Chief Dragging Computer and the keyboard warriors
The quality of public discourse has declined precipitously in the last couple of decades. Now, I know that it is common for men of my age to criticize the entitlements of the younger generation, but this is not an age thing.
I have seen grown men, men in their 50s and 60s, acting like juvenile schoolyard bullies from behind the anonymity of a keyboard. The worst part of it is that much of the mental excrement being tossed about by these self-described “warriors” is both intellectually bankrupt and morally suspect.
There is something to be said for the community service provided by the local newspaper. The accountability that comes with having an editor induces one to find ways of rendering opinions that do not offend gentlemanly manners or common decency. There is no such accountability for the keyboard warriors on the various social media platforms. On the contrary, the social media platforms often serve the opposite purpose, serving as a sort of still. But instead of distilling whiskey from corn, or some other grain, the social media still tends to distill basic mental excrement into purer and more odious mental excrement.
The free exchange of ideas is a fundamental cornerstone of liberty. There have been many great thinkers in human history — Milton, Chaucer, Voltaire and Franklin being some of my personal favorites. But these men were prepared to be held responsible for the ideas they presented. They did not hide behind the safety of their pens or throw stones from their own yards as cowardly children. They would, and often did, debate their ideas with individuals who disagreed with them.
Some, such as William Tyndale and Pomponio De Algerio, were executed for having ideas found disturbing by the ruling classes. It is for these reasons, as well as many others, that the intellectual drivel being passed off as serious commentary these days is so vexing to the intellectual mind.
Among the Cherokee, we have been blessed with many great thinkers, leaders and warriors throughout history. Among those were the Great Sequoyah, the only man in the history of men to develop a written language for a preliterate culture in less than a decade, and Dragging Canoe, a man of such energy and courage that his very presence would make today’s keyboard warriors quiver and puke like only a coward can. The one thing these leaders have in common is the courage and determination to carry on and do what needed to be done in spite of the criticism of persons with no vision and less intellect. Today, instead of Chief Dragging Canoe, we have Chief Dragging Computer. Instead of Turtle-At-Home, we have Little Mouse and his sidekick Emoji. And, of course, we have as many self-appointed warriors and experts as can turn on a computer and avail themselves of a username and password, no true subject knowledge or intellect required. And the quality of ideas and the debate thereon suffers accordingly. When asked to support their bankrupt opinions with logic or some shred of truth, they resort to a stream of four-letter vitriol even less understandable than the frothy barking of a rabid dog.
We must always have opinions; this is the nature of an intelligent life form. We must share our opinions; this is the nature of community. Most importantly we must tolerate opinions different from our own, debate and disagree, and do so with respect, courtesy and understanding, for this is the nature of liberty.