These days,
whenever anyone calls something divisive I pretty much know that almost everything else they say is gonna be nonsense.
For starters, who thinks “pleasant compromise” in life or death situations is anything but a sociopathic reaction to stressors?
And let’s say,
for a second, that maybe these folks are just really evolved peacekeepers (they aren’t but go with me), wouldn’t the idea of group agreement at the expense of whole chunks of the group just eventually shave down the sides of every issue, every time, until all you are actually saying is
“Anyone not standing here with me in the center doesn’t deserve to be heard”?
Cool.
Now apply an Overton window to that and eventually those folks yelling about divisive anything become the extremists. Worse still, they honestly think they are doing everyone a favor with their devotion to pleasantries at any cost.
Right now, I’d settle for folks just allowing debate.
It’s exhausting to see people conflate their personal conflict avoidance with bullying or rudeness.
A N D
I’m personally livid at how many of these folks don’t have enough sense to recognize that they are literally regurgitating a Fox News advertising campaign with their “both sides” bullshit that also has the net effect of canceling out actual discourse.
Yeah nope.
—darcy totten
Flommist Darcy Totten is devoted to illuminating often-overlooked voices and telling stories from new angles. Darcy has worked with MTV, Spike TV, NBC/Hearst, ABC, Corbis, the State of Texas, Pantheacon, RGBB, LLC, KIA motors, The Promised Band, ACSA, the NBA, several Black Lives Matter chapters and is the co-founder of Activism Articulated. Copyright © 2021 Darcy Totten.
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