Want to call me a snowflake? Go ahead, creep, you're dying out anyhow.

I've been reading a lot of total BS recently. There are some real creepy people out there. So many nasty, mealy-mouthed cynics who hide behind a computer screen and an anonymous profile, spouting off any old opinionated guff that they think will offend their opponents, who are just ordinary people with middle-of-the-road ideals. But they're in for a shock. Most reasonable people I know are thick-skinned and mature, whereas some of the right-wingers I know take offence at the smallest thing, even down to being posed a relevant question that they don't like. And they call us the snowflakes!

I don't know what it is about certain conservatives and their sensitivities, but they seem to think it's OK for them to spout off insensitive and (let's be honest) immature nonsense on anything they deem a target. For example, readers on a certain right-wing online newspaper (yes, I read it - got to know what the enemy is doing!) who thought the address by Bishop Michael Curry at Harry and Meghan's wedding was either boring, manic, inappropriate, untrue or just pandering to liberal ideology. One reader wrote, "I bet his wife beats him. He might as well transition now. He's not a real man anyway". Another poster said "he used the pulpit to fulfil his own self-esteem issues. Sickening." Someone agreed, saying "Why did he think he did not have to stick to his allotted 5 minutes? Outrageous!"

Anyhow, all throughout that newspaper's website, those who disagree with their vitriolic rhetoric are truly savaged. There is rarely a sensible disagreement between readers. And most of the time it is these creepy individuals who seem to revel in spouting unfriendly remarks at those they don't like (friends of the LGBTQ community, supporters of sexual equality, gun control activists, believers in climate change, advocates of free health care, etc.). I mean, it's OK to disagree, it's OK not to like what the other one says or does, but there is no need to really be so mean and abusive.

When this is pointed out, they cry "snowflake!" Well no. Actually, it is they who fear the enemy more than the enemy fears them. That is why they attack so hard. They are slowly dwindling in numbers, while the new generation is on the rise. I have seen some remarkable things in the new generation that I think will change the political landscape, as long as the lunatics don't get us all blown up. There will be less chance of a war; there will be less nationalism and fence-building; there will be more diversity in society as we see more barriers broken down; there will be less ideology of any kind, both religious or political; but most of all, many of the world's problems will be solved by a simple question: "why the hell is this still an issue?"

Change is coming, and this current wave of nastiness from the right is their last hurrah, a little like a sea monster who refuses to die after being fatally harpooned, and chooses to attack hard while it still has some breath. Now, when I say right-wingers, I shouldn't leave out left-wingers, or should I say left-whingers, as they're also a right royal pain in the jacksie. Extreme left-wingers of the rioting, property-hating mask-wearing variety, though, will slowly die off of their own accord once the new generation establishes itself more in society. We need to take care of the biggest obstacle to peace: those on the far-right who seem to be gaining in numbers.

We need proper controls over extremist rhetoric, no matter which side of the political spectrum it comes. We need to balance freedom of speech with freedom to live without fear of being attacked, whether online or in reality, whether with words or with fists or with weapons. We need the reasonable, but silent, majority to take a stand. That will not happen unless things get out of control. So it is up to the rest of us, those who actively stand up to injustice and intolerance wherever we see it, and look it squarely in the eye. Change did not happen because people chose to ignore the problem.