Actions, Consequences, Living By the Sword — Dying By the Sword, and Scorched Earth Policy

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon

You've all heard it before. Actions have consequences. Sometimes those consequences are paid for by the person committing the action, sometimes the consequences are paid by someone else. But make no mistake, there are always consequences. Freedom of Speech and the First Amendment are always used as shields when someone decides to say something that may be controversial. Freedom of Speech does give you the right to say whatever you want (with a few exceptions), but it doesn't mean there may be ramifications for saying what you said. Simply put, freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences. 

In short, people need to be careful what they say. Just because you can say something doesn't mean you should say something. And if you do say that something, be prepared for potential consequences, or be prepared for the fallout of those words. 

When I rebooted this blog, I did it because I felt there were things I wanted to share with the community. I felt there are legitimate concerns that plague our fair city, and someone needs to be writing about them. I felt the other blogs did an excellent job in covering actual news stories, but there was an element missing in a lot of the blog posts. I wanted to promote discussion, the identification of issues that are affecting the city, and potential solutions to those problems. I figured, the other blogs function more like legitimate news outlets in one way, I would function more like a discussion forum or a place where we could talk about bigger picture, broader themes. 

Social media is the third rail of American (and some would say global) society. Never before in the history of the world have we been so connected to one another. There are many revolutions that have changed the world. The Agricultural Revolution changed the world by allowing us to stop being nomadic hunters and gatherers and becoming subsistence farmers. This led to the formation of settlements, eventually giving way to communities, towns, and cities. The Industrial Revolution changed the world by mechanizing mundane tasks and allowing us to manufacture goods en masse. People moved from rural to urban areas and population centers exploded. Now, the Technological Revolution is changing the world. The entire world is interconnected and dependent on the success of every corner of the globe. What happens in China affects the United States. What happens in Europe affects Latin America. What happens in Russia affects India and Pakistan. And so on, and so on, and so on. Technology has made it easier for everybody to stay in touch. You can pick up your smart phone, tick a few icons on the screen, and be connected to someone instantly on the other side of the world. Robotics and advances in artificial intelligence will soon change society once again.

Some will argue that technology is good, and some will argue that technology is making society darker and cynical. I would say both are true. I very much like being able to communicate with people who I normally wouldn't be able to. I am an avid collector of different types of historical memorabilia. I wouldn't have been able to acquire many of the items I have in my collection without the help of the internet, online auction sites, and social media pages like Facebook. I have connected with friends who no longer live close to me, and I've recently reconnected with cousins who I hadn't spoken to in a very long time. I am going through an extremely difficult transition in my personal life at the time, and I have found comfort in friends and family who have consoled me via social media. That said, social media has made society a darker place. There are those who are unbelievably addicted to social media. They may not think they are, but if you were to go through all the characteristics of addiction, some people definitely meet the criteria. There are those who can't bear the thought of leaving the house without their phone. If they realize they've forgotten their phone, they'll return home to get it. I grew up in a time where you didn't always know where someone was. You called their house, and if they weren't home you'd leave a message and wait for them to call you back. Now, if you don't answer your phone, people will think something has happened to you or you are ignoring them for some reason. Our health is being affected by technology. How much time of the day do we spend hunched over straining our eyes to read things on our phones? How much time of the day is spent typing away or scrolling away on a touch screen? Thank God our thumbs are able to slide along that tempered glass so smoothly. I'm afraid we all would have already worn our thumbs down to the bone by now. 

Social media has also made us meaner. We are quicker to attack, shame, and name-call if we think we are behind the relative safety and anonymity of our phone screens. I have never been exposed to so much racism, homophobia, nationalism, and outright evil vitriol. About the only other place I've ever seen so much hatred is playing video games online via the Playstation Network. If you don't have to see the person face to face, you can call them names. If all you see is someone with a Hispanic last name, you can assume they are in this country illegally and tell them to go back to Mexico, or you can write out BUILD THE WALL in all caps to get a rise out of them. You can ridicule and shame them based on their profile picture. If I had a nickel for every time someone has ridiculed me for my visual impairment, I'd have a whole lot of nickels. 

Therein lies the problem. While it is easier to insult and ridicule someone, our skins have not evolved yet — they haven't gotten any thicker. We are still susceptible to the same hurt when we read an insult leveled at us. Some people are capable of ignoring these insults and brushing them off as coming from people who they'll never meet. When I post something on a public forum, and someone insults me, or says something that is offensive, I can dismiss it relatively easily. However, when I read something offensive that attacks me on a more personal level, or if it's something coming from someone who I might know, or they're attacking something I've spent so much time in doing, it does hurt. 

Perhaps William Shakespeare said it best in The Merchant of Venice, "If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?"

That revenge is what makes social media such a deadly tool. So many people have used it as a vessel to promote their agenda of hate and misery. Many people have used it to attack people they don't like. They create online communities dedicated to the spreading of rumors, innuendo, and salacious stories that cause more hate and misery to be bred. Hate breeds hate. Misery loves company. When we once turned to tabloids at the grocery checkout lane for ugly, destructive stories we now create, post, share, and like on social media on a daily basis. 

Unfortunately, many of those people fail to realize one ugly truth — if you live by the sword, you'll die by the sword. If you gain your notoriety and fame from tearing down and insulting people on social media, forces will align against you and respond in kind. If you stand on your soapbox and intimidate, bully, cajole, and harass people, you really shouldn't be surprised when people will intimidate, bully, cajole, and harass you right back when you do something wrong. Being on social media casts a big spotlight on your life, and you'd better have breakage insurance for that big glass house of yours because people are going to start throwing plenty of stones right back at you. 

If you are unfamiliar with the term "scorched earth policy," I'll try to explain it as best I can. It's a military tactic that has been used by retreating armies. The basic premise of the scorched earth tactic is to destroy any supplies (or anything that could be of use) you're leaving behind so your enemy can't use it. Scorched earth refers to burning any fields with crops so your enemy doesn't reap any food or supplies from the area you are retreating from. It probably gained notoriety and entered into the vernacular because of its use during the Gulf War. As the coalition forces advanced on the Iraqi Army and Republican Guard, Saddam Hussein ordered his troops to set fire to the oil fields they were leaving behind. His reasoning was, if he couldn't benefit from the oil he was leaving behind, nobody else would. 

This is another byproduct of the evil nature of social media. When someone is cornered, instead of surrendering and admitting defeat, their tactic is to burn everything that could possibly be left behind in their wake of destruction. The thought process is obviously, "Oh, if I'm going to go down, I'm taking the whole lot of you with me." I make no apologies for thinking this is a coward's tactic. This is a hypocrite's tactic. 

If you play chess, and your king is placed in check, and eventually checkmate, you don't run your arm across the board and knock all the pieces to the floor. You look your opponent in the eye, you shake their hand, and say, "Good game." 

At the end of the day, you're the one who decided to play the game. You're the one who decided to post everything you did. Your hand wasn't forced. You are going to have to live with the consequences of your actions. You stood defiant thinking you could continue to get away with things that you were told not to do. You lived by the sword, now it appears you are on the verge of being brought down by that same sword. And now that you are retreating, it appears you are trying to burn everything and everyone else down to the ground. 

Johnny Cash's God's Gonna Cut You Down seems apropos for my conclusion. I present you the lyrics:

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler
The gambler
The back biter
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down

Well my goodness gracious let me tell you the news
My head's been wet with the midnight dew
I've been down on bended knee talkin' to the man from Galilee
He spoke to me in the voice so sweet
I thought I heard the shuffle of the angel's feet
He called my name and my heart stood still
When he said, "John, go do my will!"

Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler
The gambler
The back biter
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Well, you may throw your rock and hide your hand
Workin' in the dark against your fellow man
But as sure as God made black and white
What's down in the dark will be brought to the light

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler
The gambler
The back biter
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down

Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down