Everyone has been bullied. Everyone has bullied.
People hate it while loving it. Decry it while indulging it. The infliction of undeserved cruelty on another gets small broke dicks hard.
The human race is a tribal society of warring factions divided by colour, politics, religion, sports, music, fashion, weakness, strength, intelligence or whatever random factoid some tinpot turdwit decides to plant their flag for. The weak make themselves strong by making others weak, more cormorant than man.
It can take many forms, but never doubt what it is. Be it racist beatdowns, comic name-calling bants, snide eye rolls, casual ostracising, water cooling bitching or burning an old hag for having too many warts when the crops went dry, it is all about small people engorging themselves on the sly erosion of someone else’s identity.
But it doesn’t have to work.
OUR INSECURITIES, PREJUDICES AND FEARS MANIFEST IN HOW WE TREAT OUR FELLOW MAN
Bullies dehumanise their targets. The comedy jeers, childish nicknames or enlarging of minor flaws all serve to undermine standing in the community. They place someone in a box that swiftly becomes a cage – inescapable once ingrained in the pea-brains of easily manipulated sheep.
It has a snowball effect. Spite turns to hate with repetition. Once tagged, the target will find their views derided, truths tainted as lies, jokes taken as insults, achievements twisted into attacks. Denigration is normalised and eventually anything goes. It is okay to hurt someone if they are less than human. They deserve it, because everyone says they do.
Such behaviour exposes the bully more than the victim. Our insecurities, prejudices and fears manifest in how we treat our fellow man. The result is not what they wish. True reward does not arrive in short-term empowerment, but long-term happiness. Happy bunnies do not wield razors.
With communities divided into hierachies, some glass ceilings become impossible to break, but perhaps they don’t need to be. Toxic friendships and cancerous companies eventually eat themselves. Don’t go down with the ship when there is an ocean to sail.
YOU ARE NOT WHO THEY SAY YOU ARE
It is time to stop believing the hype, stop being defined by the jeers of the swivel-eyed mob. It is too easy to accept the false mask you have been given. Enough is enough. You are not who they say you are.
There are a myriad worlds out there, with their own heroes and villains, jokes and mishaps, sunrises and sunsets. If you don’t fit in with the crowd you find yourself, find a new one that understands your quirks, oddball sensibilites and outlook. With only the finite time we have on the planet there is not enough to waste in the company of those who don’t respect you.
While we can understand the trials each bully has faced to have warped them so bitterly, empathy only goes so far. Walk away and leave them to it – maybe in time they can change or see the error of their ways, perhaps they will experience the pain they inflicted on others, but it is not your job to teach. We all have our own path, our own truth, our own humanity to preserve.
So when receiving the pointless insult, cold shoulder, lying whispers behind as you walk on, remember these words to hold your head higher.
Fuck’em.
Hove Press 