Can we all get along?' That question was the simple but profound plea made popular by a man named Rodney King. Do you remember him? He was the US construction worker who became known worldwide, after being badly beaten by the police back in 1991.

The officers involved were actually charged after a video of the brutal beating went viral, and when they were eventually acquitted in 1992, many people thought it was unfair and justice was not served. So it sparked serious anger and outrage. And the anger and outrage quickly erupted into a major violent upheaval that became known as 'the LA Riots.' Remember?

An entry on Rodney King and the riots that I found on Wikipedia tells us that by the time the US police, army, marines and National Guard restored order, the riots had caused 53 deaths, 2,383 injuries, more than 7,000 fires, damage to 3,100 businesses, and nearly $1 billion in financial losses. And it also spread beyond Los Angeles, as smaller riots also broke out in other US cities like San Francisco, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and even as far as Toronto in Canada.

I got to thinking about King and those riots yesterday for two reasons. One of the reasons is that I'm actually now in the city where it all happened. Yeah man, mi deh a LA and in case you're wondering, I won't tell you just yet what I'm doing here. No man, that's stuff for another box.

The other reason I began musing on King's question though is because I've been spending some time, maybe too much time, on Facebook. And I can't help noticing the unbearable increase of conflicts, contentions and 'cuss outs' on that site. Almost every time I pay a visit to that Facebook place, I encounter somebody ranting angrily against something or somebody.

Disagreements

Now, unlike Rodney King, I'm not really so focused on people 'getting along'. That's a gesture towards a kind of utopian dream as far as I'm concerned. In fact, the idea of a world where everybody gets along sounds way too boring for me. I accept that the people will have conflicts. My question instead, is why the disagreements have to be expressed in such increasingly ugly and offensive ways. Why?

You notice it too? If you follow Facebook, one gets the sense that respectfully agreeing to disagree with somebody is no longer an option. Nobody seems to care much about disagreeing without disdain or opposing without disrespect. No man, apparently that's not exciting enough to satisfy our growing appetite for the ugly. Everybody has to be now competing enthusiastically to see who can shoot the ugliest insults and throw nastiest barbs.

Here's just one example. I find that nowadays atheists are no longer people who just 'don't believe in God'. They have to now be the people who get up every day to go online to curse, shame and ridicule anybody who's into God. Why?

So yeah, unlike Rodney King, I don't care if we can't get along. But I really want to know why we can't be just a little bit less offensive with the fact that we can't get along? Tell me nuh! Why?

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