Everyone has duty to give ‘good will’ a chance

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/12/2023 (663 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s one of the most commonly heard aspirational refrains during this season of supposed celebration:

“Peace on Earth, good will to men.”

Its archaic absence of gender inclusivity notwithstanding, the expression is omnipresent during the festive season, a time (particularly for people of faith) of reflection, rejoicing and renewed hope in humanity’s fundamental goodness.

The first principle in the familiar phrase feels lamentably out of reach these days, as war rages in what has historically been described as the Holy Land as well as in other global hotspots. And as for good will … well, it seems to be in rather short supply, as well.

Consider, for instance, the recent warning from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police regarding an apparent rise in violent extremism among Canadian youth, particularly as relates to terrorism-inclined material being circulated online.

The RCMP release highlighted five arrests since June in terror-related cases involving teens, and urged “adults in positions of authority,” including parents, guardians, teachers and coaches, “to be alert for behaviours of concern which may be linked to violent extremism.”

One recent case involves an Ottawa teen arrested and charged earlier this month in relation to a plot against that city’s Jewish community — a circumstance which, in addition to being indicative of the alarming trend the Mounties describe, illustrates the manner, in the current global context, in which the yuletide notions of peace and good will are inextricably linked.

The pursuit of both has been made immeasurably more difficult in this age of online distribution of wilful misinformation and cyber-circulated hatred. The internet, once touted as miraculous for its unlimited potential for mass education and enlightenment, has instead shown itself to be a cursed incubator for the most vile and misguided human impulses.

Youth are not the only ones affected — or is that infected? — by the toxic content whose unfettered circulation has contributed to the extremism and terror cited in the RCMP warning, but they are the most vulnerable to online predations and perversions and their safety should be top of mind for those who seek to regulate, globally and regionally, what is available online and for those who necessarily act as online-content gatekeepers much closer to home.

Unfortunately, the task of limiting the spread of misinformation and hate-spawning mischief via the internet is proving largely to be a matter of closing the metaphorical barn door after the figurative horse has fled. The proprietors of web engines and social-media sites seem concerned only with harvesting data in a way that maximizes their cascading billions, and governments everywhere remain nonplussed by the growing demand to protect their citizens from the very real harms caused by ethereal online evils.

It necessarily comes down to individual, familial and community vigilance, and what’s required is another word that is common conversational fodder at this time of year: resolution. When it comes to protecting young people and stemming the current surge of online extremism, as the Mounties have this month implored, it’s up to parents, guardians and other caregivers to remain resolute and unwaveringly focused on what youth are doing — and with whom — in the online realms in which they spend so much of their time.

The incendiary nature of the current conflicts abroad has created abundant opportunities for hateful rhetoric and ideas to fester and spread, and the internet affords unlimited avenues for them to find malleable minds that might seek to turn toxic thoughts into harmful actions.

While seasonal notions of peace on Earth seem farther out of reach than ever, it’s up to each of us to ensure good will has the best possible chance of prevailing within our families and communities.