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The Intolerables and Easy Negativity
My Life in the Margins
It’s easy to make snap comments. To criticize others simply by pointing a finger. To condemn, to laugh at, to ridicule. It takes just a couple words, a few rote phrases that always sit at the top of the mind, to unleash a blast of negative judgement to depreciate, to deprecate others. But being positive is a strain, demanding work, and depressing to engage in.
Or rather I should say constructing a positive criticism that reinforces or expands on others’ insights and ideas is cumbersome and cheerless.
Some days I don’t even want to do it. But I saw a couple comments in the last few days that made me think: do you really want to do this work? Should I really keep caring? But then I did it. I pointed out that it was unfair to criticize someone who told us what his definitions are of White and Caucasian. I appreciated his efforts.
Sometimes honest writers who step forward need defending. When you say, “I’m putting my name on this piece of writing,” the ownership becomes real, vulnerability is now present in your life wherever you go. In contrast, short bursts of threatening phrases and racial insults lacing comments sections don’t have real names, just crouching shadows hiding anonymously.
