On the EDge: 2017, The Year of Divisiveness

December 25, 2017 Utah Channel 3

OPINION — Wow, what a bumpy ride.

The planet will complete yet another tour around the sun in less than a week, thankfully bringing an end to a year with more “downs” than “ups.”

Usually, as we look back, as so many of us do this time of year, we see a couple of events that grabbed us, held our attention, then slipped quietly into some little file folder in the brain where we store our thoughts.

This year, that little file folder isn’t so little. And, it is filled with a lot of unpleasantness.

There were relentless hurricanes that battered us.

There were horrific displays of man’s inhumanity as innocent victims were cut down by madmen with military-grade weaponry.

There were horrific displays of man’s inhumanity as potential innocent victims were threatened by a couple of madmen with nukes who aren’t smart enough to figure their way out of a telephone booth.

Sometimes, we can capture the essence of a year with an appropriate title.

But, what exactly was 2017?

Was it The Year of The Perv? After all of the stories that surfaced about the startling incidents of sexual assaults against women, one thing is perfectly clear: If chivalry isn’t dead, it is certainly drawing its last desperate gasp.

Was 2017 The Year of The Payback? There was certainly a massive attempt at revisionism as an administration that arrived far short of a voter mandate was hell-bent to erase any vestiges of an administration that served us well for eight years with dignity and grace.

Was 2017 The Year of The Lie? The whoppers keep coming, loud and strong, in numbers too great to detail and too outlandish to legitimize.

Was 2017 The Year of Fake News? Not really. The news is the news and it is not fake. How people twist it, spin it, chew it up and digest it, however, is another story.

Was 2017 The Year of Fury? A case could easily be made that anger was the dominant emotion of the year, from the continued degradation of immigrants who look, worship and sound different from the mainstream to the venomous attacks upon those who passively took a knee in peaceful protest, our collective mood has been laced with animosity. It seems as if everybody had a hissy fit or two to throw in 2017.

For some reason, Millennials have become the targets of disgruntled ancients who disregard them as spoiled brats looking for a handout. In the old days, we called that a generation gap as those desperately trying to cling onto their long-faded youth envy those whose age and energy give them more spark and drive. Their goals may be different, they may not be motivated by the almighty green, they may have a different idea about the Great American Dream, but one thing is for sure, it won’t be long before the world is in their hands, so we’d better do our best to be supportive and offer the bits of wisdom we gathered over the years.

We were big on words like collusion and obstruction, short on words like compassion and understanding.

We saw good men and women trashed while the bad guys seemed to flourish.

We saw real and imaginary lines drawn in the sand and more flip-flops than a Mexican beach.

And, we saw some of our most important institutions come under fire, some deserved, some not.

It was a year of losses, as every year is, with some truly warm and gentle fellow travelers moving on to the next phase of their journey. They will be sadly missed.

But, for all that we are and for all that we are not, I think 2017 will best be remembered as The Year of Divisiveness.

It was a blessed year for the contrarians, who find fault with everything and everybody, who are judgmental and critical of all, including those they grudgingly find themselves in agreement with sometimes. It’s a lonely place, I imagine, where nobody is ever quite satisfied and nobody, really ever plants their feet on firm turf because they are too busy picking nits. A sort of no-man’s land where it’s always Monday.

It was a good year for bullies and belligerents, who, thanks to a lowering of the standards of civility, no longer toe the line of courtesy and consideration. I think we can all come to agreement that it is time to drain the swamp, a not-so-original term that found footing among politicians in the 1980s. We just didn’t count on the swamp being so deep, so polluted, so treacherous.

I hope 2018 returns us to some sense and sensibility, that we can, once again, partake in meaningful dialog and realize that for all of our individuality, we also share a commonality and a singular goal, which is, quite simply, happiness, which has somehow slipped from the equation.

We’ve spent too much time using fear and anger to guide us instead of reason. It’s easier to denigrate than to encourage; it’s easier to write somebody off as either a “libtard” or “repugnican” than to explore their particular ideology. Vigorous debate should never be replaced by the indignity of shunning or outright character assassination. It’s pointless and nonproductive.

It would be nice if, for a change, people examined the words of others.

Mostly, I am weary of the pathetic defense that, “Well, they do it, too!”

It’s a weak excuse, a lame retort with little to no moral or ethical substance.

Who started all of this rancor?

I don’t know and I really don’t care.

Blame it on the conservatives, if you wish, or pin it on the liberals. For all I care, lay it at the foot of the fence-sitters who spend more time balancing that line in the middle in lukewarm, at best, compromise that achieves nothing but more of the same.

I’m more concerned with the reasons for the divisiveness than the origins of it; more concerned with how to fix it rather than who to blame for it; more concerned with the fallout that has led to the brain rot that has resulted in us being more concerned with playground taunts than intellectual pursuit.

It’s time to stop thumping our chests.

It’s time to realize we are part of a global community that has become totally dependent on its neighbors.

It’s time to extend a hand in friendship instead of a single digit flashed in anger.

So goodbye and good riddance to 2017, The Year of Divisiveness.

Hello to 2018.

May we, in 365 days, look back on it as The Year of Hope.

Salud!

No bad days!

Ed Kociela is an opinion columnist for St. George News. The opinions stated in this article are his own and may not be representative of St. George News.

Email: edkociela.mx@gmail.com

Twitter: @STGnews, @EdKociela