Anatomy of a Basher
With the growing popularity of social networking sites came the rise of reality TV as well. We now could all be voyeurs in other people’s day-to-day, otherwise humdrum, goings on. Put together social networking and reality TV and you have what our society is made up of today. Although this phenomenon has been around for quite some time, it still is considered a very young form of media, which I suppose needs getting used to. I’d like to focus now on what I like to call the birth of the basher. When I say basher, this could mean both real people and also the cowardly type who hide behind fictitious social networking accounts. To the untrained eye, bashers seem relevant because like-minded people support their way of thinking. Put simply: misery loves company. I myself see bashers as endorsers of negativity, which is mainly associated with the dark side. I like to refer to anything evil as the dark side in order to not have to touch on any religious denominations. So this is more of a scientific approach and is based on human nature.
Bashers are guilty of character flaws, which stem from pride and envy. These type of people are mainly arrogant, self-centered, conceited and have the need to always be right. They also like to find fault and project onto others their own limitations. Most of all, they are vain, frustrated attention-seekers and cannot accept their own mistakes. They are inconsiderate and disrespectful of others. Above all, they themselves have no achievements to speak of and feel that they are entitled to what other successful people have, without having to work hard for these. The way I describe them, I want you to see a very ugly being, eaten up by all its misplaced passions and anger with what they feel as having been wrongly dealt their card in life.
Pride is an overflowing belief in one’s self; belief that all of our abilities are brought upon ourselves by us alone—without any aid from others, nor from a higher power. Envy is defined as being resentful of others’ success. Envious people think that they are entitled to what others have by merely just wishing for it. They do not take into consideration other factors needed in order to gain that success, such as hard work, knowing how to deal with other people, being likeable, or sometimes, just being in the right place at the right time and making the most of the circumstances. People who are envious also have a tough time dealing with rejection. Unfortunately, they are not aware that it is actually this fear of rejection, which takes over them and hinders their ability to achieve success.
Envious people have to deal with going through the pain twice: first is when they realize their loss, and the second when they have to watch others enjoy their success. Of course the first part is a natural reaction. If your immediate reaction to rejection and loss is regret, you are quite normal and should be happy that you are able to feel this, as it protects you from being cynical, which, sadly, could turn you into a callous person no longer able to sympathize with others. After the initial reaction though, we must find ways to get over it and move on to other matters and be able to tell ourselves that life, indeed, goes on. The danger happens when, after we feel that loss or rejection, we transpose it to anger and a complete unacceptability of the situation. Even worse, these negative feelings last for days, wherein we cannot let go, and even wish ill upon those who have had the good fortune to succeed. When the darkside takes over, the basher will resort to making up stories about the people they envy and will narrate these tall tales to anyone who is willing to listen. The more unbelievable the story, the better. The basher’s audience is made up of equally disturbed beings that lap it all up and accept these baseless stories as fact because it makes them feel better about their wretched selves. What the basher and its followers are doing is actually a form of addiction and it seems they both cannot survive without hating on others. Meanwhile, the basher fills its need of having the spotlight on himself by not even having to do so much as spinning tales, and the followers also fill their need for having a few seconds of being out of the doldrums in their otherwise boring lives, by being entertained at someone else’s expense.
Sadly, some people are more prone to being bashed by others because it seems they are larger than life, too good to be true and have achieved so much. They are popular and their popularity lasts through time. These are the favorite targets of this sorry kind of person. A good way to cope with these creatures is to first ignore them, then analyze them. Much of how a person is, is a result of their childhood. Most of how bashers operate stems from an unhappy life and the lack of forming healthy relationships. Finally, their actions stem from a deep-seated hatred they have of themselves. Once you identify that the basher is actually projecting his frustrations on you, it makes it easier to not take their comments personally and just ignore them. They will eventually tire of picking on you. Unfortunately, they will move on to their next victim and sadly, some fall prey to their attacks. Funny as it seems, bashers are persons carrying a great inferiority complex in the guise of a superiority complex.
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EXCITING! 
