Decency: The Uprising

In my travels on Facebook posts and surfing the web from site to site and forum to forum, I am noticing a new trend: decency. This may come as a surprise to many people who tend to find mostly trolls or become trolls themselves, but a growing number of people are beginning to realize the uselessness of such tactics and this is rather exciting! People are opening their eyes all around and noticing the baseless fear tactics that people keep using in order to control us. While such fear tactics remain popular and useful for now, this trend is slowly changing and will indeed backfire. People are beginning to respond more to decency than fear and trolling!

When we think of politics, we often imagine two groups of people flinging poo across a fence at each other. Well, I do at least. When we think of campaigning, we often think of an insult-fest where different candidates or groups tell how terrible another candidate is and merely claiming that they promote something great rather than providing any useful information or ideas. This will soon be changing! If more people wake up to the futility of trolling and learn to be respectful of ideas and the people who hold them, we might actually begin to have decent conversations that go beyond our small bubbles and solve some real heavy-hitting problems. Only when we can respect another person's point of view whether they are wrong or right, can we learn how to guide each other into reason and proper perspective. Sometimes we will guide others and sometimes we will be the ones guided so long as we truly respect others. Nobody has everything right and when we are wrong it is difficult to know we are wrong until someone respectfully shows us the data. Insults and even argumentation, however, are a scientifically proven way to solidify someone's ideas. Only respect can break the barrier of a closed mind.

And I am beginning to see this respectful behavior within my own communications with others. There are quite usually some trolls, but I try my absolute darndest to remain polite, kind, civil, and explanatory rather than offensive, crude, and insulting. Often, such people stop responding, but some actually turn a new leaf. I have had many occurrences where such trolls actually apologize for just getting so "fed up" and then they continue the conversation in a polite tone. They, and even many others, will often exclaim how nice it is to have a decent conversation without the poo-flinging. People recognize it, they enjoy it, they promote it, and they represent it. The more we do this with our own conversations and uplift others who do the same, the sooner this uprising will take hold in the greater conversations and begin to influence our political arguments. Can you imagine a world where democrats and republicans actually have a conversation instead of merely pronouncing the evil of the other? I puke a little in my mouth every time I see such fear of "the other" and it is good to know I am not the only one!

The decency is growing, it is rising, and it will eventually take over the mainstream. How long it takes is up to each of us and our diligence to uplift it, practice it, and grow it. Be a part of the decency uprising. Engage in the daring conversations with honest and fresh outlooks while being fully respectful toward the trolls either to their demise or to their rebirth into a civil human being. Every conversation shapes the culture around us and we all have the opportunity to make trolling a thing of the past and the hallmark of the biggest of fools of humanity and of uneducated children. Let us reason together and leave the fiery darts of the tongue behind. We do have an impact in our culture. Let us impact it toward the beneficial benevolence of decency.