In Defense of The Dying Art of Civil Discourse

When I was in boarding school, there were a variety of outlets that didn’t require usernames and passwords as mandates for entry. For me, the debate team was the ultimate goal, and luckily the ability to present my case in a distinctive and persuasive manner proved to be the right fit .

The varied topics presented their own unique climate, which could sometimes escalate into a full-blown battle that would threateningly veer into areas of turbulence before the moderator would swiftly intervene with the reset button; a necessary tool that would bring us back to civility.

And after all was said and done, the winners would bask in the glow of a hard-fought victory, while the opposing team reveled in the competitiveness of knowing that there will be another opportunity to reclaim the trophy they came so close to securing.

Even as impressionable teens, we were able to revert back to friendships and the warmness of a thriving community that wouldn’t have survived this present climate of “cancellations” and “dragging.”

All this to say that when it comes to the privilege of being able to respectfully disagree in a public forum where topics are shuffled and reshuffled with furious rapidness, and with the passionate and intimidating endorsement of users sporting the vivid blue badge of influential…