Demonization…the name of the ‘new’ game

It has become a game; a favorite one, too. Sort of a spectator sport with no rules or responsibility except vile words meant to wound and hurt. Demonization! That’s the name of the game. Not that it is a new concept; but never did it achieve the intensity and ‘popularity’ it now enjoys.

You are forced to test the waters before voicing any opinion. Of course, there is nothing about testing the waters that makes it wrong. I mean, it might even save you from sudden fall. The problem is that your fear is what you say would be misinterpreted and you’ll be demonized. Your character would be sliced to shreds; all this for voicing your opinion.

People are justified to wonder, “What really drives our politicians! Why is there so much vile and hateful language in their oratory?” Look we are heading for the polls in a few months’ time, and demonization is not going to take us across the bridge. Civility; that’s one thing we need so bad. Politics, in its simplest sense, should be about a clash of ideas. We’re hungry looking for the best ideas, not the worst obscenities. To call a spade, a spade, much political talk is vulgar. I mean, one doesn’t have to attach tails and horns to political opponents while the only thing one needs is to counter the policies one doesn’t approve of. Vilifying others is not in the books of victors. Unfortunately, these days the politicians’ vocabulary is 90% various versions of demonization and hate. They are filled with so much vile language you wonder if this is about losing the moral high ground or if some undetected virus is riding rough over us.

They say this world is getting messier by the day. No wonder, everyone is messing with it. And everybody seems to be messing with everybody. Demonization is one way of messing with others. You can’t spread hate and expect an entire country to be taken for the ride. That’s one thing no amount of flashy Hugo Boss suits and aromatic Versace aftershave would cover. At a time when we’re seeking words of love and forgiveness, the supposedly well-educated dancing to the tune of never-forget, never-forgive fictional narrative is a disservice to the country and its long-suffering citizens. Focusing on things which don’t make tomorrow any better than yesterday, like painting the other side as the devil’s advocate without providing any proof makes a mockery of the positively-charged political discourse we’re dreaming of. Throwing the mud balls at others and shouting “Look how dirty they are!” isn’t only offensive but the zenith of bad manners.

Look, no denying the fact that the media never enjoyed such amount of freedom it is swimming in now. The only thing a significant portion needs lifejackets. The ‘freedom’ of expression has been stretched so much so that the fear it might break at some point is justified. Ours has become a nation of freelance historians and a single historical event (or even non-event) has a hundred plus versions, and still counting.

That’s the one thing that’s preventing us from seeing each other eye to eye. I mean if a “Good morning;” ‘wrongly’ said stirs the waters, socializing would be the last thing on your mind. Scared and fearing the ‘gangs of demonization’ would descend on you with guns blazing, you slide back into your shells. Those with creative ideas that could ‘move the mountains’ throw the towel before they even enter the ring; “I’d not be part of this outrage where insults and character assassinations are the norm.”

Look, self-confidence is a virtue many of us are in want of. Only those with unshakeable self-confidence could ride out the waves. However, once the guns of demonization and character assassination open up, natural reaction kicks in and keeping one’s chin up becomes all the more challenging.

If the woman in the neighboring condo hates you, she might have a hundred reasons. The very sight of you could turn her blood to ice; (However, handsome you think to you are!) But when a person a thousand miles away, one you don’t know even existed hates you, the only thing that comes to mind is, “What sin did I commit for this guy to hate me so much!” Well, the ball isn’t in your court. It rather is in the court of the politicians and so-called ‘activists.’ They write the storyline.

They are there to talk politics, and the only thing you don’t hear from them is politics! Well, how it would have been better if they knew about politics.

Yes, the political scene is like a house in disarray. No one seems to be listening to anyone. It is because every other guy thinks he is the Big Boss and needed to be heard. What some try to do is call attention to themselves at the expense of the innocent who mislead by rhetoric of the worst kind, indulge in uncivil and uncivilized acts of destruction. You ask, “What is the guy talking about!” Nothing! He’s talking absolutely about nothing! The only thing he is doing is replenishing his ego which, as time passes, goes farther down south. A horribly dumb actor playing the role of a highly intelligent Isaac Newton; that’s where demonization and character assassination are deployed as strategic moves to conceal the poverty of plausible ideas.

The Ethiopian herald January 31/2020

 Ephrem Endale