The Three Worst Words

They got to me, they wore me down, they broke my spirit.
    You see, I had resolved to fight the good fight, I told myself that even though it was like pushing the sea back with a broom I was going to do my part to help maintain a reasonable discourse. But I was tilting at windmills. I set myself an impossible task, and it beat me.
   I was going to do my own tiny part to fight the rampant, willful ignorance I see every day. Astonishing misinformation coupled with vile language leads otherwise rational people to become caricatures of themselves, and like a virus that kind of vitriol takes on a life of its own and spreads from person to person, even infecting those who don't agree with the rhetoric. It breaks us all down, it ruins the discourse. Maybe that's the point of it.
   While there's no way I can change the world, I thought I could change people close to me. Friends, people who I know - for a fact - are not really ignorant, racist, redneck idiots, yet who inexplicably seem to love to repeat that kind of poison. I tried, really I did. And I gave it a good go, for a time I thought I was making a dent. But I was wrong. The tide of ignorance has become a tsunami, and it's only going to get worse. So, please forgive me, but I have to utter the three worst words one person can say to another:
   I don't care.
   What a horrible thing. You'd think the opposite of 'I love you' would be 'I hate you,' but as anyone who's been in a relationship can tell you, it's a short walk from love to hate and back again. They're both strong emotions. The opposite of either of those things would actually be apathy. And that's where I am right now. I don't care. I have friends who gleefully spew all sorts of intolerant, ignorant garbage and I'm just going to turn my back. If they want to let someone else set their agenda, if they're comfortable with being crassly manipulated by people and organizations that absolutely don't care about them, fine. Have at it. Wallow in your terrible situation, make the wrong choices, blame anyone but the people responsible - or yourself - for what's happening to you. Behave like a five-year-old. Whatever.
   I don't care.