“Be careful to separate people from the policies of their governments.
Be careful to separate people from the actions of terrorists who live among them.
Be careful not to collapse history and context into narrow interpretation.
Be careful not to eschew complexity and nuance for the sake of memeification.
Be careful to recognize that grief for one side does not mean hate for the other.
Be careful to understand that support for one side does not mean hate for the other.
Be careful of gaslighting on a mass level: disinformation and denial of loss.
Be careful not to dismiss the excruciating and real pain of others. Do not make it worse.
Be careful not to say things online that you would not say to someone in real life.
Be careful not to add hatred on top of hatred; we are all being crushed underneath its compounding weight.
Be careful not to lose empathy for those with whom you disagree.
Be careful not to dehumanize others. Doing so dehumanizes you.
Do not lose touch with the parts of you needed most:
Your compassion. Your humanity. Your care.”
Thank you. This is brilliant. Humankind has made amazing progress with technology, but we are not doing so well at learning to live in harmony with each other. I wish every human being would follow the advice in this poem. I’ll try my best.
Couldn’t agree more with you,Peter.
You’re really on SPOT.
Keep up the good work, great one!
Wonderful words, really thoughtful and wise. Yes, if we focused on these principles, the world would be a better place.
Thank you, Duncan
Wonderful and powerful words, shaped into a poem – impactful!!
Thank you.