Maiyannah BishopOftentimes I think that people make all the jokes they do about "discourse", all the while participating in the same toxic arguments they condemn, because it makes them feel better about it. It's a coping mechanism for knowing that you're just as much a part of the disease as the people you condemn.
It's easier to mock and demean, after all - that's the thought process you're used to. To quote Gabriel Morton from one of the LP things with Yahtzee Crowshaw: "Hate's easy, Yahtz. Compassion, compassion's where it's at."
So often we jump on communication using the Designated Bad Words as if those words have objective bad meanings, completely disregarding the context and meaning those words are meant to convey. When I self-depreceiatingly own the word "dyke" it has a much different meaning than when a homophobe uses it. But in the social media generation, we are being conditioned to give our unsolicited sound byte opinions on everything, regardless of context, and it has diminished our ability to actually meaningfully communicate, because people will insist their subjective interpretation of anything is sacrosanct and cannot be contravened.
Consider: we don't often WANT to be fair to people. We WANT to think they're the bad people, we WANT to think they meant the bad thing. The outrage is easier for us, and considerably more rationalized than compassion often is. If you are outraged and be oppressive to another, and it turns out they're good, you can always just apologize, and hey, we're only human right? But if you are compassionate to one of the Bad People, this is an unforgivable sin, whether it's done out of principle or not. We abhor those who fraternize with the Others, even if there is no good reason they are othered.