A new book on human behavior asserts
Two thirds of speech is talking about other people
As I read the review in a science magazine
That says it’s all gossip and mostly negative.
Of course we talk about people with each other
But Webster’s definition of a gossip is not neutral
A person who reveals information shared in confidence
Betrays the trust placed in them.
I like that my business partner forbids any gossip
Addressing a meeting of the entire company
Making the point that saying nothing is complicity
If you hear someone spreading what should be kept confidential.
We try to eliminate it from our work environment
To facilitate a place of universal mutual respect.
The result of gossip is division and a breakdown of
solidarity
Like an infiltrator disrupting the mission.
With me conversations can reverberate long afterwards
When some unkind words rankle against my brain
Or there’s an undercurrent of secret misdeeds sensed
Or reasons given that are less than completely truthful.
This matches the public discourse on social policies today
The purposeful obfuscation of what should be obvious
Covering their hidden agenda behind meaningless statements
Reducing our language to a heap of disinformation.
When everything is fake and nothing is real
Words can no longer grasp honest content.
When war is peace and military aggression is defense
It can feel like our very existence is a lie.
Perhaps that’s the intended outcome
To make us discouraged about the goodness of people
To despair that we are powerless against nonsense
As if human nature itself will bring us down.
We know that’s not true, we who resist
Having been uplifted as idealists coming together.
Speaking truth to power is itself liberating;
A much better world is ready to emerge.
Imagine if all the people were freed from stupidity
Making junk that nobody really needs or worse
Slaves to the irrational dictates of capitalism
That demands scarcity to inflate profits.
Suppose we just decide to do what needs to be done
Removing the rule of wealth interests
Stopping and reversing all forms of pollution
Allowing abundance through healthy production.
Gossip may originate in envy based in inequality
Eliminated when there’s more than enough for everyone
To live a good life in harmony with all life on earth
Made possible by the intelligence and creativity of people.
