It's a great quote. Not just in regards to political power. It's unfortunate that judgements are made based on appearance. Really unfortunate. A friend of mine commented that he had one of the deepest and most enlightening conversations with a hobo he met at the train station. Most would have written that guy off. I know I probably would have, or maybe would have jumped to "how much money do I have in my wallet, and can I spare a dollar or two to this guy to make myself feel better about myself?" I talk to my recovery clients all the time about appearances and the labels people throw at addicts based on appearances, sex, status, etc. No one would have called Phillip Seymour Hoffman "scum of the earth" but that's the vitriol that your average inner city junkie gets.

I feel this is very related to capitalism (although there's another side of the coin and another explanation related to traditionalism and tribalism). In terms of capitalism (based on friends I've had from Europe, Iran, Turkey, etc.) we here in the United States work so much and are so imprisoned by financial concerns that it leaves our brains with little cognitive resources to truly analyze a situation or person in depth via contact. We are left with minimal mental energy and by default rely on stereotypes and cognitive shortcuts. In such circumstances it's only natural to separate people into categories and assign that which made sense about one or two examples of such category to all new members of that category. It just forces people to drop abstract thought and adopt speedy concrete thinking patterns. Leaves room for the person to mitigate stress and devote energy to work. Then arguments are made for traditionalism and tribalism (fearing that which one does not know or hasn't seen; labeling and dehumanizing that which is not part of one's small clique or social unit) also account for some of this phenomenon.

I wear both business clothing and casual clothing. My casual clothing is usually skinny-jeans, maybe a flat or striped shirt, more than likely a plaid flannel. On occasion it's a death metal band shirt. But this is for casual circumstances, this hipster metalhead look. It doesn't stop people from assuming I'm stuck in adolescence at those times. But the same people react differently when I wear ironed, tight-fitting button downs and dress pants. It's almost as if they respect your opinion or word more based on how you present yourself.

I have two vertical scars on my left wrist. From the scars you can tell there were stitches, and you can tell they were very deep. I won't get into anything that may trigger someone, but they were the result of a deliberate plan involving multiple methods to end my life, and I was as a result clinically dead for a couple of minutes, and through some way resuscitated (not because of the cuts, but because of the other methods I used. They wreaked havoc on my organs). I had to be taken off lithium and all that stuff I was on, and the effects of my overdose and sudden withdrawal made me manic. A doctor came and saw me for two minutes and assumed my energetic mood was due to "getting the attention and validation I needed" and told me he thinks I'm borderline. Then I asked for a couple minutes so he can explain this to me and he gave me a look of wary disgust and walked out. People cut for different reasons. With borderlines it's more to focus on the pain and bring some sense of peace and control. Sometimes it's to put into action words they cannot express regarding others, or to show others their pain. And even these "borderline" reasons are valid for other people who engaged in cutting. My reason to cut was not for those reasons, hence they were vertical and not horizontal or diagonal. But that doesn't stop a busy psychiatrist who sees you as a number for five minutes to slap you with a label that can change your life...

Today I often wear short sleeves and don't care. Most people can't see the scar unless they really focus. I've asked people if they want me to take a picture and send it to them, since they are so interested. That usually embarasses them and they stop. I don't really care for people seeing my scars, it's the arrogance of assuming you know about the person's character based on it that bothers me. But I don't put it past humans.