During college, I used to be that guy who participated in debates and discussions on political topics. I was outspoken in class discussions on political matters, and I had won prizes for speeches and debates in schools.
I was a Journalism student in college, but after graduating, I strayed away from the media. Gradually, I moved into corporate spaces, but my argumentative drive didn’t go away. Facebook provided an opportunity for me to channel it, where I picked up a fight with everyone on my list. I dropped a lot of friends. Snap.
About four years ago, I used to spent hours doing this on Facebook often exchanging hundreds of comments with people, sometimes with mutual friends. It became rampant. Victory was declared after making the opponent’s valid points look absurd. Conversations were filled with slandering and personal remarks. I even broke up with someone, who I was sort of dating, over political arguments.
I take complete responsibility for my actions. This is what left an imprint on me. It was hysteria to post a status and share an article with comments to collect likes and comments from the ‘Liberal’ and ‘Cool’ people in my friends list. I would say that it was toxic, unhealthy, and achieved nothing. The only purpose it achieved was to boost my own ego. The argument turned out to be so intense at one point that my own Journalism college lecturers unfriended me.
Anyways, this year I decided to quit social media arguments. I argued and ranted from the time Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister to the 2016 elections. I argued about privacy, freedom of expression, the cow protection army, and everything in between. I must have lost over 100 Facebook friends in the process, and a couple of them blocked me.
After the arguments have accumulated dust, I look back at the damage my words have caused and evaluated what I have achieved. I feel that what I had so passionately argued about didn’t actually mattered. I am an average middle-class person born to government employee parents, with decent financial security to lead a comfortable life. These arguments in no way changed my life. In the end, the government will only listen to corporate companies funding the political party in power.
Who was I fighting for? If it wasn’t about myself, then was I doing it honestly? The answer is no. Me arguing about cow lynching wasn’t doing any good to the person who died because of it, nor did it do anything to prevent the violence. Me arguing about of Privacy and Freedom of Expression wasn’t going to change things. Me arguing about Delhi’s government having limited powers or resources was not going to bring a Constitutional amendment.
Now I have decided that whenever I see someone on social media arguing about some petty political issue I care about, instead of joining the, I log out of Facebook. I wasted so much time arguing on social media, but not anymore.
During this week, I saw decades-long conflicts between India and Pakistan escalated, creating mutual tension after a terror strike in Pulwama. The social media warriors had already declared war against Pakistan following the incident, and slandered anyone who shared an opposing view.
People who want a war to be declared never understood that damage will be on both sides. Both are nuclear powers, and the Pakistan army is the seventh largest in the world. They are not sitting ducks you can get in your belly so easily.
A year ago, I would respond to the argument in a different way, but this time I rarely commented, even when someone argued with me. I am a political person, I raise my voice for issues I strongly feel about around me. I have taken myself to discuss civic issues with my local corporator and MLA in the past.
This time, by staying away from the political heat of the India-Pakistan conflict, I saved myself from the negativity that often accompanies these kinds of arguments. And life is more productive I would say. I have peace for myself.
Featured Image source: Pabak Sarkar/Flickr.
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