Tune into the news on any broadcast or cable station and you’ll see dozens of stories, locally and nationally, about the dire straits we find ourselves in as a country. Whether it’s the ineffectiveness in the Democratic Presidential administration or the incompetence of the Republican led Congress, the complaints never end. It begs the question, why is this the news?
It’s simple, do people tune in to Bill O’Reilly to hear about the “great” things the Republicans are doing or to hear about the “terrible” things Democrats are doing? Same goes on the other side, why do people tune into Rachel Maddow? Is it to hear about the latest liberal triumph, or to hear her tear down conservatives? And the public that calls into these shows, do they call in to praise their own or to criticize their opponents?
We’ve turned into such a negative country. All the highest rated cable programs are reality shows that, despite the egos of the “celebrities” involved, we all watch because we’re able to think, “Thank goodness we’re not like them.”
The only possibility that I can see for this behavior is that it’s a self-esteem issue. In this world we live in, where people are always trying to keep up with the Jones’, we’ve caused ourselves serious harm. It’s so easy for people to latch on to the mistakes of others than face their own. Why isn’t it easy to connect with peoples successes? Jealousy. We define ourselves and others by yearly income, personal possessions, accomplishments, even the amount of Twitter followers we have. When one sees someone doing better, rather than commending their accolades and using that to better oneself, the natural inclination is to not care, or to find a way to demean them. Any success immediately breeds critics.
The New England Patriots are the greatest NFL team since 2001. There’s no denying it, they’ve won four Super Bowls, been to two others, and they’ve had a .759 winning percentage in the regular season. Yet, if you Google “New England Patriots” you’ll find people calling them cheaters, saying they skirted the rules, or calling their coach Darth Vader. Full disclosure, I’m a Patriots fan. Let’s use an example that I don’t have obvious bias towards. The New York Yankees were the best team in the MLB in the 1990’s. Again, no denying it, some of the greatest players, many of whom will be in the Hall of Fame, winning multiple championships. Yet again, ask most people and they’ll have universally (outside of New York) negative things to say. “Yeah they were a good team, but they had all the money to pay those players” or “Of course they were great, but it was also the steroid era and who knows how many of their players took steroids.” Why is it so difficult to celebrate greatness?
What many people are probably thinking to themselves is, “but what about the underdog? The world loves a good underdog story!” Well of course we do. In our minds, we’re the underdog. The cards have been stacked against us. We were underestimated, we were undervalued, and if given the chance, we’d be the underdog. The second that underdog becomes the favorite though, public perception changes very quickly to the negative.
Is there a solution to this? Is there any way that we’ll be able to turn on the news and hear about the business owner who created 100 new jobs this quarter or a story about a local representative who gave their time on a weekend to give back to their community? There certainly isn’t a solution I can come up with in a few hundred words. It’s going to take a complete cultural shift to really change anything.
I think the first step to that shift occurred months ago when Curt Schilling called out a multitude of people who said vile, disgusting things about his daughter on Twitter. There were a few people who tried to make sense of the situation and say that Curt and his daughter had to expect that type of reaction because that’s just what happens on Twitter. More encouraging though, were the people who said that that’s not a good enough answer. It’s not a good enough answer; you’re allowed to be proud of your daughter, you’re allowed to share that with people who consider themselves your “fans” or your “followers”, and you’re allowed to do that and not expect “trolls” to verbally attack you and your family. The internet is not anonymous, there are consequences to your actions, whether it’s on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, or any of the millions of internet forums.
It’s not good enough to say that, “that stuff happens” because it shouldn’t. There’s no reason for it other than jealousy and low self-esteem. Everyone is living in a movie where they’re the main character and they think they should be the center of attention. That’s not real life. The United States decided that people have the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Beyond that, nothing is owed to you. You get what you deserve. If you say terrible things about someone on the internet, they will be able to find you and possibly prosecute you. If you go on a rant about a politician or a sports figure or a celebrity figure, a potential employer is going to see it and you’re not going to get the job.
So my plea is for everyone to think about others. For a day, for an hour, for even a minute. Look around you and realize everyone is having the same incredible journey you are in their own head. We’re all human and we’re all trying to get by. Congratulate someone for doing well. Try and help someone who isn’t doing well. If you see something that you disagree with, try and come up with a better solution rather than just complaining. Maybe then we can turn on the news and see inspiring news stories instead of talking heads disagreeing.
Life isn’t easy, but with a little positivity, it doesn’t have to be you against the world.
-Josh