Public Denigration

Do not engage in slander and malicious gossip. 

How many of us, who aren’t murderers or thieves and consider ourselves civilized, do it? What workplace wouldn’t be a much better place if people would refrain from it? Some observant Jews apply the principle almost absolutely and strive to avoid saying anything bad about anyone in almost all circumstances.

To me it seems that, in close relationships, saying what we really think about someone else is legitimate and necessary, and I also like to mouth off about public figures who anger me. But casually denigrating private individuals in public settings is bad practice, without exception. And there is one source of this public denigration greater than all other sources. The common horse.