Are you a cynical person?

[mellie]

Am I a cynical person?

Quite possibly

It's age that does it - you have seen too much - as I have.

The definition

cynical
adjective
1.
believing that people are motivated purely by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity.
"he was brutally cynical and hardened to every sob story under the sun"
2.
concerned only with one's own interests and typically disregarding accepted standards in order to achieve them.
"a cynical manipulation of public opinion"

I believe 99% of people aren't motivated purely by self- interest.
I also believe in fair argument, debate and am open to more qualified peoples point of view on topics such as the drug Ivermectin for instance.

I spoke to my incredibly clever GP tonight, and told him about the research paper I found concerning Ivermectin, and asked him if it were possible that drug companies would be inclined to undermine their own 50 year old product for profit if they believed they could sell us a later and much more expensive model, drug such a biologic and gain from it.
He wasn't who prescribed me the expensive biologics btw, was the rheumatology clinic Dr.

I know that I may have sounded cynical, but I am generally a very trusting person when it comes to individuals I meet or even chat to online , however when it comes to large corporations, pharmaceutical companies, politicians etc I'm keenly aware that there are a small percentage of our population out there who unfortunately lack a social conscience and for whatever reason, don't do the right thing by their fellow human beings. I guess I'm more guarded and inquisitive than I am cynical, because I desperately want to believe that people are operating in good faith, it's just I'm afraid experience tells us all to be careful.

I think it's human nature to want desperately to trust others 100% of the time , but the reality is there are some sods out there who lack a moral compass and aren't capable of feeling empathy.

So for me, people I meet are presumably of decent character unless they give me reason to consider otherwise.

Now, in the instance of politicians, pharmaceutical companies, large corporations etc, there's too many examples of when they've been caught red handed serving themselves, doing the wrong thing by those they swear an oath or sign contracts to do the right thing by in order for me to trust entirely, so I remain guarded here I'm afraid.

Of course age and life experience has a say in this too.

I think most of us feel this way, does anyone here believe all politicians, pharmaceutical companies, CEOs used car salesperson's , charitable organisations CEOs etc have our best interests at heart 100% of the time?

So, I don't believe I'm cynical, just because I'm aware that there are some sods out there.

Perhaps I'm guarded, but I don't believe I'm cynical because I genuinely believe that most people are good and I am not distrustful of others until I have a reason to be.

I think most of us can relate here.

[mellie]

And there's some nutters out there who unfortunately get sets on people too, and will go out of their way to hurt others for reasons that only make sense to them.
I actually had a female stalker from cracker & yahoo's
message boards who didn't agree with my political views or content ( I think) so actually went so far as to call me and
shriek at me down the phone and then hang up my! When this failed, she called my relatives, and probably anyone else on the coast who shared my surname in an attempt to scare me and stop me from posting on the boards.
I laugh at it now, but at the time it troubled me to think that a virtual stranger would do something like this to stop me participating on forums. It turned ugly , and she made violent threats, I know she was clearly off her rocker, but it still bothered me at the time.

So, I'm a little more careful now, and if I think someone's unstable, I won't challenge them, I leave them to it.

Because it's not worth it.