DeJONGHE: What will you do?

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To those younger, I am considered old and some days I certainly feel that way even though my brain has not conceded the point. To those much older, I am just a kid. To those in the middle, well, I am just like you.

Morgan has told me many times how out of touch I am with today’s societal norms.

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DeJONGHE: What will you do? Back to video

“Maybe it was like that in your day but times have changed,” he has often said.

I don’t believe things have changed as much as people like to think. We display today’s acceptable behaviours but when tested most of us retreat to ingrained views. Thankfully, most of us do not act or react violently on impulse and emotion but there are always those who go to the extreme.

The surge of brutal anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, anti-Asian sentiments and racism in all its forms is not new. Although the manic kind of vile hatred, based in fear and ignorance, is from time to time suppressed, it re-emerges whenever people feel threatened, helpless, vulnerable. We need someone to blame and anyone not like us becomes the target. I know this to be true but do not understand the logic or mentality behind it.

A very small segment of our society finds it appropriate to kick a little, old Asian woman in the head because there is a global virus.

Some think it’s OK to shoot up a school or workplace, burn down a church or blow up a building, threaten and harass strangers on the street and purposefully drive into a crowd because they feel offended. This gets a lot of attention.

For most of us it has never crosses our minds to tell anyone they are ugly and fat, spray paint offensive, derogatory graffiti on buildings, steal flags/cut down flag poles, throw fireworks at property or people, steal a car, rob a bank, sell drugs, walk off with someone’s Christmas lights, drive at high speed through a town. It does make the news.

A few of you might be interested but I have no desire to be a hitman, a spy or a mercenary, but then I also have no interest in running a marathon, climbing Mt. Everest, being alone nor naked in the wilderness, travelling into space, fighting a bull, alligator or another person. Movies and TV shows are made of this.

We all have done stupid things we shouldn’t, wish we hadn’t and hopefully learned not to repeat. Most of us have people we like a lot and some we don’t like – a lot. We all disagree with various opinions, views, beliefs and policies. We all get angry, frustrated, scared and feel unappreciated. We all do not intentionally hurt others or do damage.

So if most of us don’t behave with depraved indifference why are we in this mess again? Is it simply fear and ignorance? Is it a societal issue, an education problem, a parenting question or a media challenge? Is it political, a governing or leadership crisis? Will this vile malignancy again be allowed to fester and metastasize or will it be surgically, strategically eradicated?

What are we going to do about it – this time?

twocentsworth40@gmail.com