Labor Day weekend had me on a long road trip. I left home on Saturday, Sept. 3 @2:30pm, and returned Tuesday, Sept. 6 @8:30pm. That’s 3300 (+/-) miles in four days.
Home to Tucson and back again.
That’s a lot of time in the car to think.
Nevada is mostly boring.
I like my bed.
Found out I can do it.
Trying to catch up on sleep and other stuff.
More next week.
You must think I am an idiot.
No, seriously, you must think so because you (and that is a collective “you” because there are a lot of you) seem to think I am going to be interested in your stupid money making scheme, scam, hustle, whatever. I don’t care if you’re the heir to a throne and need to dump money to hide in the US. I don’t care if you’re stranded in a foreign land and can’t get home but will double my “gift” when you return home. I don’t care if you have money to give me from some lottery I never entered as long as I pay a fee to get the money. I don’t care if your relatives are sick. I don’t care if you can’t feed your family. I don’t care if your crops or livestock died. I don’t care.
Stop following the blog.
I am not interested and I never will be – no matter how many times you change the name of the blog.
It doesn’t do any good to follow me because I won’t be following you back, not matter how good the “deal” or offer sounds.
So, if you must think I would be interested in your thing, think again.
I’m not.
I hate to say it, but America (the land that I love and still think is better than anywhere else in the world) has become the land of idiocy. Yesterday, as well as the events of the last…well, pick a time frame…either way, this stupidity has been going on for a long while. A LONG while. Yesterday, and many events over the last year, are just coming to a head of ultimate stupidity.
Let’s be clear, the events of yesterday and storming the Capitol building are unacceptable. It should have never happened and I hope that it never happens again.
History has shown us (our own history) that displeasure with the government isn’t all that unusual and leads people to do things they would not normally do. Our Founding Fathers led a rebellion against a king and a government they found to be unjust. Those who supported the king and did extreme things in their support of the king likely found some actions despicable when the “other side” did them. Those who supported the colonies and eventually a free nation likely found the “other side” despicable when they did some of the same extreme things. Heck, even during our Civil War, both sides did despicable things to each other. Vietnam era protests? Yep, still some ugly things happening even then.
The difference between now and then?
Increased, instantaneous communication. It exists now, it didn’t at any time in the past.
How does that play a part in all this? Well, it literally takes no time for a rumor, opinion, or thought to spread far and wide. In an instant “information” can be disseminated to any number of people at one time. That’s a problem. It could be a good thing, but for the most part I think we see more problems with it than we see positives for it. Why?
It eliminates the possibility for someone to evaluate information and immediately creates an emotional response. There is little time for an individual to consider the information, process it, and then evaluate a response. Instead, people have devolved into an instantaneous, emotional response. They don’t think. They let their idiocy take over.
Instead of thoughtfully considering a response, or thinking clearly about their actions, they just respond. No forethought. No consideration. No evaluation. No wait. No weighing of consequences. No evidence. No proof. No nothing. Just response.
That, folks, is a terrible thing.
Social media has killed our ability to thoughtfully consider, to evaluate response, and restrict our own actions. Instead, we feed our need of immediacy, our need of instant gratification, with regrettable words and actions. We don’t wait for facts. We don’t consider another’s point of view. We don’t tolerate those who are different from us, think different from us, or believe different than us. We just don’t. We are not better off because of this.
We are actually becoming unrecognizable.
We are no longer a bastion of freedom, tolerance, and opportunity.
We have divided ourselves into camps of this or that. We have let ourselves be divided into those camps. We are not what our Founding Fathers believed we could become. And the direction we are currently headed won’t get us there either.
This idiocy can’t continue. We are in trouble if we continue to let it happen.
Ever had a tough time not thinking about “the other”? Specifically, “the other” things you could be doing or “the other” person/people you could be with?
Sometimes I find it hard to make it through the day without thinking about “the other” things. I am sure this is just a focus issue and somehow I have developed a little ADD in that I am isolated each day in my home office (garage). There are so many other things I could be doing. So many other things that I want to do (or maybe need to do) instead of actually working. LOL
I know, I know. Work provides the income that allows me to actually do other things when I am not at work. It is a necessary evil.
It’s just, do I have to? I mean, really? Do I have to?
The other things seem like they would be way more fun. The other people seem like they would be way more entertaining.
I suppose this could just be a case of “the grass is greener” and what I am really experiencing or feeling isn’t necessarily the truth. But still, “the other” thing, person, people, activities, job, entertainment, whatever, seems way better than what I am doing right now.
I could be wrong.
But there is no way of knowing.
So, I ponder and think about “the other” still.
…if you take advice from celebrities or athletes on who you should vote for.
…if you only get your news from one source or one perspective.
…if you only follow the party line all the time.
…if your only research is memes about who not to vote for.
…if you don’t do your own research.
…if you only take advice from your family.
…if you can only see “the issues” in regards to yourself.
…if you can’t see or won’t accept an “issue” from more than one perspective.
…if you can’t acknowledge or understand the concerns from an different perspective than your own.
…if your vote is out of spite regarding someone else’s vote.
…if you get your information from any social media platform.
…if your vote is based on information from tv commercials.
…if you you take an “endorsement” from a media outlet as legitimate.
…if you aren’t a citizen or have a legal right to vote.
…if you haven’t payed attention at all but received a ballot in the mail.
…if you didn’t pay attention in school and don’t know how the process works.
…if you don’t value your right enough to get educated about the issues and candidates.
…if you’re too stupid to vote with some intelligence.
Anything you would add to the list?
Hey, wait a second…
Did you see this over the weekend?
CDC has updated, changed, fixed, (whatever!) the number related to deaths from of Covid.
As we all suspected from the beginning, co-morbidity factors (or other underlying conditions) were actually the true cause of death and not really Covid. In other words, Covid played a small part in the mortality rate but was not the sole factor in a large percentage (94%) of deaths.
So, why is it, again, that we are all in lockdown from this thing? Why is that the media is pushing the fear and doom? Why is that a large portion of our population is cowering in fear after having swallowed the story hook, line, and sinker?
Ever ask why there is so much misinformation about all this stuff?
Ever ask who benefits from all the misinformation about all this stuff?
Think, people, think!
It’s time to do your own thinking. Stop following the party line (whichever one you are in) and think for yourselves. Stop listening to the media. Go to the source whenever possible. When not possible, use media from different (all) points of view. Develop your own picture of what is going on and then think critically about it.
Ask questions. Ask hard questions.
Don’t take anything at face value. There is always more to it than what you see on the surface.
Always.
Piss and Moan 