Spend any time arguing on the internet or simply reading comments sections attached to political opinion pieces and you will certainly bear witness to shocking demonstrations of ignorance, stupidity, bald-faced dishonesty, raging hatred, and invective that would make a sailor blush. The frequency with which you encounter such will vary with the subject matter (a piece on Israel/Hamas will generate more than a piece on whether school buses should be required to stop at all railroad crossings) and with the political currents, of course, but there’s so much of this out there that you may grow despondent for the future of the nation and the planet.
Do not despair, they’ve always been there. The willfully ignorant, the blindly angry, the dim-witted, the nakedly, selfishly dishonest, and the rest of them aren’t a new phenomenon. Whether in a basement, a small town bar, an urban coffee house, a corporate conference room, such folks have been spouting all along. The Internet has simply made it that much easier for them to be seen and heard. Should we worry that they’ll unduly influence others? Psychotic rage and incoherent ramblings aren’t exactly the stuff of effective persuasion, unless of course the persuaded were predisposed in that direction to begin with. In other words, the folks they sway already thought the way they do. No, the more they carry on, the more likely they’ll scare off rational folks, especially if others are around who offer sane counterpoint.
In fact, enjoy their ramblings. There are many benefits. First, they expose themselves to the light of day, so we know where they are. Second, they let you into the twisting byways of their thought processes – know thine enemy. Third, over time they will fully demonstrate the vacuity of their beliefs, and in doing so only reinforce the messages of the sane and rational. Finally, they serve as a wonderful reminder that we needn’t put credence in the opinions that others have of us. Judgments rendered by strangers shouldn’t be yardsticks we use upon ourselves – there’s no rational reason to grant that sort of power and authority outside ourselves. Rejoice in the angry and the ignorant – their presence serves as a reminder that we should be truest to ourselves. They affirm the primacy of our individuality.
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