American Bullies
Like most kids, I learned about bullies when I was young. In third grade, while I was waiting to cross the street on my way to school, a boy pushed me down into a snow bank. I didn’t know him, and I doubt he knew me. He just did it because he was bigger, mean and he could. That’s what bullies do. I expect he got some pleasure out of it and for that reason alone probably had done it to many others and would continue to do so.
There’s too much bullying going on in America today. As usual, some of it is in schools. For a long time it was confined to physical or verbal bullying of other kids. Now, bad as that is, kids also face cyber-bullying where social media is used to spread the pain beyond school walls with words and images aimed at making its victims cower in embarrassment and humiliation amongst their peers. It can turn a child’s young years, in and outside school, into an experience of psychological and sometimes physical abuse. In extreme cases, it has resulted in children committing suicide.
Bullying is reprehensible at any age. It of course goes well beyond school-age children. In the adult world it now takes its toll over issues as varied as personal appearance, race, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual preference, immigration status, religion and politics. Smartphones, social media and the Internet have made it easier for bullies to do their damage, often enabled by the ability to stay anonymous. The vehicles for perpetrators have expanded to include choices with an array of new labels such as deep fakes, doxing, stalking, swatting, catfishing and masquerading.
Bullies cause harm wherever they use their “talents.” Whether they intimidate others with “unwelcome” or “politically incorrect” views into silence on university campuses or use the power of government to threaten universities by withholding their research funding they are dangerous to intellectual freedom and learning. Whether they shout down speakers whose views they abhor, prevent elected officials from having public town halls or extort law firms they dislike to extract millions of dollars of free legal help they threaten the dialogue and civic participation essential to healthy self-government. Whether they promote unqualified people by attacking those who oppose their elevation in society or force the resignation of talented and dedicated people from their jobs, their bullying undermines the tolerance and civility essential for sustaining moral and caring communities.
Political bullying is certainly not new. The supporters of John Adams for president in 1800 taunted Thomas Jefferson and his followers by labeling him an atheist who would confiscate their bibles. Yet it’s a growing threat to democracy today because its power goes so far beyond 18th century newspapers of limited circulation. In our digital age elected bullies act with the weight of government behind them. When they have exuberant followers, their power is magnified as is the damage they collectively do, as we can see in the increasing number of threats against politicians, judges, school officials and election workers. When elected officials bully rather than respectfully engage with friendly countries, they chip away at the trust and relationships essential to cooperative endeavors in a dangerous world. There is a difference between being a tough negotiator, which opponents accept and may even admire, and a bully who invites disdain and fosters the desire to strike back.
Bullies rarely stop unless someone stands up to them. When they feel they’ve succeeded, they often elevate their demands on others. They are seldom constrained by appeals to civility or common decency. Their lack of concern for those they bully fosters an environment that can fray the social fabric of a community, a nation and the world. The rule of law, the Constitution and societal norms that shame those who bully have been the chief bulwarks to restrain and punish such behavior. They depend on the moral character of people and their willingness to use the levers of resistance available. That moral character and the willingness to act against bullying are being tested today. It is a test we seem to be failing.
Bullies ask their hoped-for audience to suspend reason. They count on emotional triggers to spread their damage. Standing up to bullies thus takes mental toughness and the moral courage. It can be a lonely and dangerous undertaking. Yet silence and inaction are dangerous too. The British philosopher John Stuart Mill in his 1867 inaugural address at the University of St. Andrews said that “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” The good people in America need to acknowledge the meanness and bullying originating in so many quarters of society – and they need to start pushing back.
About a week after my humiliation in the snow, I saw the bully who pushed me standing at the same intersection on our way to school. I was afraid, but I confronted him. He left me alone after that. I don’t know if I made a change in his behavior toward anyone else, but at least he knew he could not count on always remaining unopposed.
Photo Credit: JohnHain- pixabay.com
