Kindlyists

 It's sometimes a pleasant feeling to immerse oneself in the warm, soothing waters of fiction.

To sit in a tub of bubbling intrigue, getting all pruney, while the edges of a pulpy paperback curl in the steamy humidity.

I'm not ashamed to admit to feeling this creature-comfort envelop me as I read a certain piece of long-form journalism about two authors, their short stories, organ donation, and plagiarism. 

Though, perhaps, I should be.

Ashamed.

The tale had all the hallmarks of an impending train wreck, with too many heroes unable to decide which damsel is worthy of saving while a dark chorus is all too happy to oblige an opinion.

The piece, if you haven't read it, is a fairly clear recitation of the string of events that resulted in a years' long battle between the two women, who accuse one another of intellectual theft and public harassment in a murky soup of hard feelings about the art of friendship.

Kindness, it turns out, has many dark sides.

I wish it were purely fiction.

This battle seems to be just another indicator of the current national psyche. And as we steep ourselves in this tea of social media, we tread some dangerous waters. It's not just about physical isolation, the cloying need to be known, or the degree of difficulty we face if we want even minor transgressions to eventually be forgotten. It's also about how minor transgressions can rage into the world and light our own little corner of it on fire.

We put ourselves out there to be judged. Sometimes harshly. Unsurprisingly, no one comes out in the end as a sympathetic character.

This is why, through a series of avoidable lawsuits, a court will decide what monetary compensation should be afforded to the party that most closely adhered to the laws in question: be they concerning intellectual property or harassment. 

It's tempting to scoff at the litigiousness of our society as well as the cruelty of adults, until one realizes how little control we have over other beings and how much time we are willing to devote to revenge. It can certainly seem, despite the means of legal intervention, we often see our choices flail between the sunk costs we must accept as "water under a bridge," or a scorched earth we try our best to demolish with explosives.  
The law will take a side.

But even when a verdict is rendered, the court of public opinion, of course, will always be out.

Wherever we scroll, we'll see a new iteration of this modern-age harm. 

This week, we watched a whistleblower explain the difference between what Facebook knows to be true and what it tells us about harm its very existence causes to virtually everyone and everything ... from teenage girls to the state of our democracy.

We see the usual finger-pointing: The calls for personal accountability in the face of systemic manipulation. The demand for systemic overhaul without toppling the expectation of continued freedom of speech. I wonder if we are ready for the messy battle that will ensue in search of a cure?

A part of me, an idealistic part, hopes that the answer will be to demand MORE of social media by requiring they do LESS for us: at the very least, we should ensure they stop selling our secrets on the side. Maybe, if they aren’t allowed to track where we go and sell it at a premium to those who seek to influence, we will finally face enough of the truth to see ourselves and each other a little more kindly.

But the lesser part of me - can't wait to read the sequel.