my piece...

over the past 13 years we have become a society steeped in fear; overshadowed by nebulous threat; and fed on hatred. we are told that there are those out to get us and that, because of that, it is okay to act with whatever malice we feel towards those who are different. we place blame and point fingers, being told it is okay to do so and to ignore our own contributions and faults. we are all guilty of some form of tacit acceptance of the way things are today, even if we are outspoken either to the good or the detriment - intelligently in our rhetoric, or blindly in our lashing out.


we are the post-pc culture, the fear culture, the wired in and so connected that we have both become better informed, and yet less so. we are so connected that falsities run rampant and right over the truths - not always, but enough to make us skeptical. those that feed off of misinformation, conjecture, and paranoia (their own or others in all three of these) have sway and are the loudest of voices while most of the masses just try to get by and not give in.

there are tragedies in the world every day that, yes, we are blinded to as the media do not always report on them. even so, a tragedy elsewhere should not be diminished by a tragedy at home, nor should one at home be diminished by one abroad no matter the size of either. people are hurt, starving, dying, killed and so much more every day, but such is the human condition. we do not live in a utopia, there will always be such things in the world, but why give in? why hide in our homes and blame the world for our fear of that which we don't know? we have accepted and succumbed to the poisons we have willingly taken.

i do not voice my opinions often or loudly on many things that are "hot button issues", but i feel that i need to clear some of the space in my head that has been devoted to them:

do not tell me that i must give up my guns because they kill people. yes, they are dangerous, but they are objects with no thought, motive, or action until in my hands and wielded by me. the same with knives, bats, frying pans, and plastic bags - yet they can all be used to kill. at the same time, we do need more responsible gun ownership, education, and control. i have always believed that the best place to start from with anything related to guns (and weapons in general) is education from an early age.

god is not needed in schools, politics, the bedroom, or filling up my social media. by extension, religion is not, either. i am not agnostic or an atheist or any denomination of any religion. i hold my beliefs, i can be swayed to change my mind, and i can respect people's need to have such things in their lives. BUT god is different to each person. there are many religions around the world and here in the states we have religious freedom as one of our tenets, so why should one form of religion be pushed in school? i'm fine with people being religious on their own at schools, but be inclusive and do not push indoctrination. do not argue that you are a better person to be elected because you go to church each sunday and pray while your opponent does not or practices a different way. do not spam the sites i go to with messages about jesus dying for me, or telling me that i love satan because i refuse to like/share/comment on some crappy graphic i could care less about. i'm glad that you have your beliefs, but how much do you know about your religion and how much are you simply parroting?

i don't care about how for whatever rights you are. if you want to have equal rights, good, but don't preach that one sex is better than the other or that sexual anything makes someone less of a person. put everyone on equal standing. i don't care if you're a man who was a woman who likes men that are more feminine or any combination thereof. i will treat you according to how you act towards me, interact with me, and how i feel about you and i wish others would grow up and do the same.

on that same note, nationalism is grand and all, but don't make another person feel guilty because they are one thing and you think that your country is so much better. insert gender, race, class, etc in this sentence. shaming happens, but be aware of your own sticking points.

the president is the president. accept it and move on. the argument that you didn't vote for him or you don't agree with him, so he is not your president is invalid. he is the president of the country and you are a citizen. deal with it. we vote every four years, participate and have your say. i supported the office of the president through the bush years even though i did not vote for him and did not agree with him. i did not support his decisions or the way he conducted himself both on the national and international stages. there is a separation between supporting the office of the president and supporting the person who is in the office.

lastly, because now i'm rambling, go take a good look in the mirror and ask yourself where you stand. are you causing the problems to fester, or are you trying to actively do your part in any small way at least to educate, understand, and contribute to making things better? are you stuck in a cycle of knee-jerk reaction to things that you don't like or understand? are you mired in the fear, hatred, and unseen supposed threats? what are you pushing on others that is causing them to react to you in that way?

remember: we are rational beings able to think, question, decide and change our minds. we have the ability to learn from our experiences and to make things better both for ourselves and the world at large.this doesn't have to be a utopia, but it CAN be a brighter place.