CIVILITY: THE WAY TO BE IN A DEMOCRACY

With a population of around 7.8 billion people, it seems unnatural to not have varied opinions, beliefs, ideologies and instincts. It is basic human biology to be different from one another. Some problems affect you at a personal level while other problems don’t affect you at all, just like it is said that human beings have different developmental goals similarly what we want is different from what we get, the problems that affect us personally can make us irrational and make us act a certain way these sentiments could be driving you to choose the side you do. Rationally this shouldn’t seem like an immediate cause for people condemning you, however, it is the most common realistic consequence and unfortunately, it is wrong. And what are the correct consequences you may ponder? Civility.

Civility comes from the word ‘civic ‘which in Latin means ‘citizen ‘. Merriam Webster defines civility as civilised conduct or a polite act or expression. However, being civil is not so simple, civility does not just mean ‘ hello’ or ‘please’. It is the basic idea of peaceful behaviour around others. Listening is the foremost pillar and should be done at all times, no matter how preposterous the person opinion may seem and once they are done talking you should talk too and they shall listen, simple is it not? but why shall you follow this if another person's opinion seems barbaric, why should you listen to them speak? the answer is simple this is one of the bases of human decency. In the dark times, when thoughts get suppressed, it is up to us, to do what our representatives fail to do. The government in power has squashed dissent on multiple occasions. Being one of the world’s largest democracy, we as a community are obligated to do so. Without us ‐the protesters, responsible citizens, speakers, our society will get hurled into the unbreakable shackles of anarchy. So how will Ordinary citizens like you and I make a difference? We will get a conversation started. When people are willing to listen to one another, they can come up with a common solution. When people talk, the debate is ought to happen. The point is that a better outcome will prevail, than what would happen if people don’t listen. You may wonder how that will affect the policymakers? The truth is that it may not make a difference in their decisions at all. However, irrespective of stance, there is a dialogue being kept alive. This creates a butterfly effect that has a larger impact than we know. Getting the conversation started is crucial to incite change. To conclude, civility is important for the advancement of our society if we look back on our history, the idea is prevalent in every movement that has been ever done. The civil disobedience movement, one of the most important movement in propelling the hunt for our freedom, the idea of Satyagraha something that affects our nation's policies even today. All these ideas prove that civil discussion is the best way to go.

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