humor, creativity, intelligence, passion, and care that make them an embodiment of the sacred.

When I think of humanity, I think of ignorance, greed, hate, fear, self-centeredness, bullies, disease, despair, destruction.

[bemildred]

4. The problem is that individuals can be so worthy of respect,

having such intelligence and such good will,
and that man in the mass exhibits neither. So
I suppose that makes me a comrade of Swift.

[hippiechick]

5. Popian checking in ...

:hi: Hi All!

[mainegreen]

6. Popian.

[Jim Sagle]

7. Another vote for Pope.

[Darth_Kitten]

8. Pope

Lots of people just, well, annoy me.
:rofl:

[LWolf]

9. Good question.

I'm probably a Swiftian; I care about individual people, and mostly despise the species as a whole.

I have a large share of empathy for people, which might be why I avoid them; I am drained feeling the pain and dysfunction of too many.

I like people, including people I don't agree with. I just like who they are, even when I think they are stupid, blind, greedy, selfish, gullible, and yes, I sometimes think all those things about them. :blush:

I care about them and wish the best for them.

I don't like the species as a whole, finding it an arrogant, bullying, destructive, species-centric, power-mongering parasite on the planet.

[montanto]

10. I can't stand humanity, but

people suck too!

[Odin2005]

11. Pope.

I have a huge humanitarian streak and am no misanthrope, but some people...

[Moondog]

12. Swiftian.

Definitely.

[silverweb]

13. OMG... and here, for all these years, I thought...

"I love humanity, it's people I can't stand" was a quote from Schroeder.





Okay, so I guess I'm voting for Pope. :silly:

[CrispyQ]

14. Swift,

although there are very few people I can stand being around for any length of time. However, I look at our behavior as a collective & I'm disgusted. How can a species, that has individuals who will risk their lives to save a dog, do what we do to others & the planet?