Discourse is the act of coming together to get along. Far often society’s, countries, governments, resort to violent measures to resolve disputes and disagreements. Even people, normal individuals like you and me, far too often resort to the clobbering and bashing of each other rather than discourse and conversation to solve their issues. A quick study of human history can highlight all the ways we have approached disputes and resolutions in an improper way. In this post, you will find how discourse works in bringing society together.
Just look at how the endless amounts of wars have done nothing to achieve stability or peace. In fact, even more, problems arise after wars than existed before a war. We as humans and as a race have been through two world wars. This is besides the other countless amounts of destructive wars that humans have waged against each other. We have been through two world wars where several countries and their armies actively and knowingly participated in the destruction of our planet Earth and of ourselves. Yet, fast forward to today, and the same mentality of war, and the option for war, is still a possibility, whenever controversy and problems reach their peak.
Even at micro levels, we as individuals resort to beating and bashing each other, using our hands or sticks, or at times guns and weapons. We do this because we are either incapable of achieving resolution through discourse, or we refuse to. Instead, we are satisfied and pleased with resolving the issue through violence. And after the dispute is settled, or rather once the violence is over but the issue of the dispute still lingers, we are left with nothing but vindictive satisfaction. Because through violence we don’t achieve conflict resolution, we just achieve monetary relief for having released our pent up anger.
Instead, we should seek to converse. To achieve open communication through pragmatism, humility, and dialogue. In order to do that, we must adopt discourse. Through discourse, we gain a means to an end without having to go through violence to get what we want. Through discourse, we are able to save ourselves the trouble of having to destroy before we can build. Through discourse, we can work in bringing a society together instead of tearing it apart.
When I look across countries and cities, and how people have begun to protest more and more, I realize that now more than ever people and societies have become divided. Which is why, now more than ever, we need dedicated discourse works and constructive communications to sow that divide and bring people together. Or else risk more wars and destruction. Except who knows, if the next war could be our last.
