Hate Fatigue Is A Threat We Should Not Ignore

How often are we too tired to speak up?

a group of exhausted children are too tired to play with the ball that lies ignored among them, impressionist painting — by DALL·E

There is hate fatigue. I see it in the lack of openness to express personal views and the defensiveness of those who dare to speak up. The hyper-connected populace we are a part of often seems like a voracious pack of wolves ready to pounce at the next opinion flung at them. Whether the amount of hate has increased or diminished in recent times is irrelevant because it has never been so vivid and present in our minds.

Scared Of The Reaction

We are scared of the reaction our words might have on social media but also at the table we sit at among friends. Often, it feels like we have been infected and are susceptible to this urge to judge, attack and defend as though every social interaction could quickly derail into an argument. Using specific words might be seen as making a stance, talking about a particular topic might be considered offensive, and deviating from an accepted view could be considered a provocation. All of this tends to exhaust us and make us less keen to speak, and more prone to keep quiet. What a horrible society that is, one in which we are all too concerned about what someone might say about something we might think!

The Same Coin