When Bullies Take Center Stage

It is an undeniable fact that we encounter bullies from our early school days and throughout the rest of our lives.

It is interesting to note that many of these bullies, through their manipulative bullying tactics, successfully make their way into society and often reach high places.

They outwardly seem to garner supporters but I pose the question: Is it their charm or fear of their venom that supporters rally around them?

Characteristics of bullies are diverse in nature and have been a topic of study, discussion, essays, books, etc. over the ages and yet treatment and cures have not been too forthcoming!

I guess you may have surmised where my note is leading to!

Yes, Politicians! I hasten to add that I do not want to single out any particular one by name or nation, but here are the metrics that you may wish to use to identify who fits the bill and who doesn’t.

Does he/she exhibit the following negative features?
• Blackmailing
• Use of foul language
• Hatemongering
• Spreading rumors
• Manipulating
And yet exhibit the following positive features:
• Superficially charming
• Assertive
• Competitive
• Intelligent

When I used the foregoing criteria to determine which politician fits the bill, I found out that it’s difficult to find any who don’t!!!!

Hani Badawi

May 13, 2016

The “isms” in our lives!

We encounter many “isms” in our lives to span our lifetimes many times over! These isms manifest themselves in many tones, circumstances, environments, moods, beliefs, leanings, etc. to name but a few!

Take optimism, pessimism and realism for example. A few will argue that these lie on the same spectrum covering from one extreme (optimism) to the other (pessimism). I argue that realism does not fall on the same spectrum and that each of these extremes has their own mini-spectrum! You can have extreme, moderate and slight pessimism or optimism but you cannot apply that to realism!

Other isms that fall into the same category as realism, i.e. they do not conform to having degrees or, in other words, they either exist or not, include: racism, fascism, nepotism, radicalism, sexism, anarchism, humanism, individualism, etc… They belong to the same notion as “You can’t be half pregnant!!!”.

Subscribing to an “ism” does not mean that it cannot be changed. Politicians do it all the time!! Perhaps when it occurs we should refer to it as “wasm”!!!
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P.S. “ism” as defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: a belief, attitude, style, etc., that is referred to by a word that ends in the suffix -ism

Hani Badawi

May 10, 2016