“The desire to wash the public of views that many find disagreeable instead of benefitting from a rigorous exchange of ideas is at the root of a totalitarian way of thinking.”
—Dylan McGuinty, Ottawa Citizen
A man happening along the street
late in the evening, notices
down an alley a frenzied pack,
tearing at a man’s body
wreathed in burger wrappers—feral
neighborhood dogs, all varieties—
each one with a righteous snarl,
the fanged grin of hyenas,
assuring you of their service
cleaning the filth from your streets,
though you can’t help wondering
why you still feel dirty. You rush to help
the injured man, but they bare
bloody teeth at you, eyes ravenous
with the urge to punish, as if,
by contaminating the pure night
with the spilled beer of flashlight,
you too are to blame.
READ MORE
How public discourse is harmed by social media mobbing [Ottawa Citizen]
Social Media is Killing Discourse Because it’s Too Much Like TV [MIT Technology Review]
Sean Arthur Joyce is a journalist, poet and historian with seven books published, ranging from Canadian history to poetry to a new novel, Mountain Blues, due out in May 2018 from NeWest Press, Edmonton, Alberta.
