The Pitchforks

I have to tune myself out from the election news because of the constant vitriol and name calling on my Facebook feed. Some who played it nicely would only vague-booking about how "Democracy matters" and how "Americans have spoken".

The exact same thing happened in Indonesia, where the supporters of the current president valiantly defend the president, and the people who oppose him vehemently denounced his presidency. Both have the same solid argument, both hate each other with vengeance.

We say we shouldn't judge. We say we should see people as people, more than just the stigma and past the propaganda. Yet we call each other in a way that if it's referred to other issues such as religion, we'll be considered insensitive or politically incorrect.

Republicans/Conservatives are people who hate immigrant, redneck idiot who worship the crassness of Trump and his goon, who have no respect of whatsoever to women's body, the egoistic selfish maniac who'll do anything for the good of themselves.

Democrats/Liberals are people who won't accept responsibilities, who thinks the world revolves around them and they deserve so much more than they actually worth, who leech off of other people's hard work, who denounce anything than inconvenience them.

In the same breath, this is exactly the same as saying Muslims are terrorist, Jewish are opportunist, immigrants are criminals, black people are violent, white people are supremacist, Southeast Asian is gold digger, people with HIV have a questionable lifestyle, gays are bad, straights are homophobic, and the list goes on.

We can waste our breath debating on whether or not the accusation is true, a debate that will change nobody's mind. Or we can do better: ask yourself what are you fighting for? Are you fighting for what you think it is right, or are you blindly defending your group by reducing the worth of your opponent?

For some, what I write won't matter because of my stance on immigration. I have been labeled as Trump supporter, so to speak. For others, what I write won't matter because I am an immigrant. I have been labeled as a leech and I don't have any right to speak about the US.

Yet this is what I see. I see people vehemently defending their group and their belief without trying to understand what and how other people think. Not just US, but all around the world. One side will win, but at what cost? The cost will be buried ember ready to burst into fiery anger when the time comes.

Democracy is not about winning or losing, it is not about being right or wrong. Democracy is a system of government by the whole population, which means even your opponent has the right to say on the matter, which means you can't just shut them down by saying "You are stupid!" without trying to understand their concerns.

We can hate-vote. We can fear-vote. We can self-righteous-vote. Or we can vote by clearly and objectively considering which will bring the best of the people, and the consequences that will happen. We can vote for what we believe, not to attack others.

Sure, the other group did it first. But you do not live with 'the other group'. You live with yourself. In times, what you believe can and will change. Being civil and understanding is not done for other, it's done for you. You can do that or be trapped in the shallow muddy pool of stigma, sinking deeper into unpleasantness and anger towards others. Your call.