I have a dilemma between my fighting spirit and tiredness of political news. On the one hand, I am convinced that any speech that goes against essential values ??and rights must be answered. To verbal violence, demagoguery, manipulations and lies. The slogan “no aggression without response (dialectic)” makes perfect sense in these times.
We see how the far right is advancing on different continents. How populism and the promotion of hatred mark electoral agendas and results. How to create a climate very similar to the atmosphere before the political disasters in Europe just a century ago. And all accompanied by new forms of social communication that compensate for animosity. The tendency to reaffirm our own opinions and denigrate the opposite. Faced with this panorama, silence is to leave space free for this trend to advance.
At the same time, engaging in such combat is mentally exhausting. How to do it without falling into tension and simplification of arguments? How not to get carried away by the outbursts of tone and the temptation to construct sentences that are even more categorical than your opposite, more aggressive, more high-sounding and, of course, easier?
Mental acuity, a sense of humor, irony, imagination when presenting arguments are advisable techniques. The most difficult thing is to have enough of them to deal with so much dialectical violence. Keeping the tone, the temperament, putting the opponent in front of the mirror for the simple contrast of attitudes is another way. But very soft in the face of such virulence.
Yesterday, on the bus, two ladies were talking about it. “I am no longer interested in politicians – said one. It’s all so far from common sense, that I’ve decided not to listen to them.” The other answered: “The only thing that interests me is that the hospitals can take care of us, that my grandchildren get a good education, that the price of food goes down and that we don’t have problems with electricity or water” .
Arguments, sense of humor, imagination, temper, talking about food. It is not easy to find the recipe. Get the ingredients and balance right to deal with such a deficit.
