Enmity as a scarce commodity: nobody has rivals on the forum

Nobody has enemies: the forum runs out of rivals

Do you have any enemies? The question, posed in an economic discussion forum, got a majority answer that catches you off guard: almost nobody. The author of the opening post made it clear from the start: "I can get angry with someone, but from there to enmity is a long way." Enmity, that relational asset that once structured social life, now seems a luxury item few can claim to own.

The thread soon drifted into nostalgia. An old film was recalled, starring a trio of characters —Proaria, the One-Eyed and Azog— which, according to those who remember it, worked like a soap opera of internal rivalries. The problem is that almost all that material has been lost: according to one participant, the accounts of those involved were suspended and the rest lies buried in the archive. The memory of enmity, like that of so many things, is fragile.

The ignore function as a conflict management tool

Faced with the epic of confrontation, the practical route emerged. One participant defended selective filtering as a "magic tool": if you silence those who contribute nothing, only the affable and respectful people remain visible, and you save time and energy. It is the digital version of the saying that whoever wants peace should not feed the war.

Another message offered a figure that deserves attention: some 215. It is unclear what it refers to —accumulated enmities, blocked accounts, closed threads?— but the number, thrown out without context, works as an orphaned data point that invites speculation. What does emerge from the whole is that conflict management has become more administrative than emotional: you block, you ignore, you archive.

Enmity as a possession and the antiestéticar of friends

Someone took the matter into the realm of paradox: "I don't have enough friends to have enemies." A scarcity of friends, indeed, limits the market for rivals. And another participant warned of a more prosaic risk: worrying about the forum's friends, "especially if they come at you from behind." Distrust, in an environment where identity is an alias, is aimed less at the declared enemy than at the supposed ally.

The old sayings prevailed at the close: keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. And the final quip, with a wry tone, added the need to keep a third party even closer. The conclusion, if there is one, is that enmity in these parts is not fought: it is managed with filters, remembered with nostalgia, or turned into material for jokes.

In the end, the initial question is answered by the facts: enemies, few. And those there are, so close that it pays to keep them at hand.