A tweet that went viral by @ByLucyJones who works for GB News, pointing out that her university friends didn’t want to invite her to group meet-ups because of her ‘views on Covid’ and the company she works for.
Mark Dolan: “If you’ve lost friends over your ‘views’ then count yourself lucky – they were never your friends at all, about having the wrong views.”
The Age of Intolerance
The UK did Brexit. Covid-19 has hit the world and we're in 'the age of intolerance.' But we can pull back, we can change, we can become different better people.
Our divided world
Right now, the world is divided, Brexit, net zero, trans-rights, Covid-19, vaccinated versus the unvaccinated. In Brexit and Covid, people are being frozen out for having ‘the wrong views and opinions.’ We have become intolerant.
Freezing each other out
Freezing each other out is what we have in 2022. The world has hit and it has hit hard. We all have an opinion now, more than we have ever had. If we had an opinion before Brexit and Covid, we were more discerning; we were more tolerant, we were happy for others to have an opinion.
Now, in flight and fight response, we’re ready to pounce. People are happy to discard years of friendships, just because those people don’t share or have the right opinions; or if they don’t have the right opinions, others aren’t seeing themselves as wrong, they’re seeing others as wrong.
It seems people are being shut out because their opinions on external issues have become so controversial. Controversial doesn’t have to split lives, or opinions, but in 2022 in this new age of intolerance, it’s become closed-minded dogma.
We should all be able to question what is happening, without any recourse. We should be able to invest in others and for us to invest in them. “If it’s problematic to challenge and ask questions, then I can’t help you.” – Mark Nolan.
Cancel Culture
The scale of cancel culture is wreaking havoc with people’s lives. People who are cancelling others out claim to be liberal and open minded. No one has the monopoly on truth. We need to listen more and allow others to speak and have their opinions, as we are entitled to have ours.
Conclusion
It is only when you are on the receiving end, that you see and feel it. We shouldn’t ignore deep down what we know is true. Since Brexit, this issue continues to be called out through the media, in different forms.
What has happened to being kind, supportive, being patient, tolerant, caring, empathetic, wanting to be helpful; what happened? We can do things differently. That part is always up to us.
Adapted from a transcript from GB News…
I have been treated differently throughout my life and excluded because of being considered 'poor white trash' so I know the feeling.
People (not all) do claim to be liberal and open minded, when it's clear they are anything but and actually the total opposite. I grew up with people who claimed to be 'christians' who were those kind of people also, so I know them all too well.
It is only going to make things worse during these times, when the reality is we should be trying a lot harder to work together. I don't see that happening anytime soon.
Thanks Randy. Agreed, I'm with you. Yes, we should all be working together. My mum always used to say 'actions speak louder than words.'
Politicians can spout words, but unless their actions mimic their words, truthfully they may as well not speak. History shows we've learned nothing. What is irritating there are better ways.
Those who are seeing it are helpless and in Covid-19 where we should be coming together to support, it has left us more divided and separate.
I write about the things that affect us all and shall continue, but I pray that things get better for all our sakes. We need to work at making it better.
The bottom line... we are all responsible.