Our Thug Quotient

Every American kid that attended public school has, at some point, been tested to determine his/her IQ.  IQ = Intelligence Quotient, i.e. the potential ability to learn, and at what level.  Over the years, research has challenged the validity of IQ scores.  Research has also determined that IQ goes down over time.   I believe the latter!  The older I get, the stupider people get.  Or is it just me?  I wish I knew!

The advent of the Internet in our collective lives has created an avenue for instant "news", and not all of it is truthful.  It also has hugely promoted the notion that we have Freedom of Speech, so everyone's contributions on opinion-driven truth should be respected--unless, of course, it differs from our own.  Most articles found on the Internet have comment sections where common folk can chime in with their God-Given right to their opinions.  I rarely ever comment, but I do read, and I've noticed that it takes (on average) about three comments before attitudes get dark and name-calling starts.  People say things to one another in print that they would never do face-to-face.  The anonymity of it all has created the American Thug.   This person is a bully who is smarter than you, holier than you, is a spokesperson for what God wants, and doesn't care what your issues are.  The Thug's world is black and white.  Nothing gray.  Everything is pocketbook-initiated yet not reasoned out to the bigger picture.  Knee-jerk stuff.  Thus, I consider that everyone has a Thug Quotient, i.e. the potential to be something online that they are not in real life.

What is your TQ?  What do you do when no one can identify you?
Do you throw a lit cigarette out of a moving car window because no one is behind you to see it?
Do you just drive away when you bump/scrape another car with yours, leaving damage behind?
Do you pick your nose when no one is watching?
Do you leave nasty anonymous notes on other vehicle windshields when you don't approve of their parking?
Do you go back to the store when you realize that they didn't charge you for something you bought?
Do you comment when people don't return their shopping carts to the corral without knowing the situation?
Do you assume that someone on food stamps is bilking the system because they left in a fancy car?
Do you tell obese people that they shouldn't be eating what they ordered?
Do you comment on people's appearance in public?
Do you assume that panhandlers will only use donations to buy alcohol or drugs?
Do you not volunteer or donate or give back because it's easier to let someone else do it?
The questions go on...

Politics is a very rich soil on which to cast your TQ.  Posted on Reddit.com yesterday was a picture of a vehicle that had "Vote Trump" all over it, with extra news written on the rear window that used the n-word and showed the rest of us how some people feel protected for their Thugism by our Commander-in-Chief.  This is not the picture I had of our nation.  This is not how I live.  I'm old and disabled, but I'm definitely not ready to let America give in to the Nazi mentality of Thugism.

Think about it.  Spread the word.