(Note: Part of the beginning of this blog is deliberately facetious for dramatic effect. Please continue reading even if the words are uncomfortable to read. There is a purpose behind the words.)
We must never forget what happened on 11/8...
Very much in the way that 9/11 symbolizes fear, anger, and resentment to many Americans, 11/8 is the new calendar date to evoke feelings of fear, anger, and resentment.
As soon as Hillary Clinton conceded the election to Donald Trump, the Internet has been an interesting place to observe the lesser qualities of human behavior.
We all know that posting online, such as on Reddit or Twitter or Facebook, about sensitive subjects gives people a false bravado, and we see many hateful things written online insulting people, threatening people, and dismissing people as well as their opinions. This is not the exclusive club of one ideology, but every ideology.
The Internet creates hate in its ability to offer safe refuge for the hater.
How to Be a Proper Political Troll
Don't like something someone said? If you insult their mother, you will get away with it. No one will reach out and punch you in the nose. So, if you can deal with "the opposition's" best counter attacks, you are golden. You can continue a stream of hateful tweets and Reddit posts, and you can remain safely and comfortably... anonymous.
The key to attaining this anti-Zen state of hate-filled anonymity is to ignore the person writing to you completely. They are not human beings, for they are the opposition and must be crushed. They are not WITH you, nor are they worthy of your respect. They are against you, and that means you can unload every nasty word, phrase, and sentence onto them without any remorse or guilt.
After all, they deserve your wrath.
Not listening is the essential part of attaining this anti-Zen state. You must not empathize with your ideological opponent. But what is critical is that you must use every ounce of your mind's vast capabilities to take whatever they say and use it against them like a text version of Judo. Use their own power to defeat them. Mock them with insulting images. Make them feel small. Make them cry. And a bonus... Make them commit suicide. That is when you know you have truly WON.
(Facetiousness OFF.)
That is what happens online with two people who have opposing views. It always happens. Disagreement turns to anger which turns to hatred which ultimately turns to death, either by suicide, retaliation, or some other form.
Only Reddit pages that are strictly moderated have anything resembling a true dialogue online. Without moderation, the Internet is like the Wild West where the bad guys can kill anyone they choose and the townsfolk are too scared to stand up for themselves.
Where is this country's online Yul Brenner? Where is OUR Magnificent Seven? Where is OUR Seven Samurai to defend us from the oppositional horde?
Nowhere to be found.
We have seen this so many times on various online sites that we have begun to take this attitude to real life, not listening to people in campus protests, on TV news segments, on talk radio programs, in our fairs and town squares and barber shops.
That is the situation we fave now after the Presidential election. At the time of this writing, people are gathering in multiple cities around the country to protest the election of a man they feel is a danger to their lives, to the lives of their family members, to their children's lives, as well as to countless friends.
The Black community, the Hispanic community, the LGBT community, the Muslim community, feminists, the sexually abused, the physically disabled, and many more groups who feel marginalized by a simple vote, are all scared that they will be hurt by our new government and by what our future President has promised in his campaign.
We have not been so close to chaos since the Sixties, and no one is listening to each other. No one did then either, but now we have social media to spread our discontent onto the computers and phones of potentially millions of people.
This "not listening" bullshit is going to kill us. I'm not even joking about this. We need something to stop us from destroying each other. Protestors will die. Police officers will die. All if we don't change course. And that means LISTENING to the opposition.
We need a countrywide group therapy session where everyone remains calm, no one gets angry, everyone uses their indoor voices, and everyone gets a chance to speak ONLY if everyone spends 99% of their time LISTENING, and not interjecting every two seconds and saying, "Wrong!"
(sigh) The only way I can know how to treat you is by empathizing with you, and you empathizing with me. Empathy is a strange but wonderful process where you begin to feel how another person feels, where you understand why someone reacts the way they do, and why sometimes people get angry and want to destroy things.
Only empathy can lead to the understanding of why a 50 year old white male in Arkansas, who is not racist or misogynistic, preferred a man with no political experience to the woman who was vastly more qualified. Only empathy can lead to understanding why Clinton supporters were shocked and dismayed by a Trump election win and why they believed that Clinton was the clear choice for them.
If we don't listen to each other, we are dead. Imagine it. Imagine Trump supporters trying to quell the protests with guns, someone gets shot, then the protesters bring guns and more people get shot, until the National Guard is called in and now we have the Kent State shootings times 1000, and everybody rallies around their slogans and their songs and their mantras until we are fighting our second civil war.
Think that's far-fetched? Think that's a Chicken Little observation? A civil war is the next big leap from where we are today. Clinton supporters and Trump haters are currently protesting, and Trump supporters are expressing their mockery and misunderstanding of the reasons behind the protests.
No respect and no empathy means no listening, and that means no solutions and no peace.
Wake up, America. You thought the election was over. Trump may have won, and he may be our rightful next President, but enough people were shocked about it that it has destabilized common discourse. People would rather use the broad brush to label you. Don't let them.
Strive for calm. Strive to listen. Strive to understand, and never preach. Use empathy to understand each other, and we may get through this with limited bloodshed.
Thanks for reading this. Feel free to include any empathetic comments below. I would love to read them. Thanks.
