My news feed sickens me this morning. The blaring polarity reminds me just how far we (& I mean all humanity) have to go.
In the midst of writing, I look for temporary distractions, something to clear the webs that are forming in between words; a mental sweeping, if you will.
But now, that distraction to my train of thought has completely derailed me.
Whenever something happens that affects a large portion of society, I pay attention, but from afar. I merely observe. You won't hear my take all too often.
I see emotional responses to polarizing issues, responses that instantly build walls instead of tearing them down, emotional responses that only serve to deepen the divide, instead of bridging the gap.
The differences between "us" and "them" seems to be what's fueling the fire. Or maybe the fire is fueled by the continual attention to, and pointing out of, the differences.
We (& I mean all humanity) have a tendency to promote ourselves above other human beings.
When we (& I mean all humanity) perceive a wrongdoing, it is our human nature to cry "injustice!".
Every group of people does this, on each side of every disagreement, or conflict.
Every. Group.
But regardless of groups, the problem of "us" and "them" remains. As long as there are categories that we (& I mean all humanity) can use to divide us, "us" and "them" will always be an issue.
Unless, of course, we (& I mean all humanity) start to think, instead of relying on our betraying emotions to do our thinking for us.
It seems unheard of for people involved in a conflict to communicate anymore. Not just talk to get the other side to understand, but to listen to the other side as well; the goal of communication being understanding.
Over and over and over again, in the midst of social issues, I don't see honest communication happening. What usually starts with a decision by someone ends up as a shouting match between two sides, where everyone is wearing earplugs. The people doing the shouting can't hear what the other side is saying (and/or won't), but they see the other side's lips moving, prompting more shouting. Meanwhile, the world grows weary and bored of the same exchange happening over and over again, so they just walk away. None of the issues are solved, and no one is giving any attention to either side anymore, which just adds to the unrelieved tensions.
Conflict breeds emotion, some of which can be healthy, and some of which is destructive. Emotions run particularly high on social media, where no one is held accountable for the effects of their opinions and words.
Those who publicly announce their hand-washing of the situation, as well as those who make jokes about the situation, still feed into the conflict.
One post I saw by a public figure was incredibly mindful of both sides of the current conflict. It was beautiful, really.
Being the glutton for punishment I am, I read the comments.
Like an idiot.
And as all comments usually do, they turned my stomach as hundreds of comments rolled by, pointing out the differences between "us" and "them", and in the most derogatory, condescending, and disrespectful ways. Very few even addressed the mindfulness of the original post, they just hammered away, adding bricks to the wall between sides.
It breaks my heart to see how we fail to realize that if we keep pointing out the differences between "us" and "them", instead of addressing the issues that "we" (& I mean all humanity) face, then we are part of the problem, offering nothing worthwhile to a conversation that is so desperately long overdue.
Just like the arguments in the different conflicting social bubbles that continuously plague society, no one is interested in WHY people feel the way they do, or WHY people believe what they believe, or WHY people have the mentality they have, or WHY those difference even exist in the first place.
In order for that to happen, we'd have to get over ourselves. We'd have to admit that we don't have all the right answers, because we haven't even tried on someone elses's shoes, let alone walked a mile in their shoes. We'd have to give a crap about something other than ourselves, and our desire to be right.
Unless that happens, there will be no change; tensions will continue to boil underneath the placid surface of the American utopia, until the scabs that won't heal are ripped off once again.
History repeats itself, over and over, because we (& I mean all humanity) are too stubborn, too proud, and too ignorant to learn from it, to change the course of history for the better.
