You, the one shaming your friends for sharing information they came across online in one form or another. You, the one “threatening” to unfriend people you at least somewhat care about because something they posted may have inaccurate data to go along with it. EVERYONE IS FRUSTRATED. EVERYONE WANTS ANSWERS.

What is this righteous horse you sit on? Instead of making fun of others or calling them terms that accomplish nothing, why don’t you take the time to educate them with what you know? Not a single one of you has the solution, but is quick to the draw with a meme or snarky comment as someone is trying to get to the bottom of why we are in this mess. People are collapsing mentally all over the world, and all we can do is fight over when and how is “appropriate” to give everyone a source of income once again after volunteering their livelihoods as a means for limiting the spread of COVID-19.

It doesn’t matter if what they share sounds ludicrous – there are far more bizarre truths in this world that people are afraid to admit (perfect example: how the two party system is antiquated for our needs). It also shouldn’t matter to you if they didn’t take the time to thoroughly vet the credentials of the people in the interview they watched and shared, because you can’t pretend for two seconds that you do the same with everything you put on your personal profile. For crying out loud, this is simply some of society’s plea to have the right kind of conversation looking for the light at the end of the tunnel (and to hold those accountable for wrongdoing in the event there was any).

If one of your friends or family chooses to share content that you find misleading or inaccurate, do the responsible thing and educate/inform with valuable information that may let the conversation dive deeper. Belittling our neighbors is the MOST irresponsible thing we can be doing at this moment in time (and trust me, I remind myself all the time not to join in). Show respect and love in each interaction, and maybe – just maybe – we will have a chance at keeping hope for humanity alive in this mess.

End rant.