Something has changed in how we communicate with each other. Like the pandemic, it has infected Australia and might have spread to India.
Just for ease, some commentators call this change “Trumpification” of our public conversations. Of course, it is not just Trump, it is also an outcome of spiteful and hateful social media. We have forgotten how to be respectful and kind.
It is too easy to blame America for our own problems, but we have seen over there that trading in hate and fear – combined with deliberate misinformation – creates divisions that might be hard to heal.
Social media has encouraged and built extremism, has destroyed much of our civility and is weakening respect, integrity, trust and social cohesion.
It is a stretch to blame Trump for all of this – much as he has deliberately practised anger and misinformation – and we must acknowledge that what we are seeing publicly now is what has laid dormant in our cultures probably for all time. Extremism and hatred are now empowered and public.
Long term, it will be difficult to turn around the negativity unleashed mainly by social media. It is hard to stop the toxic infection of how we treat each other. But it is worth having a go.
Mallika Bajaj and her company, Little Yellow Beetle, based in New Delhi, is helping clients create kinder content. It is one step in the right direction and might just restore respect, thoughtfulness and caring to our public discourse. I hope so.
https://www.littleyellowbeetle.com/
Here is an earlier discussion I had with Mallika Bajaj.
Into India 