I wish we could go back to a world where it was okay to not have an opinion on everything. I wish we could go back to when we could not feel strongly on either side without being branded as spineless. When we could understand and appreciate both perspectives of a situation without labeling the other as diabolical or malevolent. When we did not shy away from hearing things that are true simply because they don't align with what we want. When partaking in mass revisionism was not something to be glorified. When we could acknowledge that almost everything exists on a spectrum. When we could appreciate critical thinking and nuance. When we could understand the motives and underlying intentions or backgrounds which cause people we know to act in a certain way. When every sentence was not a potential indictment on your percieved morality that could consign you to pariah status, but actually be heard and analysed. When arguments were based on a mutual desire to see the other side's perspective instead of a chance to come out on top and hit the other party with 'cry harder'. When problematic fictional characters and unreliable narration were valued, and liking something was not equated to blind admiration or idolatry or transferablity of its properties onto your personality. When fandom spaces were an escape from reality as opposed to being another place to be slapped with the doom of humanity in the face. When it was possible to exist and care about things and simply be without being grouped into a category that we do not fit. When there were not just 2 baskets - when there were no baskets at all! When people were seen as people and not two dimensional cardboard cutouts. When complexity was celebrated and something to revel in and not something to be afraid of or to cower from.
It's an analytical and data based world, but I don't think that should necessitate black and white thinking. The history of humankind is written in its gray areas.
In hindsight, I doubt such a world ever existed, but what I am sure of is that we are moving away from that hypothetical at an alarming pace every second.
Please, hear people out today. Listen to them. Judge slower. Just give it a try. It's worth it. It's always worth it. What we loathe is more often than not that which we don't understand. We are all different. It'd make the world a better place.
