You know, there are days — today happens to be one of them — when it takes every ounce of my self-control to not post a comment bashing certain people. Even when those people are total arrogant assholes who deserve more than anything to be bashed… and who don’t hesitate to do all kinds of bashing on their own.
But I restrain myself, because bashing does not solve the problem, bashing IS the problem. So I hold my tongue, even though it’s really not my nature to do so.
I post this now not to pat myself on the back, but perhaps to serve as an example. Because if all I do is hold my tongue, nobody really knows it, do they? They know I’m being quiet, but maybe I just don’t have anything to say. But if I tell you that I’m holding my tongue, and perhaps give you an idea of why…. well, then maybe I can provide a bit of an example for others.
Maybe then someone will say, “I really hate those blankety-blank [fill-in-most-despised-group-here], and I was on the verge of posting some negative, bashing comment or meme about them. But you know what? That’s not going to serve any purpose except to expand and prolong the hatred. So, as much as it pains me to do so, I’ll simply hold my tongue. Or perhaps I’ll post something positive or constructive, rather than something negative and derogatory.”
Now I know you’re all thinking, “That’s not me! I’m not negative or bashing. The only people I… er, ‘criticize’… are those stupid fools who deserve it.”
Uh, guess what, folks… More than likely, it is indeed you. Yes, YOU.
Take a step back and read the stuff you post. Read it objectively. Think about it. Get beyond your hatred, your contempt, your derision. Get beyond your idea that the person or group you are posting about are the stupidest, most out-of-touch, most self-centered and self-absorbed people on the planet. Look at the words you are posting and the attitude they convey. Are you being constructive? Or are you just putting someone down because it sounds clever, and because — be honest here now — because you hate them, and because you enjoy getting in a good dig?
Don’t tell me they deserve to be put down. Because you know they think the same thing about you. And you wouldn’t want to stoop to their level, now, would you?
I guess what I’m getting at here is that hatred is the problem, not the solution. And bashing people — even when they “deserve” it — and believe me, there are people I think deserve to be bashed — but bashing people only adds more hatred to the mix. And hatred exacerbates the problem. Hatred IS the problem, or most of it.
You don’t have to like them. But if everybody just stopped bashing each other, we’d be a GIANT STEP closer to making this a better world. Just by that one small act. Or “non-act,” as it were.
Just holding our tongues can make the world a better place. Think about it….