I agree. Anyone can be an a**hole, man or woman.
These terms are thrown around very loosely, as ad hominem attacks.
The real problem is with our hierarchical society.
Hierarchy necessitates putting others down to raise yourself up.
That's a sickness that is encouraged by many.
In the frantic race to "win", we've lost sight of the quality that enabled our species to survive; cooperation.
There's something to be said for friendly competition. It increases creativity.
When it's taken to a ruthless, win-at-all-costs, extreme, it has become 'toxic', left cooperation completely out of the picture, and is ultimately counterproductive, often devastatingly destructive.
You are absolutely correct that balance is the goal. Balance between striving for excellence and providing compassionate understanding for all is what's needed.
We, as a species, still have swings in both directions. This is further complicated by the fact that countries and ethnic groups each are at their own place in the arc. Chaos ensues more often than not.
When an overwhelming majority of one half is at odds with the other half, such as in the world wars, our survival is put in doubt.
When we, as a large portion of humanity, swing back the other way, much progress, positive change, can be made, but smaller portions begin to go back to their own frequency of swing and, again, chaos... until some new crisis forces a large enough
portion to work together for another surge in positive change
Wow 😳. I've run on again;)
Anyway. Still love your work, "elbow":).
--weezi--💜🌈🙏🏼🌻🥳🙏🏼