If you're thinking about stupid commenting about the horror in Israel or Palestine - you could do that
OR you could go outside and put your face directly into a wasp's nest - same outcome : being utterly useless and people wondering if you're really that stupid.
I was 10 years old when the September 11th terrorist attacks happened in the US in 2001. My most significant memory from that day was coming into the house and seeing my dad standing in the kitchen listening to the radio broadcasting about “terrorists” and “terror attacks”. I distinctly remember asking him, “ What’s a terrorist?”
I didn’t know.
Children now don’t have the same luxury I did. The luxury of not knowing. They’ve grown up in a world marred by terrorist attacks and I don’t say that because I’m trying to pretend that terror attacks or murder didn’t happen prior to 2001, but that with a global and near instantaneous media reach, there is now no way for anyone to escape the knowing. The fear. And the understanding that slowly happens as you realize “those” people over there are like “me” over here. Not some weird statistic. Not some outlandish historical fact. Not some cultural other of a person. People. People who have loved ones. People who have moments of pure joy. People who are trying their hardest to have a life of their own, on their own terms. People just living.
People who are currently scared out of their minds with worry, with fear injected adrenaline and terror delivered straight from another human being right into their lives.
And then we come in - ah the notorious we. With our fancy, shiny phones and laptops, our front facing cameras, our 24 hour news coverage, and our big, overpowering, gotta tell you right now opinions. Our little snippet captions at the bottom of a photo. Oh and our reposting, ohh do we love a good repost when there is a horrific tragedy afoot. Our 90 second videos recorded on our fancy phones, just queued up, ready to blast your eyeballs WITH! OUR! OPINIONS! Oh yes we, the online collective with our opinions and our comments and our emojis. Atrocity happening in a part of the world I have no familial relation to, no ties whatsoever, and no historical or contextual knowledge of at all???? Best get to the internet! Gotta slander someone in the comments! Gotta talk like I have half a clue about anything at all, whatsoever. Must stay relevant! If someone points out the obvious that your opinion doesn’t matter in this situation, and probably best to give it oh I don’t know - a minute? Well, then we like to put them on blast about how unEduCateD they are, how demonizing, how unsupportive of human rights they truly are, and HOW WE KNOW BEST.
WE DON’T MOTHEREFFING LIVE THERE BUT WE KNOW BEST FROM BEHIND OUR KEYBOARDS. We do. We do know best because we have a shiny phone, a google search bar, and our opinion. What more do you need in order to be a decent member of humanity then to repeatedly blast your thoughts where they aren’t wanted in as grotesque a manner as possible?
OR
We - the other notorious WE - come in and rampage our way through every individual/company who has the common decency to not announce their, currently, useless opinions over the entire spectrum of the internet, why we come in and say HOW DARE YOU NOT SPEAK ON THIS HORRIFIC CRIME, YOU PRIVILEGED MONSTER.. What is it exactly we’re looking for? That one individual to make a formal statement about something they categorically have no understanding of? Do you honestly think that’s going to make you feel better? If there is anything the last several years of our increasingly outrage obsessed PR culture should have taught us, its that when the horrific happens, especially at the hands of another human being, there is essentially nothing a person can say or do to lessen that pain. Should you be outraged at what is happening to innocent people? Absolutely. Should you vomit that outrage over everyone else in personal attacks to try to make sense of the non-sensical horror? NO.
Expecting your favorite influencer, celebrity, podcast host, blogger, commentator, religious leader, or political affiliate to have the ability to regulate your emotions in the face of sheer terror is, respectfully, horseshit.
And you know what really breaks my heart? My know nothing because I don’t live there which means I can’t fathom what people are going through and I’ve never lived in a war zone heart? That right now while people are working themselves into a lather to be the most online commentator, to tear people down repeatedly for being grief stricken and not knowing what to say (let along the *right* thing to say), to natter on about “freedom of speech” when its so god damn inappropriate to say anything, that right at this very moment there is the following:
Mothers with empty arms and murdered infants. Babies that they carried and grew and birthed into a world that is again destroyed. Fathers whose elderly parents were taken hostage and murdered. Brothers and sisters murdered together. Babies whose parents are just dead. Gone. People being held against their will and physically tortured and used as online bait. Absolute sheer terror from not knowing if the house is going to explode, fall down, or implode. Not a clue who is telling the truth about what, who is a good guy anymore? Get to safety, what’s safe? No idea how on earth to get to safety. No idea where the next meal is coming from or where the good drinking water is. Being so out of your mind scared that its guaranteed that if you survive this moment of your life, there will be no before, only the terrifying after.
Our fellow people are living in the terrifying after.
It requires very little to acknowledge that no one needs me to say any of this, that it’s already an angry, swirling, disgusting mess on the internet this week. That my shouting into the void about how horrifying people’s response is, while also yelling about it can feel hypocritical and gross, but one more “thoughts and prayers” post just wasn’t cutting it. However, it does feel as though the vitriolic response to these tragedies has been unbelievably multitudinous and it’s like people are trying to outdo one another for who can take home the biggest Stupid Stupid award.
In an effort to try to counter that even a little bit, I’d like to direct you to several authors here on Substack who are able to articulate and write better then I can, all without being inflammatory asshats who condone the killing of ANY innocent people.
Please see the following authors and the newsletters they’ve published in the last day:
Don’t be a dumbass and comment like a fool this week. Stop it. Get it together and go pick literally any other thing you can come up with to be a decent person and not some politically academic sounding social media fart horn who pontificates in a crisis. Go be there for someone in your friend circle. Go ask someone in your local community if you can help. Go do something away from the internet and for the love of God, please use your common sense.
People are grieving. Please let them.
I apologize for the profanity, but not the frustration. All spelling and grammar errors are my own.
-Elea
You also made me laugh at the end, which was quite a feat given the topic. I get your frustration, I feel you.
I think you said everything I feel. Ugh.