My bitch today is the growing inability of people to be civil, kind, or even remotely understanding toward anyone with an opposing point of view.
We apparently decided that disagreement is no longer enough. Now, if someone sees an issue differently, they must be stupid, evil, corrupt, brainwashed, or personally responsible for everything wrong with the country.
What a load of shit.
You can disagree with someone without hating them. You can challenge an idea without attacking the person who holds it. You can even listen—actually listen—without surrendering your own beliefs or bursting into flames.
Understanding another person’s position does not mean agreeing with it. It means having enough maturity to recognize that people arrive at their opinions through different experiences, values, fears, and priorities. Sometimes they may even know something you don’t. Imagine that.
Kindness has largely gone by the wayside because outrage gets more attention. Social media rewards the loudest insult, politicians profit from keeping us angry, and too many people would rather win an argument than understand what the hell they are arguing about.
We do not have to agree on everything. We probably never will. But if we cannot disagree without treating each other like garbage, the disagreement is no longer the biggest problem.
Being an asshole is not an argument.