does love still exist?

[mojo]

i am just curious if love still exists in this day and age. i look around and see that people are not truly concerned with the next person. we stab each other in the workplace, we honk at people having car problems because they cause us an inconvenience, we don't thank people that hold doors open for us.....it's all very silly. and on another level, we talk behind our spouse's/significant other's back, flirt with other people, and generally cause tension in our relationships. maybe we love ourselves more, which is good...but at what cost?

the first reaction to such a statement is typically "not me" or even some justification for anything that has happened. i know it does indeed exist, but i would like to know the general consensus on this on the whole. maybe my expectations are just too high.

[southernbelle]

... where the weather is fine and the women are beautiful!

Seems like you may be confusing LOVE with gentility...

I guess I still believe in love, even after just coming out of a wicked bad divorce. I still think there is nothing better than those first few weeks of being totally in love, when your breathe catches when you just see them. Unless it is the comfort of coming home when you know they'll be there waiting.

Yep, hopeless romantic, I am.

[ProMinx]

love exists...clear and simple. i still love my ex, even though she put me into a nose-dive that ended with a half dozen empty 151 bottles around the dorm room...a couple weeks later...without sharing. I still love her, but I can't stand talking to her...partially because when I see her, she still lights up and gets the same old huge smile...but her eyes seem dead compared to the past. ALl I think about when we run into each other (not common because we live 100 miles apart, but it happens about once every two months)...all I want to do is pull her in and just give her a hug and say I'm sorry...even though I don't even think I have anything to apologize for... Alas...love exists, and it seems to be the bain of my dating life. How many times have I thought "This girl is perfect; she models, is really intelligent, totally forward and outgoing, is totally honest, and we share dozens of interest...but she isn't nicole...i can't do this."

ProMinx

[johnnymk]

Love exists, but probably in small quantities. Love is not primarily a feeling; it's a decision to give your heart to the other person even after the feeling has slowed down or even left.
Everywhere I look, I see the same thing: failed marriages, adultery, children and parents not getting along,strangers
attacking strangers, and on and on.
The idea that I am the center of my life has resulted in very fragile relationships, at home and in the workplace.


[Edited by johnnymk on 07-15-2001 at 04:35 AM]

[chrissy]

You're right, love is missing in our society. Even if we find it at home. Parents working too much, not teaching children to say "bless you" to a stranger sneezing, or holding a door for an elderly lady... it's just not there. I can't count the times kids bump into me when we are out shopping and look at me and continue on. No excuse me... no sorry... We are missing love.

Something happened, I don't remember when, where we became self relient. We stopped helping others in need. We stopped listening to Grandparents and pushed them away into homes. Stopped listening about EVERY thing they had seen happen in their lives... (Do you realize that someone in their 80's or 90's has seen electricity, tv, radio, cars all of that, come about in their life time? We have done nothing but improve on what they did??) We stopped being room parents at school. With two working parents, we rely on the teacher to teach everything to our kids. We don't have time in our socitey to lead by example anymore.

Dunno, it starts at home. Start treating others the way you would like to be treated (Golden Rule). RAOK...random act of kindness... anything to help bring love back to the world... :)

[attgig]

AGAPE

always has, always will...

[stupidzbu]

love exists....

but it is not individualized.... long before globalization and WWII..... there seemed to be a sort of 'groupness' to americans.....

when immigrants still melted into american heritage...

this is what i call the third world syndrome... when you have NOTHING.. you are forced to speak to the person next to you.. in order to get by life....

in uruguay (where I am from).. nobody has enough money to live.. so they join associations... where 100 people donate $100 a month... and they give away 2 new cars a month.. until everyone has one.. and everyone's done paying the cars....

that brings about love... mutual respect... friendship...

but... if you agree with Robert Putnam in 'Bowling ALone' .. TV is the cause of our downfall... because.. with the surge of globalization and american power in world economies.. we don't need to worry about our standard of living that much... so instead of gathering like we USED to... we sit and watch TV... in our lonesome

he wrote that in the 70's .. so i would guess the NET doesn't help much either!

but... i don't know.. i love my girlfriend... i fly down to argentina ... which costs around $1000... just to tutor her in biochemistry.... then i fly back.... casue i start school....

love exists.. only if you can find something that you can love... and that is willing to love back...

in america.. it gets harder and harder to love someone.. especially in california.. cause most of us are just too fake... to show our true emotions...most are scared to share their inner most feelinds... and thus turn to soap opera jery springer lives...

but love does still exist!

[molecularfire]

Love has never existed. It's just a concept that we made up so that we would not destroy the human race out of greed and spite.

[Kim]

I think love still exists. I feel it every time my baby boy gives me a slobbery kiss and a sticky hug, or my daughter tells me I'm the most beautiful mama in the world. I show my love to them by teaching them to respect and nurture others.

[Ice-9]

Screw love.

(Disclaimer: Ice-9 was dumped yesterday by a girl with whom he was very much in love.)

[Edited by Ice-9 on 07-16-2001 at 10:43 AM]

[welfareloser]

Originally posted by Ice-9
Screw love.

(Disclaimer: Ice-9 was dumped yesterday by a girl with whom he was very much in love.)

[Edited by Ice-9 on 07-16-2001 at 10:43 AM]

[dueling reactions] lol :heh: dude, that sucks; my sympathies. :laugh: [/dueling reactions]

laughing at your sense of humor, not the fact that you got dumped...

[jase71]

I think romantic love is still alive and well. It'd take a lot to kill that off...

But general love/concern for the rest of mankind has taken a pretty heavy hit over the last 20 years or so.

Seems like it kinda started in the 80's... or at least that's the way I remember it. We developed this "I worked hard for it, and it's all mine. You're not getting any! If you want some, work for it yourself!" attitude. It started out with welfare mothers and medicare, and it's gradually trickled down to even little day things like parking spots, and places in line.

We're so concerned with the things we have a RIGHT to, that we've sort of forgotten about our RESPONSIBILITIES, like compassion and common decency, and the greater good. "Dammit, I waited for this parking spot, and I don't care if she's a handicapped mother of 3 young children, it's MINE. She can wait for her own $#%^# spot!"

It seems as if we're gradually devolving from a society into merely a collection of individuals. "Give and take" has become TAKE. Bottom line outweighs common good. And your own inflated self importance is more important than the dreams, needs, and desires of everyone else.

Why not treat people like crap when you're constantly told that they're stealing part of your paycheck, or that they're the source of all crime, or that they're somehow to blame for your less than perfect life?

It's kinda sad... because we all buy it. Every single one of us. And we reinforce it with our decisions where we live, work, send our kids to school, and who we vote for.

But we recognize what's happening.... we're just doing exactly the wrong things to fix it...

[Grimm]

There is no such thing as love. It is a concept popularized by the candy, flower and gift card industries to get you to spend your money on useless things.

(Disclaimer: evilcyclops was also dumped yesterday by a girl with whom he thought he was very much in love.)

Love sux.

[zenbooty]

Money can't buy love... But it can rent it!

[Grimm]

Originally posted by zenbooty
Money can't buy love... But it can rent it!

Money can't but something that doesn't exist, therefore money can't buy love. Makes perfect sense.