cramming bones drifting

totally-not-random (i don't feel like explaining it's origins) random thought:
do you have to be an asshole to get people to respect or, even, like you?
i don't think so. i mean, i don't want to believe that people are that stupid. but, i can't be sure. people like things to be cut and dry--a lot of people anyway. this is why things like top ten lists have become so popular. it appeals to the very human need to make distinctions and organize things. also, this is why the concept of genre--the idea that things can be lumped definitively into fixed categories has become so prevalent. it fulfills this need. it makes things seem absolute. black and white. when it's--really--anything but.
i'd like to believe that everything can just exist--that we don't need to make these distinctions or that these distinctions can exist without requiring further distinctions between what is "good" or what is "bad." it's all circumstantial in my opinion. in the right light, in the right context, anything is "good." anything is "bad." mullets, for instance, may seem "bad" or "uncool" to the wrong group of people. but some people legitimately like mullets. for them, mullets are "cool." they are "good." so, how can we say, ultimately, that mullets are not a good idea. is it popular opinion? what does it matter. why can't people learn to just appreciate that some people are different? i mean, isn't that what we've been taught in school?
it's funny. the same people who criticize racists for hating a group of people for something as arbitrary and pointless as race or skin color commit the same error in analogous circumstances. for instance, plenty of hipsters are active in social affairs. politics, etc.. not because they feel passionately about these things--hot-button issues--but because it's cool to get involved in social issues and politics. furthermore, associating with a certain political group--conservative, liberal, whatever--sets you apart from those who choose to associate with other groups. and they bash each other for this very reason. because both sides have chosen to think or conduct their lives differently. obviously, this is kind of a flawed analogy--when it comes to politics, not all the time, but sometimes it matters--but work with me. it's the same idea. someone shows their "true colors," so to speak (and this is the rationale of these people) and, suddenly, that person is no longer "cool." they're a democrat. or they're a republican. or a commie. and because they are the way they are, because they think the way they do, they're automatically hated. why? because they're different. anti-racists hate racists much in the same way racists hate members of other races. because they're unlike themselves. it's kind of dumb, really, when you think about it. i mean, i'm not condoning racism, by any means. all i'm saying is that, though the act itself may be wrong, it's not right bear a grudge against that person. it's not constructive either. you should want to help them. because, ultimately, this is how racism is going to end. racism is not going to stop because you decide to try to stop racism, as a concept. it's going to stop because you try to stop racists from believing in racism. hating them is only going to incite them--breed even more conflict. two wrongs, etc. the goal should be, not to shut them out, but to open their minds.

i don't know.

whatever. i guess i'm getting kind of tired. it's been weird night. i think i'm going to go to bed.

bluh.