We Seem to Have Lost the Idea of Moderation

 

(Adapted from a newspaper article on the recent suicide of Australian Gavin Wilson amid protests at drag queens reading stories to kids)

 

 

Our responses to issues

Need to be fast and emphatic

The time to make considered decisions

Sacrificed for the sake of speed and severity

 

We are pushed to the limit

In this era of extreme views

And have lost the idea of moderation

 

Opinions need to be supercharged and to be heard

We've pushed so far to the extreme flanks

That we're finding it hard to return to the centre

So obsessed we are with opposing forces on the left and right

We have lost all sense of direction

 

Gavin Wilson committed suicide

From an accumulation of extremist ideas

 

That some have actually used his death

As just another opportunity to score points

Against their opponents

Is the most pitiful thing in this sorry mess

 

But that's what we've come to

 

His family released a statement

It was considered and compassionate

Quiet, not shouting

Forgiving, not laying blame

 

It's a lesson for us all

 

Don Matthews January 2020