The benefit of the doubt

Thinking almost everyone is stupid is a defense mechanism which eventually exhausts you. You discover early on that you can think critically and then wield that as a weapon against the prejudicial and feeble minded masses.

But then with age you discover that most everyone is equally scared and much of their aggression comes from their own traumas and fears. You realize that they were once babies who we indoctrinated and then released into the wild to fend for themselves. That not everyone is repairable goes without saying, and yet we can do much by being model people who embody dignity but also have defense mechanisms when the situation demands it. At 60 I have both the  confidence plus the nasty bite to match which really is never required.

Early on in life I was witness to human cruelty and I could let that be a permanent testament to what society is. However to be bitter is to not truly live which is we can still be selective with our human connections without being quite so judgemental.

We can first start by giving people the benefit of the doubt.