This is our fault. Everyone’s. Our lack of empathy for the other side. Our inability to bend, even the slightest, and see what others see. Anyone who’s ever let their opinions take hold and get the better of them. Every time we’ve fought a little too hard, become entrenched, without any willingness to compromise or negotiate. Any time we’ve been unable to have any reasonable discourse on the issue.

We’re all to blame for what’s happening right now in Canada.

Regardless of how you feel about the protesters or their motives, this is bigger. The right to peaceful protest is a fundamental part of modern democracy. And we messed up.

It’s this divide, this wedge that’s been driven into society, left/right, pro/anti-mandate. The blame falls upon the fact that we can’t look at things from the other person’s viewpoint. It’s not because we can’t see it. It’s because we refuse to. We’re too stubborn.

This has nothing to do with a lack of information. The information is there. But no one source tells the complete story. Media of every kind leans one way or another. We know this. People from all sides criticize media outlets for focusing on certain details while omitting others.

Yet we still fall for it.

When a story goes against our confirmation bias, we feel off. It causes us to search deeper. When we find another side of the story, one that aligns with our beliefs, we think we’ve found the real truth. Yet when that same media shares a story that jives on round one, we’re content. No need to look further.

We know this. We use it to argue on social media daily. “You’re only getting one side of the story!”

And so are you, most of the time. At least until you find one that you agree with.

Yet we criticize the other, calling their opinions wrong. Though we know full-well that their opinions are formed by the same biases that form our own. Aside from a few obvious cases, the spectrum of right and wrong is wildly subjective.

This disconnect, this hypocrisy we’ve seen over the last few years — from both sides — is the reason we’re here.

The ‘Freedom Convoy’ is plagued with bad people. The organizers focused on quantity rather than quality, numbers over values. And the racists, bigots and shit-disturbers tainted the entire thing. Yet even the mainstream media showed that the protest as a whole was peaceful. And, at least from what I saw as an outsider, the vast majority were peaceful. Disruptive and problematic, sure, but peaceful overall. That’s what a protest is.

During the George Floyd protests and the Black Lives Matter movement, we saw all kinds of chaos. Those few that took things too far, the minority that turned protests into riots. Those people are everywhere. They will turn any peaceful movement into something else.

Instead of putting differences aside and supporting the concept of protest, the right focused on the fires and the looting. The left defended, pointing to a fringe minority as the problem. Media on both sides skewed stories for their audiences.

During the pipeline protests of recent years, including the rail blockades, things played out much the same. Overwhelmingly peaceful protests disrupted convenience and stalled the supply chain. The right called the protesters lazy and jobless and criminal. They accused them of having nothing better to do than disrupt the economy.

When the police came in to break up the protests and arrest those involved, the left cried foul. They argued for their right to peaceful protest. The right praised the police for restoring order.

I’m sure you see where this is going…

Some people from the right went as far as to claim that protesters blocking roads should be run over. Many of these same people support the Freedom Convoy. This is a fact.

Tables turn. It’s blatant hypocrisy. And that’s part of the problem. Though it’s clear that any protest has people who use it as an excuse for violence and chaos, most can agree that the idea of protest is a good thing.

The government’s actions against the ‘Freedom Convoy’ have caught the world off-guard. Mass arrests, journalists threatened with the same, bank accounts of ‘indirect supporters’ frozen… This is huge. I don’t think everyone grasps how big of a deal this is. Regardless of your opinion of the protesters as a whole or what they stand for, this has the potential to affect everyone.

Going after protesters, even the peaceful ones, is a questionable act in itself. Freezing bank accounts, cancelling credit cards, and effectively blacklisting them; that’s terrifying. The fact that they’re not only going after the active protesters but anyone who even supported the protest? That’s Orwellian.

It doesn’t matter if you agree with the protesters or not. Their right to protest is your right to protest.

And this is not about the Trudeau government. If you think that’s the problem you haven’t been paying attention. They just happened to be the first. There’s little doubt this has been considered by other governments against previous revolts.

If this works, and it likely will, the genie won’t go back in the bottle. The powers that be will have a field-tested weapon against any future protests. Our right to protest, to disrupt in order to stand up for something we believe in, has been jeopardized.

This happened because of the divide. Rather than supporting the right to demonstrate, people focused on the elements behind the unrest. The grudges against the ideals of the movement, and preconceptions about the people involved, have tarnished our ability to see the big picture. Agreeing with the protesters themselves or not isn’t the issue. It shouldn’t negate the validity of protest in general.

This division will defeat us. But we can correct course. Stop expecting the other side to succumb to your thoughts, ideas or beliefs. They won’t. And stop trying to convince the other side of their wrongness. From their perception, they aren’t.

If you think I’m referring to one side or the other, I’m not.

We need to find common ground. We’ll never agree completely, of course. But we need to be able to talk, to empathize and acknowledge each other’s struggles.

And most of all, we need to support the fundamental right to peaceful protest — even if we don’t agree on the cause. Because next time it could be yours.