Spittle

We now communicate with spittle.
We throw swear words,
profanities,
obscenities,
that are meant to slap our opponent in the face.

We use frothy, four-letter words to abuse and destroy
ideas,
beliefs,
and the spirit of others.

We are no longer satisfied to just convince someone to agree with us.
We need to insult and shame them.
We want them on the ground.
We want them groveling.

So we use crushing words.
To inflict pain.
To humiliate.

We are not looking for understanding.
We are looking to provoke
and then pummel the enemy into submission.

To become even more powerful,
we are forced to band together with others.
We capitulate and go along until our thoughts
become distorted to fit the group.
Our own opinions are
perverted,
overwhelmed,
and forgotten.

Eventually, we are no longer individuals.
We are part of a crowd
and see all other crowds as our opponent.

Yet we continue to argue with others until no one’s
thoughts,
convictions,
or solutions,
are important anymore.
We fight for the sake of fighting
until we can no longer remember our reason for fighting.

In the end, we accomplish nothing.

If we had
empathy,
compassion,
or could at least display some tolerance,
there might be a chance for
insight,
understanding,
and compromise.

But for that to happen, people must stand up.
Take the brunt of the group’s retaliation.
Be willing to risk ridicule and expulsion.
Insist that before anything can be accomplished,
people must be willing to listen to each other.

And above all, we must realize
we are all part of the same group.
And if we replace self-serving lies with shared truths,
reasonable compromises can be made.

There is no real win,
unless we all win.