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I don't like that we've become a society that drags individuals down in order to climb on top of them, not just to dominate, but to vilify and cancel them.

Brent Murphree, Content Director

January 21, 2021

2 Min Read
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I was taught that my fallback position should always be to not just be civil to people but to help them obtain position at least equal to mine, the Golden Rule. shotbydave IStock

I have been suffering from a self-inflicted illness for a very long time now and it is directly related to the current political situation. A marginally peaceful transference of power will not cure the knot in my belly or stop its rumbling. 

A great deal of it stems from the lack of respect on display in most aspects of our lives. I've always been embarrassed by general chaos that occurs in the British Parliament, the yelling and taunting, and was glad that it wasn't the way we do business in America, well until recently. 

There have been some big rumbles on the floor of both houses, but there are rules of conduct in those houses and they are generally followed. 

There have been unexpected outbursts in Congress. I had dinner one night with a group of people that included the man who yelled out a defamatory comment from the floor of the House. I had always seen him as a reasonable man. I understood him to have been pushed to the limit by what he saw as statements of untruth in the address that was being given. 

I also thought what he had done was unfortunate and painted him into a dark corner. 

There are currently a lot of dark corners out there. It comes from all sides of the table, not just one. 

I don't understand one-upmanship. I know that particular people have a need to feel superior to others, but we've become a society that drags individuals down in order to climb on top of them, not just to dominate, but to vilify and cancel them. 

I was taught that my fallback position should always be to not just be civil to people but to help them obtain position at least equal to mine – the Golden Rule.  

I've seen crab antics at work since I was a kid. Picture a bucket full of crabs. Just as one is about to make it over the rim of the bucket, another crab will grab onto it in order to pull itself up and end up pulling both back down to the bottom of the bucket. 

That is where we are in politics, on television and especially on social media. I once asked publicly on social media why someone would show up at a Farm Aid concert wearing a "Meat is Murder" t-shirt. I received some pretty vile personal attacks.  

According to a personality test I took as part of an employee training session I learned that my go to emotion is anger. Thankfully my parents tempered that reaction when I was a child – overt temper tantrums are not part of my repertoire. 

Instead, I run it off. My reaction to the current political situation has not dissipated since the last election cycle. I need to do a lot of running. 

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