I am sure everyone must have noticed the extremely polarized environment around them. I am not just talking about people having extreme political views, but also about any other social and personal issues. We have reached so far in politicizing each and every aspect of our lives, that even being a feminist is now considered a partisan political statement. We are downgrading every personal and social issue to partisan politics, and there does not seem to be any end to this self-inflicted degradation. So, why are we becoming so hateful towards each other? Why are we behaving like we are part of some cult? What changed and why did we allow ourselves to degrade to such a low level? And ultimately, why aren't we ashamed of this degradation? I don't know if people are thinking about these questions, but I have been wondering about these things for the last few years. Maybe many of us were always this racist, casteist, and hateful, these people never dared to express this hate and rage openly as society in general was not receptive to these ideas, and now some politicians have legitimized these hateful and revengeful feelings to come out in the open, just like Hitler did in Germany. This seems to be the case in many parts of the world including democratic countries like the USA and India. People are becoming hostile to minorities, and immigrants are being treated as invaders, and social and cultural outcastes almost like a discarded commodity transferred from one part of the world to another part. I can understand politicians flaming such rhetorics for their selfish motives, but the strange and worse part is that people are buying such ridiculously outrageous narratives. We know our neighbors and other community members. We interact with each other in various places, our kids go to school together, and we share our neighborhood and other public places like parks and shopping centers. And still, we fall prey to utterly false hateful narratives manufactured by politicians and some so-called influencers who do this only to gain votes and popularity. The most tragic part is that this all is happening in an era when access to information is so easy. People are allowing themselves to get manipulated without any resistance, and this is happening across the political spectrum. Yeah, one side may be doing it better compared to the other but they all are doing it. The way conservative politicians are weaponizing their supporters is something I have never seen before. Most political parties are turning into a cult movement but the way conservatives are leading the way is astonishing and phenomenal. Conservatives who used to swear for individual freedom and fundamental rights are now at the forefront of attacking the fundamental reproductive rights of women, and freedom of immigrants without realizing the apparent hippocracy in their behaviour. The situation is so bad that people are neither bothered about their own hypocrisy nor the hypocrisy of the politicians they vote for. Perpetual cynicism is considered as a mark of wisdom and intellect and optimists are considered naive and foolish, this is where we stand currently. However, even after all this, I am an optimist. I am optimistic that people will realize that fanaticism is not going to take them anyplace nice. No matter which side they are rooting for, eliminating their opponents is not a practical option but working with them for the betterment of their society and country is the only option. The sooner we realize this better for all of us.
Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic.
© Vinay Thakur, All rights reserved, Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com
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