Sowing Dissent

Gossip, gossip, gossip.

I'm slowly realizing just how damaging and powerful gossip is. Could it be that every rebellion involves gossip in some way? Something bad happens (or there's a huge misunderstanding) and people start sharing stories. It could all be quite innocent at the beginning. But the stories only increase people individual feelings of being wronged--as if the bad thing that happened to them wasn't enough they add everyone else's experience to their own. What was an anthill becomes Mount Everest.

The fire only grows after that. Annoyance turns to frustration, frustration gains power and becomes anger. And by it's very definitely gossip involves other people, so now you have an increasingly angry population (or team or family or group of friends). Eventually enough anger prompts action... disastrous action.

Did gossip play a role in Hitler's rise to power? Was it gossip that put Jesus on the cross? Did gossip fuel Napoleon's coup? At it's core was it gossip that cause the Rwandan genocide? Does gossip continue fuel racial discrimination today? Does gossip polarize politics and breed dissatisfaction in communities?

The power of gossip scares me. It seems so small in the moment....