At times I find it difficult to express how I feel about something I have seen or heard, or even life in general. What you say, think, and feel is constantly being judged by others and if it is not what they believe, then you are somehow evil. The constant bombardment of information from social media, news, blogs, and the like all drive us further and further into our own echo chambers where we only see and hear those with like interests.
I have been guilty of this as much as anyone else, often reading something that I disagree with and then letting my emotions overtake my reason. The more one reads that they disagree with, the more their reactions become darker and more visceral. We begin to hate the person writing it, belittle them, and then lash out in anger saying “How dare you think those things.” Followed quickly by wishing pain and misfortune upon them. What does this reaction say about me? What does it say about us?
It would be naive of me to think that this is something new, pitting the nebulous “us” against the nefarious “them”. However, it was once a slowly simmering problem, coming to the forefront as more and more people picked a side. Now, it comes at each of us and the speed of a tweet. With a simple sentance on a screen driving thousands of people to instantly wish death on thousands of others. What does this say about us as people?
Today, if you want to only listen to people of your own political, religious, cultural, or racial affiliation you can. But the more we resist seeking out different opinions, or stop trying to verify if a thing is true, the more intolerant we become.
And the more easily we can be manipulated…..
As a people, we are self-segregating into smaller and smaller groups, forgetting that we are all in this life together. Who does it serve when we are constantly at each others throat, ready to resort to violence to feel less offended? Never once asking why the other person believes what they do, or asking if something is even true.
The more we isolate ourselves, the more unhappy and (ironically) vulnerable we become.
Consider this. If one wanted to manipulate a population and incite violence against another, all they have to do is post a false accusation that is offends the moral code of a people, then tell those people where they can find the accused. They posted doesn’t need to lift a finger, for the masses will do the dirty work for them. If you don’t think this could happen, research the WhatsApp murders in India.
This can’t be fixed until we come together as a people and take a moment to ask why. Why do they think this? Why are they angry? Why do they hate? If we can understand our fellow men and women, then maybe (just maybe) we can make the world just a little bit better.
