Meme Response 2

 Here's another Meme I found in r/Enlightenment and decided to respond to: 

I find it depends on the stranger and the exact form their resentment and hostility takes. Fir their are many people who, even in their resentment and hostility, still hold themselves up to certain rules of conduct: perhaps it's sometimes some intuitive sense of honor, or some instinctively held ideal of fair play, or some habitually held value of good morals placed in them from their upbringing; etc. Whatever form it takes, this inclination towards a certain code of conduct makes it possible, even in the midst of their hostility, to have a fruitful discussion with them, if you are willing to endure their resentment and hostility with patience.

To wit, sometimes such discussions end up breaking down despite their code; since perhaps you will lose patience or they will give into the temptations of their resentment and hostility despite their otherwise sincere attempts at good conduct, or perhaps a mix of both; and of course, for people who have no such principles restraining them in their hostility, it is truly a waste of time and effort to engage; but it seems to me that this is the price you pay for such things. However there is still value even in light of that price; for it is a good practice both in learning to identify such inclination in a person's heart despite their hostility and resentment, and also to practice one's own patience. More to this, by so engaging with them, even should they fall to temptation; you re still giving them to an opportunity to grow in patience and self-control as well, and so perhaps to some day overcome that hostility and resentment; so that such discussions can plant seeds for future ones; in which case this is already has an element of building community and fostering relationships as well.

More to me, because engaging in such conversation requires and permits the practice and growth of such insight and patience, and as navigating the hostile dialogical territory of one's interlocutors resentful outlook can require and promote the development of much skill in discerning how best to word one's self; then the resulting conversations seem to me to be works of art in their own right as well; indeed, one's cooperatively formed. To wit, these are failed works when the conversation fails; but when such conversations end well, they are masterpieces.

That being said; everyone shall need rest eventually; so of course it's likely not good to spend 'all' of one's times in such territory; but it's important I think to be constantly making the effort over time, even if with frequent and reasonable long breaks; for it is through such conversations we can reforge the connections that bitterness has destroyed; and strengthen the connections that resentment has weakened, which is an important thing to do; both to prevent society from becoming overly polarized, and when it has so become that way, to both reduce it's effects and, hopefully, if enough put in this effort, to restore it to a more unified way.