There Are Worse Things So It Doesn't Matter

Am I the only one who hates this attitude? The argument that, because there are worse things in the world anything less terrible doesn't merit talking about? That people should feel bad for complaining about things because there's someone somewhere who has to deal with something worse?
I'm find the concept infuriating. There will ALWAYS be something worse, subscribing to this vision is basically a free ticket to disregard ANYTHING
Just because a problem someone has is a 'first world problem' or they have 'privilege' or something, doesn't mean the problem isn't a problem.
I mean, humility is one thing, it's good to keep things in perspective, but the idea that only the absolute worst off have any right to complain seems ludicrous to me

 

I get what you're talking about. Everyone has problems and when you stack them up against other people's problems, they seem better or worse comparatively. But they're still your problems. For example, my problem yesterday way that the middle of my bowtie noodles was chewier than the outside. Which seems super, insanely minor when compared to starving children in Africa. Starving children in Africa would kill to eat my chewier-in-the-middle bowties. But on a day that was pretty much excellent otherwise, it was a pretty big problem. Comparing it to the problems I'm probably going to have today (angry customers, foot and back pain, boredom, etc), I'll probably look back on my bowtie problem with happiness. It was a problem. A relatively minor problem, but it was a problem to me.

 

I remember who said it, but I recall reading something somewhere along the lines of, "Greater problems elsewhere do not invalidate lesser problems here."

 

this is good. people who try to one-up others with their problems suck.

 

Heard it being thrown around a lot back when our government was about to legalize gay marriage. "What a bunch of whiners, we have bigger problems on our hands !" Sure we do, but it' s a problem nonetheless. An easy and quick one to fix at that, as opposed to fixing the recession, so we might as well do it. There are more important things to do than flossing, does that mean we shouldn' t floss ?

 

I thought about this almost immediately after posting the topic, because yeah, another side effect of this is that it can easily lead to stagnation where people use it as an excuse to not deal with manageable problems, because, say, poverty still exists. They're not going to be able to end poverty, so they don't look bad for not doing it, but now they have an excuse for not support whatever they want

A friend of mine who is gay got a very... enlightening explanation from a transgender person I used to know. Apparently, him being gay isn't worthy of him complaining about how he's treated, because he's male, and white, and as such has privilege, unlike hir, who was a transgender, genderqueer, ethnic minority, so by default hir problems were FAR more pressing.

 

Anything that alleviates human suffering is worth looking into and discussing; some people's sufferings might be unequal, but then, I don't think there's much to be found in comparing people. If you're interested in this you should read some things about hard determinism. John Hospers in particular criticized comparing people and their situations, as it rarely helps anything and, more likely than not, only makes one of the people feel bad. For example, if you're struggling in school and I point to your brother and say "well look at him, he's suffering from depression and anxiety and he's bullied at school for being gay" then I'm only going to make you feel guilty rather than fostering a positive attitude and (say) study skills that will help you with your problem. Should we put our problems into perspective and maybe not complain so much, sure. It's not only considerate towards people with greater issues but it can help us in overcoming our own. But there's no reason to dismiss someone's struggles either.

That's why I feel kinda icky about all those "first world problems" memes. If it's something like your iPhone battery not charging fast enough then yeah, suck it up, but others are legit problems even if they're not as impressive as starvation or poverty. I don't think we need to turn suffering into a pissing contest.

 

We all know this is the most important first world problem



But yeah, I lot of people have this idea that comparing your problems will have a positive effect, and to be fair sometimes it does, but on average it just sows guilt, and just creates a culture where we're encouraged to hide our problems rather than deal with them

 

But nah. I get so sick of seeing/hearing that kind of argument.

 

Yes
You are the ONLY person in the world who thinks this.

 

wow, I should copyright it

 

Or just press triangle and bring up the save menu. Refills instantly.

 

I always got incredibly irritated at the people who were doing A levels (a higher and much harder qualification compared to GCSE's) and saying "GCSE's were so easy" to someone doing their GCSE's when yes they are easier but when you are doing them they are hard as **** no one should discredit their struggling because they aren't as hard as what they are doing. If GCSE's were so easy, why didn't everyone get straight A*'s then? It bothers me.

 

Aw yeah this used to bug me growing up, I have two older sisters (who are twins) and whenever I was having trouble in school they'd minimize what I was dealing with because their schoolwork was harder... Even though I could distinctly remember them struggling with the same class or assignment growing up. Thankfully it didn't happen often but it was still very frustrating.

 

I use the term, "It could be worse, so it ain't all bad" sometimes when I'm describing an issue I'm struggling with. I wouldn't use it to describe someone else's problem but at least to me it makes me feel slightly better in my given situation.

 

^Same. It's how I get through the day, in fact.
well, among other things

Apply it the other way around and it just makes a person come off as hella obnoxious. But hey, problems are problems and we all deal with them differently, and we can't blame people for how they react under stress/pressure and yadda yadda yadda.

 

That GIF is so mesmerising.

I think saying "It could be worse" to make someone feel better and saying it to condescend them are two different things :3 so it's alright.

 

I agree with that, but what bugs me is when it's used in an argument for something that actually does need attention.

 

Oh yes, it shouldn't something that allows you to just shrug past a problem but it can be a good way of consoling someone who feels cruddy :3