Week Ending 9/14

Hey, it's me... 

So, I don't talk a lot about current events, but this week is something mom and I would have talked about. 

I could say a lot of things but after thinking about it, what I want to say is this - empathy is important and violence isn't the answer. Life isn't a video game and we can't just kill the bad guys.

I keep remembering a scene from 12 Angry Men... 

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mild spoilers 

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Toward the end of the movie, a racist juror goes off on an angry, racist rant. One by one, all the other jurors, even the ones who sided with him on the case, stand up and turn their backs on him. No one says a word. No one gets angry. They just stand up and turn away, until the racist realizes he's alone... no one agrees with him, no one will even listen to him. Finally, he just sinks down into his chair and goes silent. One by one, the jurors take their seats again and carry on, almost... but not quite... as if he had never spoken. Because they remember what he said, and they remember that they all rejected it.

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end spoilers

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We did that once, as a society. We made being a racist, misogynistic, bigoted jerk socially unacceptable. We stood up, turned our backs and refused to listen. We set about building a better world instead. 

Now, the racist, misogynistic, bigoted jerks have forced their way back. They demand our attention. They are working to tear down our better world. 

We don't have to let them.

We can each work to make our corner of the world a fairer, kinder, and more loving place. We can refuse to let them shape who we are. We can continue to build our better world. 

Onward