Time Person of the Year (2023)

The Silent Majority – You’re on Mute

First, congratulations to Taylor Swift for being recognized as Time’s Person of the Year for the second time (first in 2017).  I am neither a “Swiftie” nor a hater.  In fact, I know very little about her to judge.  Musically, I am more of an Olivia Rodrigo fan, but I am sure the selection had to do with more than just music.  I simply wanted to take a turn at how I look at the world and the selection I would have made.

My Person of the Year is the Silent Majority.  And silent in so many ways.  With the bevy of virtual meetings soaring, the most common phrase of the year has become “you’re on mute.”  It strikes me as a metaphor for the growing majority of us who have lost our voice. 

An argument could be made that the Silent Majority has deserved more recognition for centuries and in civilizations long gone by.  But doesn’t it seem a bit bleaker lately, a growing trend, in the wrong direction?  And where to start?  There’s the obvious, in politics.  There are countless millions of people who would prefer neither Biden nor Trump as President.  But the extremists on both sides monopolize the narrative. 

Before I go on, let me clearly admit that being in the silent majority is not a “get out of jail free” card.  People can (usually) choose to be silent or not.  This isn’t intended to laud the Silent Majority, but rather to recognize Time’s criteria as to who has shaped the headlines over the previous 12 months for better or worse.   Adolf Hitler was recognized by Time in 1938.  This isn’t about chastising the Silent Majority either.  However, it is fair and accurate to recognize that events can be shaped both by commission and omission.

Another example would be the current crisis in the Gaza strip.   There are voices for Israel, voices for the people of Palestine, and voices for the children and innocent suffering.  But there are far more voices never heard among the Silent Majority.  I confess, with some shame, that I have been one of them.  I understand war.  I can and do condemn Hamas.  And while I have countless Jewish friends that I respect and adore, I hesitate to speak up because the death of an innocent Palestinian child hurts my soul as much as the death of an innocent Israeli child.  To my knowledge, I do not know a Palestinian.  But I believe all humans have a right to live and live in peace.  Like most, I am not an expert on the long history.  I feel as though if I speak up for Israel, I am betraying a Palestinian child.  If I speak up for peace or children, I am letting down my Jewish friends.  I will pause on this example because these few sentences reveal many reasons people reside in the Silent Majority – complexity, lack of information, conflicting feelings, fear of reprisal.

So, let’s change examples.

Comedians.  The Silent Majority is vast on this topic.  Comedy is at death’s door.  They used to be our saviors, making light of difficult things.  But today, everything is offensive to a variety of smaller audiences, so very little is left that can be a joke.   First, they came for the comedians, and I did not speak out – because I was not a comedian.

Look at the work environment.  Leadership is becoming a lost art as more and more are making it into supervisor positions without the requisite skill and compassion.  Some are almost devoid of empathy.  But the employees can’t speak up without paying a price.  

Check out the generational divides where stereotype labels can make “millennials” sound more like an insult than a category, and a simple “okay boomer” can shun another generation into silence.

At home? Nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.   That is ten million per year.  Have you heard ten million of those voices this year?  Many of them (without judgment) are part of the Silent Majority.  And that doesn’t even put a dent into loveless marriages, which is another catch-22 that keeps them silent because divorce brings its own harsh judgments.

As I write this, I feel the darkness of the examples.  And I don’t have solutions.  Maybe one.  Recognize the Silent Majority as the Person of the Year and shed light on them, on us.  We are shaping the headlines just as much by what we do not say.  With a little help, maybe we can begin to take back our voice.

For the Swifties out there who are concerned that this humble opinion takes away from her limelight, and you feel that you can never, ever, ever forgive me, I hope that you can share the stage and shake it off, shake it off.  You have a powerful voice in your superstar, and powerful voices of your own. 

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