Civility Out The Window

Each generation has their own view of troubled times. You know… “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” I try to keep those feelings balanced knowing that most people think their time, is or was, the worst of times. How are we to judge any other time’s difficulties while measuring with our own yardstick? Perhaps, our point in time just has the potential for being the worst of times. In any case I’m not sure I would choose to live in any other time line. Life is comparatively good for us here, even with all the angst of our time. Having said that… in my experience and my point of reference, there has never been so much ill will among ordinary citizens as there is now in this hyper political climate. Clearly, there is an opportunity for it being the best, and maybe it is. Up to now, I’ve been hopeful.
When I was young I didn’t involve myself in politics or debates. Sure, I was full of piss and vinegar and know-it-all attitudes… but basically; I trusted that the folks before me knew how to run the world. I certainly didn’t know any better not to trust them… whoever they were. Who was I to criticize? In my era we lived through protesting students shot on a university campus, the Vietnam War, and marches on the capitol. Civil rights activists were murdered and churches were fire bombed. Those were pretty bad times and scared the crap out of me. If you were black and living below the Mason Dixon line, you couldn’t do a lot of things that the rest of us just took for granted. Looking back, it’s hard to imagine anyone having to live with that kind of repression or culture. It was a frightening time but somehow we survived as a people.
For me at least, things seemed to settle down. The in-fighting was less noticeable. Maybe I’ve been asleep all these years, because this year feels more disquieting than even the last eight. Certainly, every one is free to have an opinion and express it, but is it necessary to do it with such hatred, animosity, disdain and rudeness?
Today, I had a customer tell me that our president was a “Commi”. I smiled through the phone, shaking my head, thinking I hadn’t heard that one… and replied, “Oh come on now, he is not”. This guy really meant it and was angry and went on to say some pretty ugly things. My intent was to stop his tirade and I mentioned that I was a supporter of our president, hoping that he would realize his blunder and give it up. His bitterness was overt. He claimed the president was “no good for business” and that I was just as bad and then he hung up on me. This came from a likeable, easy going, guy that I’ve known for years. Thank you very much, whoever wants to lay claim.
I did nothing to encourage the political comments. I try to avoid them at all costs, especially when I’m working: but should I be a dumping ground for every unhappy merchant who needs to blame someone else for the condition of the country that has been on a collision course for decades?
This escalating polarity has left civility behind. What have we reduced ourselves to? Is there no respect left, even among friends and family? This incident although mild, is disturbing and telling. There is no will of the people to say “no more!” The political assaults and bashings don’t stop at the end of an election. They continue to grow all year, dragging, what used to be, peaceful citizens into the fray. Most politicians claim they won’t stoop to running a negative campaign, yet it’s not long before they yield to it. Fighting each other only puts us further on the path of destruction.
This widening negative campaign snowball is moving into deeper realms. I‘ll be changing channels or muting on all political ads, regardless of party affiliations. I refuse to listen to any of it anymore and I won’t ratchet up and add to the discontent. I’ve had enough of this brutal, ongoing political garbage! Al-Qaeda won’t destroy us… we’ll do it ourselves.