On December 7th last year, during a municipal council meeting in Longueuil, a lady who spoke out against the killing of the famous deer in Michel Chartrand Park drew a parallel between the killing of these animals… and that of Hamas on October 7th committed massacres against Israelis.
• Also read: There are a lot of deer in the east, which have caused 103 traffic accidents in Montreal in three years
“Will you be able to look into the eyes of the deer, the mothers of the fawns, when they are pierced by an arrow and lie over their babies to protect them? the woman asked, sobbing. Maybe their babies will die themselves, with an arrow in their bodies.”
“We just have to refer to all those horror photos that were presented after the massacre in Israel… Will the mayor be present at this murder?”
During this meeting, a psychologist specializing in pet therapy also took the microphone and said that certain residents of Longueuil need psychological support to deal with their distress and feelings of helplessness caused by this situation.
Breathe through your nose
They will tell me that it is an anecdote.
Yes, well, okay.
But it's an anecdote that says a lot about what's happening in the West.
Some people lose it completely.
Are you asking people to wear a mask when entering a restaurant to protect themselves and others during a pandemic?
Extreme right-wing supporters organize a “freedom convoy” and call for fascism and dictatorship!
Are you saying that governments should take into account our absorption capacity when setting immigration thresholds?
Radical left activists call you racist and xenophobic!
Big words right away…
Yesterday the National Post published a very interesting piece about the climate of polarization that is poisoning the political landscape, but also public discourse.
Many social scientists observe that our reactions are becoming less and less rational and more and more emotional.
We lose all sense of proportion.
In the past, members of the “other side” were considered opponents. Now they are considered enemies.
You don't argue with an enemy, you don't debate with him. You smash it.
Add to this the fact that Westerners have become so comfortable that they perceive any criticism as a “microaggression” and any law or regulation as a frontal attack on the rights and freedoms of citizens, and you end up with people who claim that killing deer to control their overpopulation is genocide.
I think we're in for a big yoga session.
Hey, we should ask Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau to teach us how to breathe through our noses.
We breathe in… We breathe out… Namaste.
A dead end
We can't continue like this.
On both the right and the left we will have to relearn how to discuss.
Because this hyperpolarizing climate – created and fueled by social media – is preventing us from moving forward and leading absolutely nowhere.