We All Live Here
- Deborah Jackson
- Feb 11
- 2 min read
I felt it again. I’m sure you have too. I promised myself I wouldn’t look, but I did . . . again. And there it was, another angry post that made me angry at the person posting. But not just angry. It ignited an eruption of rage.
Not surprising. It is, after all, the Age of Rage.
Should I engage with what I assume is a reasonable argument to rebuff the post? But no, I withdraw. Count to ten. Take deep breaths.
Do I want the ensuing rampage from all sides because everyone self-righteously believes their point is the most valid, the only answer, including me?
How did this happen? We used to live harmoniously. How did this polarization, this extreme tribalism occur? We used to care for each other. Now we only care that we’re right.
We are like two toxic streams on opposite sides of the pond. We all live here on this very fragile Earth. We need to meet in the middle without creating a toxic sludge or worse yet, an explosion.
I recently read this article from an independent news/podcast agency called The Bulwark. They are a group of people who are fighting for democracy, like us, like me. The article wasn’t about who’s right and who’s wrong. It was about the Age of Rage in . . . 427 b.c.
It’s a long read. Well worth it.
It describes the Peloponnesian War which, unsurprisingly, started between the oligarchs and the democrats. But it’s where it led to that is terrifying. A rage where rational thought flees and all that matters is destroying the enemy. Utter destruction. Chaos. Atrocities on both sides. Madness.
The dangers of fascism and demagogues are mentioned at the end of the article as a pathology that leads to a “slow-motion civil war.” Misinformation and disinformation are fomenting this divide.
Is this what we want? The destruction of hearts and minds, relationships, civility, family ties, love, partnership toward a decent society if not a better one? How much is it worth to sustain the rage?
Let’s take some more deep breaths. Let’s think and reach out and start caring again.
It’s the only way, or it’s the end.
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