Under attack

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Do you feel that? Likely you don’t. Do you hear that? Probably not. Do you care much? I fear you don’t.

Somewhere out there, someone is attacking you and what you believe.

Let that sink in for a moment. You’re under attack and you don’t even know it. Well, you may know it but maybe you don’t even care enough to do anything about it.

In the climate we live in today it is reasonable to believe that the freedoms you have right now won’t be there in the near future. All because a small minority of people scream loud enough in protest to catch the attention of the media who are all too happy to highlight the division because it generates ratings and clicks.

There once was something in America referred to as the “silent majority.” They could be from either party, but they rarely discuss what they feel or believe publicly. The silent majority still exists, but if it stays silent too much longer it won’t matter that they are the majority. We can express our opinions via our vote, but is that enough? In most cases policy is being made without a vote, either in the public or private arena. Perhaps the vote isn’t enough any longer. Perhaps staying silent isn’t an option.

The ideological attacks will continue and as fringe groups become more militant in their efforts to garner attention, the non-physical attacks are likely to become more physical. It is only a matter of time before the silent majority is beaten into submission by small, loud minority groups.

 

 

Just the facts

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I am sure you are aware, but just in case you aren’t…we no longer live in a society that is based on facts. A large portion of our society, our neighbors, or family members just live on feelings.

It is nearly impossible to have a discussion with anyone these days and actually use facts as a counter argument to their hysteria because they just don’t have any reason left.

**Side note: Yes, I am quite aware that Trump has a poor grasp of facts, as well, so you don’t need to point that out. **

As an example, last night I was having a discussion with someone about the whole Home Depot, former founder, and donations/support of President Trump. The individual was jumping on the bandwagon of boycotting Home Depot (never mind that the guy no longer has anything at all to do with the retailer any longer and hasn’t for more than 10 years) because of it and they made the blanket statement about “old, rich white guys ruining the country.”

See my response below:

Here’s the weird thing about picking on rich, old white guys….
Old, rich white guys fought to make the colonies, then states, free and the place you call home. Similarly, old rich white guys fought to keep the colonies from being free and the place you now call home. 
Old, rich white guys fought to give equality to slaves during the Civil War. It was also old, rich white guys that fought to keep slaves and break apart the country you now call home. 
It’s old, rich people (because it just isn’t white or male anymore) fight to keep Planned Parenthood from killing babies. And, it’s old, rich people who fight to keep letting Planned Parenthood kill babies. 
It’s old rich people who fight to let you keep more of your money so you can do with it as you please because, hey, it’s a free country and you have freedom of thought & opinion. It’s old rich people fighting to force you to give up more of your money so they can spend it as they please, tell you what to say and think, and take away the freedoms old white guys gave you in the past. 
Which group of old rich people does right? That’s subjective. 
What is not subjective is that rich people put their money where they believe they can get the best deal and make more money. If the wind blows this way, they invest there. If it blows that way, they invest there. Heck, some invest in both regardless of which way the wind blows because they know eventually the wind will change either way. 
I imagine you are not really all that different from the rest of us, you put your money where you can get the best deal and can get the most out of it. Saying you’ll stop shopping at one place or another isn’t really the truth because you’re really just like those old rich people, and so am I.
This well reasoned response was met with a “I disagree with everything you just said.”
REALLY? Everything? Sorry, are you not an American? Do you have no knowledge and understanding of history at all? Do you not know how the economy and politics of our nation work, whether we like it or not?
Thus, the conversation ended because there is no reasoning with someone who doesn’t have a grasp of basic facts. The problem is, more and more conversations end this way. Reason is getting harder and harder to use, let alone find.
Let’s be honest here, it isn’t old rich people that are ruining the country. They have just done what they have always done, found a way to exploit those who don’t think for themselves and manipulate those people to do the work for them. The problem is that the people who are easily manipulated are multiplying faster than those who have a grasp on Reason.
Therein lies the true danger to the country.

Have you encountered the same sort of difficulty? Do facts and Reason have no place in society any longer?

Bah humbug

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The eve of Christmas has come and I am not sure how I feel about it this year. I seem to have gotten a case of the “Bah Humbug”s and the joy of the season (though I know the Reason) just hasn’t come through yet for me.

I am beginning to wonder if it even will.

This year, more than any in the past, just seems lost. There is no joy in receiving, we all know that. But this year there also seems to be no joy in giving either. I feel as though the just isn’t joy in anything.

Perhaps I have been to busy to notice. Perhaps I have been just going through the motions. Perhaps I just don’t care enough. Or maybe I care too much, because the stresses of life are all getting in the way.

So today I will go through the motions, in the hopes that it generates something inside, of wishing you a Merry Christmas Eve.

Consider yourself wished.