Would the world be a better place if everyone acted like you?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Not “thought like you” or “felt like you” but “acted like you”.

For me, it’s a mixed bag.

For instance, everyone would always use their blinkers, but unfortunately everyone would also have a higher incidence of fender benders, because we’d all be so easily distracted.

Everyone would vote in presidential elections, but not so much in local elections.

Most charities would have starved to death, because it’s only been in the last couple of years that I’ve made donations to charities I like. Same for churches, professional sports, and vacation resorts.

Bookstores would rule the Earth. Designers of expensive purses and shoes would starve to death.

The courts probably wouldn’t ever have another felony trial, unless it was for felonious eating habits.

It would be a much more polite world, unless there was toe stubbing, and then the global climate would turn blue with cursing. Environmentalism would be stymied because we’d all want to help and agree that it’s very, very important, but none of us would be ready to give up driving - well, except maybe not, because if everyone behaved like me, mass transit would be a blast. No one would pee on the seats, no one would would blast music, and if you had a bad day, everyone on the bus would put aside their book or their knitting and console you.

World finance would probably come to a screeching halt or never develop in the first place, due to all the accountants being unable to concentrate on the math long enough to check their sums.

Movie quoting would be an Olympic sport.

No one would trade glasses for contacts. There would be no more make up, but lots of big, comfy chairs.

What about you?

2

Hell no! Let everyone be different.

3

Yes.

4

Oh, god, no. Civilization would collapse within the decade.

5

There’s a song by the Dead Milkmen called “Now Everybody’s Me” that explores this very issue.
-everybody’s sleeping with my girlfriend
-The stores stopped selling Amstel Light
-now my apartment’s really crowded, cause I live there and I’m everybody

I can’t remember what the other consequences were, but its a funny little song.

6

The world would certainly be more efficient. I’ll let you decide whether that would translate to better.

phouka, I’d like to live in your world. Hey! Let’s ride bikes!

7

Yes. Now fuck off.

8

We’d be extinct within a generation.

9

There would only be hockey or baseball on TV.

Much much more beer would be consumed.

Everyone would have a couple cats.

Voice mail would be abolished.

10

Well, nobody would use illegal drugs, but they’d drink lots of martinis, rum and bourbon , but I bet they’d all be really crabby. I’m not sure if things would be better or worse. Interesting thought nonetheless.

11

Mixed bag, but I would like the world I lived in.

There would be no cell phones. You would have to call me in a place I could take calls.
Willie Nelson would be played on every radio station regardless of format.
No one would ever have a bass boost in his car
Bills would be due on the day I have money
Beer would be sold everywhere
Everyone would willingly serve at least eight years in the Armed Forces

On the downside:
War would be a constant thing
Everyone would have to hear about everyone else’s combat experience
There would be a thunderstorm everyday
No one would ever vote in any election.
SSG Schwartz

12

It would be just like in that strange Twilight Zone episode, “The Mind and the Matter.” Where the obnoxious man decides to try and make everyone else disappear…and then make them come back, but be just like him.

13

The world would be a very quiet place. The first week would be very intense with everybody drawing lines around what they considered theirs. If we survived that stage, everybody would keep inside his lines and total peace would result.

Traffic would flow flawlessly except for the occasional 1000-car pileup. Not a lot of people would drive, though.

The place would be spotless, quiet and scent-free.

There would be 5 restaurants to every corner. Doctors would have to beg for money. They would get plenty, though.

Musicians would be the richest people on Earth, right next to photographers (and camera vendors)

There would be no lawyers, and nobody would notice.

Not a terribly bad place, if you ask me.

14

Civilization as we know it would collapse in however long it takes electric generators to power down on their own, or for our communications systems to fail due to lack of proper maintenance and management, whichever comes first.

Then, humanity would slowly perish as everyone thought about how we should really figure out what we’ll need to do to be prepared to do whatever needed to be done to take care of things.

Inevitably, it’d all be put off in favor of reading, playing board games, eating whatever foods available, sex, etc. Mankind would die because of a complete inability to resist our impulse to pursue immediate creature-comforts over anything else.

Except for taking care of pets and little kids. We’d be pretty good about using whatever food and resources we had available for them before the rest of us. Hell, if anything could get us to work like we needed to so that modern society could continue, it’d be them.

PS. There’d be almost no wars, law suits, everyone would be straight edge (no drugs, drinking, or smoking), there’d be no crime (aside from rampant theft of food when things got desperate enough), and virtually no prejudice (except for the rare ignorant “I didn’t realize what I was saying/thinking” kind).

PPS. The sewage & sanitation systems would be the last piece of civilization intact. Germs are icky, and keeping things clean is quintessential.

15

There would be a shortage of dark chocolate. And possibly of kitties.

16

Yikes, terrifying thought.

Nothing would ever get finished. Great projects would be planned and abandoned halfway through, leaving piles of mess that would sit forever.

Countries would be polite to each other no matter how annoyed they were with each other until one seemingly trivial incident provoked instant nuclear warfare.

Professional sportspeople would be starving in the streets. Authors and rockstars would be hailed as gods, but the Hilary Duffs, Celine Dions and Kelly Rowlands of the world would be rounded up and executed.

The timeslots freed up by all sporting-related programs being taken off the air would be filled with old movies, musicals and comedies - movies from the 30s, 40s and 50s would feature heavily.

Religion would cease to exist along with sporting organisations, seafood restaurants and SUVs.

17

Well, there would be no war or violence. People would constantly be coming up with new and wonderful ideas to try to make the world a better place.

On the other hand, everyone on the planet would be in self-perpetuated misery and insecure as hell about their ability to do anything. Nobody would really talk to one another, either.

There would be an overabundance of book stores and museums, and a dearth of sports teams and businesses.

I wouldn’t say society would collapse, but it might only lurch forward with hesitant and unsure footsteps. We would be a planet of hand-wringers.