The Death of Civility, Diplomacy, and Good Manners
The Death of Civility
Ladies and Gentlemen of the world. I regret to inform you that diplomacy, civility, and just good manners have passed away. They are survived by rhetoric, hate, and manipulation.
The former three will be sorely missed by those of us who have outlived our usefulness to society. We were useful as long as other people showed some respect for others and their rights to their own opinions without finding the need to throw stones, or vicious words at them.
Gone are the characteristics of individuals who were willing to listen to the ideas and thoughts of others with the hopes that they could glean a moment or two of rational thoughts; that they may be able to understand and possibly agree with or discuss openly with no fear of verbal assault. Gone are the rights of the individual to think, choose, and speak for themselves without the fear of repercussions by vitriolic speech, and loud dissension.
There is no remorse from rhetoric, hate, and manipulation. They believe that they have inherited a society that wishes to be inundated with vitriol and they won't back down from their stance. Gone are those times in our lives when we could walk away from a two-sided conversation feeling good about having spoken with a civil tongue.
Even civility is a dirty word anymore. When someone requests that another speaker not curse because they don't want to hear it, they get a larger earful of more vile and foul words, some they may never have heard before. When someone requests clarification on a topic, they are insulted and called idiot, or other negative an unnecessary comments.
Even when someone has all the facts straight, rhetoric, hate, and manipulation find ways to spin those facts to suit their own purpose. No one seems to believe anyone else anymore unless they say just what they want to hear. Trust, but verify, has lost it's luster. It has been replaced with "believe the person you like the most".
There are still some die-hard's who would love to make sure that the memory of civility, diplomacy, and good manners live on. They try very hard to communicate with others; showing them the respect they deserve for having the fortitude to have an opinion that differs from someone else's. However, they are not met with the same behavior that they try to deliver.
Political correctness was the illness that brought civility, diplomacy, and good manners to the brink, and accused, albeit unfounded, racism (based on the talk of rhetoric, hate, and manipulation) shoved the three over the cliff. Because the latter did the dirty deed of killing the former, and because law is on their side, nothing will be done to the offenders. They found their niche, they found their pedestal, and they jumped high above it.
Now, don't worry, there is always a chance that the next generation will push the current generation off the cliff, but what will we have then? If civility, diplomacy, and good manners are dead, and rhetoric, hate, and manipulation have taken their places in the throne, it is up to the die-hard's who are left to try their hardest to breed another generation of civility, diplomacy, and good manners.
Families need to teach their children to think before they speak, check resources before they believe, and stop to consider the way they are coming off when they do eventually say something. If they wish to be heard, they have to say something that other people will listen to.
Rhetoric, hate, and manipulation are strong adversaries because they have the loudest voices. The three of them permeate through the walls of most heads, most hearts, most homes. They are unlike their predecessors in that they do not choose wisely, that which they will speak. The words come rolling off the tongue like water from Niagra Falls. Because civility, diplomacy, and good manners were soft-spoken they were overwhelmed with the noise of the other three.
Heaven forbid if the person trying to be diplomatic, civil, or well-mannered happens to be a Caucasian. They are the first casualty in this new world of rhetoric, hate, and manipulation. The evil are light-skinned. Why? Because they are light-skinned. No other requirements are necessary. It is innately impossible for a light-skinned person to accept the other people for who they are. It is inherent in light-skinned people to be racist, whether it is blatant racism like "I sure wish I had a permanent tan", or micro-aggression like "I think that I like working with Shaniqua, she's funny". Nice or not, care or not, light-skinned people have no choice. It is in their DNA.
So, as long as diplomacy, civility, and good manners have been laid to rest and rhetoric, hate, and manipulation are running the show, will any of us be happy? If you are happy, do other people know it?
Sad to see you go, my good friends. I hope to see you in the next world.
