Bullying

Bullying

It is far too common that ordinary people are forced through coercion or manipulation to submit to the desires of bullies.

 

North America these days feels like being surrounded by bullies on a playground. If you don’t submit to one or another; if you choose not to play the game; if you follow the principle of justice to be independent of the status quo, you are ostracized. So, you either become detached from the mainstream or consciously submit to being part of the maelstrom of social disunity.

 

Bullying has no gender, nor race, nor political affiliation, nor idealist movement, nor religion, though anyone of them can be. It is defined by one attitude, one word and one action at a time.

 

And therein lies a problem, because it always one of these entities which choose to adopt the role of bully.

 

Like doctors attacking the external symptoms of a disease, we attack the face of the bully. And in so doing we cover up the disease and internal symptoms, under layer after layer of prescriptions that act as placebos and at worst create additional afflictions.

 

We give those faces names: men, women, immigrants, republicans, democrats, liberals, conservatives, whites, blacks, government, big business, religion. We criminalize the face and ignore the disease.

 

And when we do, we become our own worst enemy — the bully. We attack that face with vehemence; our language takes on hateful proportions; we scream and rant and threaten; we patronize and condescend; we take the all-inclusive blanket stance “If you’re not with us, you’re against us.”

 

It becomes a money-making, status-building, thrill-seeking, life-destroying game.

The real disease is marked by hatred, ignorance, prejudice. The disease itself will never disappear from society until we stop succumbing to it.