Haters... (ready for this?) ...Hate

Okay, this may not be either a brilliant or even an original observation, but haters hate.

(Space left here for your "Duh!"s)

What is generally less obvious (but still not an original observation) is that haters hide what they are.

Back in 1982 author and psychiatrist M. Scott Peck MD wrote a book entitled "People of the Lie." Its strongly supported thesis was based on an observation he had over and over been making through his life that the nastiest people he met were found in the various healing professions -- both physical and spiritual. That hateful people seemed to bury themselves there, in the "healing professions", where under a guise of 'goodness' they could look for victims -- most of whom were other people who claimed to be "caring," but in their cases sincerely -- and crush them.

When, at the time I was originally reading his book, I mentioned Dr. Peck's observation to a family member who had spent her entire life as a 'carer' -- in her case of the learning disabled -- she very strongly agreed with Peck's observation and started sharing one example of this after another. Ones that she herself had seen and experienced and was still seeing and experiencing.

This came to my mind because of the dichotomy I am myself observing here on Facebook - a place where hate and vitriol are in my eyes far too common. -But where I have been seeing, much to my amazement, that the worst examples of this hatefulness are found, not among my own friends, most of whom tend to be 'people of the idea,' but among others whom... yes! ... are commonly seen as "caring" people. 'Feelers.' 'Love everyone' sloganeers.

Among my thoughtful circle of largely hard-nosed realists a comment by one will bring two, three or maybe in some cases a half dozen equally thoughtful comments. Among these others any comment that even mentions certain disapproved by their set public figures by name will in just minutes get 60 or more 'short and nasties.' -Comments that not only show a relish for name-calling, but for wishing harm on the hated recipient.

Hate.

Group hate.

Cursed.

Slandered.

Wished dead.

All this by people of what? Yes, Peck had it right. "People of the lie."

Those who really care, of course, do none of those things.

I bet you are seeing this too.

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Out of the "Mainstream" (Yes, again)

Long-term friends on Facebook my have noticed that on many days of late I have not posted a 'suggested read' ("My Morning Read") -- or that if I have posted one it was focused less on the political and more on a broader philosophical or historical subject. And along with this change some may have noticed that I've not been having pieces posted by the internet 'journals' that have regularly posted my writings in the past.

All of this is true -- and all of it is related.  For of late I have been seeing on the so-called (not aptly named in my opinion) "conservative side" a tendency toward bias -- one that in some ways parallels what has long been seen on the (also in my opinion poorly named) "liberal" side. -That is a turning away from balanced open reason and argument towards such that is carefully strictured and one-sided.  That is, by way of a musical analogy, that 'chorus voices' are welcome - but that individual voices are not.  That singing 'louder' than others is approved of (and even encouraged), but the tune being sung has to be exactly  'note for note (with the 'score' provided) and don't even think about changing the words.

Whether my separating myself from this -- my withdrawing and pulling away -- is for better or for worse my friends and other 'readers' can decide for themselves, but such is, and always has been, my way.  I'm just not a 'chorus' singer.

Those who have known me well for years likely are little surprised by this.  I was the same as a young person -- and that to the chagrin of my parents (well my dad, anyway) and teachers.  A film student with a commonly thought promising career -- one who was working in the field even before college graduation -- I in short term left the field entirely when I discovered its business ethics did not match my own. And that decision having been made I then directed my 'gifts' such as they were entirely elsewhere.

And so it is, perhaps for a time at least, now.

In this case it did not happen all at once. -First I found my submitted articles were being gently edited to stress more 'acceptable' points of view while softening or removing others. Then submitted pieces were sent back to me for rewrites (which generally were not forthcoming). And finally, when my thinking more and more clearly diverged for that of the editors, such were rejected entirely.  ('It goes no place' I was told -- when in fact it most surely did. -Just not in the currently 'approved' direction.)

My conclusion was a simple one: So be it.

In very brief, this is where I stand:

Now is not the time for intentional divisiveness. It is a time to find common goals toward a common good. Not through compromise of ideals, but through a found common purpose.

What is always true in general is especially true today: That there are good arguments to be made on not just both sides of a central argument, but on all sides.  And this includes on finding the ever changing balance between "freedom" and "responsibility."

That every argument made against "our side" (a distinction I personally do not always clearly see) is not necessarily made with a poor or hidden motive. Hindsight has ever shown this to be so. Shouldn't we thus allow ourselves to see it with foresight?

"Hurray for our team!" is not in itself an argument. Indeed such exclamations can easily drown out an argument.

That corruption does exist and, yes, must in time be dealt with.  But that "investigating" and "punishing" others -- even those who in the end deserve such -- is not always the 'at the moment' most important thing.  As has been said before: 'Fix the problem, not the blame."

So once again I find myself out, not only of the "mainstream," but in truth of any large flowing 'stream' at all -- maybe even that which is comfortably carrying along my friends.

And so again I say -- indeed, I must say: So be it.

For how long?   Who knows?

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The Return of 'old-school' America

If your spirit and soul long for an 'upside' to this entire pandemic hell, here it is: The likely decoupling of America's entrepreneurial, work and merit based society, from those based on the timeworn and failed principles of born-to-wealth-and-power, and/or socialism.

First to go will be China, where to an amazing degree both flaws and failing rule the roost. -For there, as in every communist land ,the party-connected have taken on all the worst attributes of the royals of the past -- that as the working class has become mere serfs under their dominating rule.

The force behind this coming change in international relationships will not be movements -- neither of the "buy local" or the "make it here" variety. Instead it will come from the simple practical requirements of it. -The simple realizations that the
'one-world' dreamy ideal was and is too unreliable for businesses to depend on. Too fragile. Too unwieldy. And for these reasons too costly.

Factories will thus return to US soil.

But the fate of small local shops will, at least for the time being, remain uncertain. -That unless the buy from home and have it delivered schemes start to prove unreliable. (And so far they have not.)

What I personally find interesting is the parallel between this larger failure -- that of the 'one-world' ideal -- with its little sister - the movement to remove the significance of the family unit. -This just as the one-worlders wished and worked to remove the significance of historically separate and distinct nations and states.

Here, too, the turn away will be, and indeed already is being, led by the accomplished doers. That as they have in their private lives returned to the older, and largely ridiculed, ideals of lasting marriages, and children being brought forth only into the same.

Busy and involved with the kids' 'moms and dads'. Private schools that really teach. And for those -- that is their own offspring -- time proven lessons about the need for hard work and personal responsibility that society as a whole has for some time been largely and loudly rejecting.

And here too, as with the return to 'old school', local is best, economics -- this change will be (and is being) based on simple practicality. -The application of principles that really work in contrast to principles that merely sound good.

Along with all the above changes will be -- and we are, again, already seeing this -- a return to the honoring of those that actually think and actually do, and a turning away (at least as regards respect and admiration) from those who merely appear to do either -- be they those in Ivy League academia or in Hollywood.

What all the above holds in common is this -- something that so many of us have long been yearning for: America will be back. Independent, both in action and sprit, and built upon, as it was at its start, strong individuals and families that actually do, not merely those that talk.

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How should we react to the unproven claim that "They did it!"?

This blog piece springs from a query from a dear friend asking what I thought about a video looking to place the blame for the current horrors hard onto the back of Chinese communism.

I loath "communism," not just as a disastrous economic system, but far more as an encroachment on the human sprit.

As Albert Einstein said "Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom."

Communism by its very nature destroys that.

But my response to the video was short; my viewing of it yet shorter. And in response to this friend's question I wrote...

I only watched a bit beyond the introduction. That was enough for me because it did what an introduction is supposed to do -- it laid out the thesis.

The fact is, to my mind, that neither you, nor I, nor the makers of that video know the answer to that question; those questions. But this is exactly how every HATE begins and spreads.

"It was the _________. They are to blame."

It does seem apparent that the Chinese bureaucracy hid the truth and punished those trying to make it known. That is what every bureaucracy does. Lower members play 'cover your ass' to protect their place within the structure.

That is, yes, evil. But it is not the same as concluding that some nefarious evil monster-man created this disease and intentionally spread it among mankind.

That humans want such a clear and simple answer -- that someone "did it" -- is again a historical truth. That people profit in numerous ways, including emotional ones, from "finding" and then "revealing" such a "truth" is equally historical. And that truth has killed far more people than any virus.

The simple, but hard to accept  truth is that there is much we do not, will not, and cannot know. And that emptiness is like a vacuum.

I avoid such theorizing -- such trying to fill that vacuum -- as useless and often harmful.

"I do not know" suffices for me. Adding, as best I can, "but what can I do to help?"

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This, Too, Shall Pass

What we as a nation. and indeed the entire world, are experiencing is unique. Not in the sense that it is the first such international 'plague' to spread through the world, but in that it is the first to which today's world has dealt with in such a near universal and knowing fashion.

What we are facing today has been likened to a "war," and is such in various ways. There is a nefarious 'enemy' looking to kill and maim. There are uniformed armies going into battle. New recruits are being called up to this army and old 'soldiers' are being called back to service. There are small victories being declared and large losses (we have reason to believe) being hidden. And there is that proverbial "fog of war" that is preventing even truth seekers from truly finding what they seek,. And to that we must add that other common creation of war: rumors and suspicion. -Both things that the fearful in general, and the credulous by nature especially, grab hold of and spread, creating what amounts to a second "front," or in this case a second "disease" - that with casualties all its own.

And as in any war there are Generals taking the lead -- some with great (although not necessarily lauded) success -- and lower-ranked officers who are vying to see their own plans put into action, both for reasons good and ill.

All this while the greater number are trying their best to hunker down, to as needed do without, and as able to make their own small daily contributions to the greater effort. And a small number looking for personal gain -- the "profiteers." Yes, all this just as there are in every war.

And then there is that ever-present fear. Fear for loved ones. Fear for our own selves and our futures as we expected them to unfold. Fears for society as a whole. -A society that is changing before our eyes -- and with that the possibly greater fear that the society which we loved, or at least in which we felt comfortably secure, may never return.

Wars, pestilence and famine have always brought these things; always been a part of the human experience -- just as much as has been heat and cold and damp.

But just as modern life has to a large degree shielded most of us from the effects of those things - that heat and cold and damp -- so most of us have to a remarkable degree been shielded, not only from the direct threat of wars, pestilences and famines, but even from the idea that such could be our lot.

This morning missive shall not end with The Answer, for no such "singular answer exists. But it does end with an admonition: That each of us -- you, me, our families, our neighbors, our communities our states and our nations -- should work to make the best of these current realities. To learn from them. To equally be willing to lead and to follow. To put forth ideas, yes, but not to sneer at the ideas of others. To realize that while each of our lives is important -- central to us as living beings -- that there is also an overall "good" that must be kept keenly in mind. To realize and accept that the weak will now require extra help, and that those who are strong will have to use that strength - and possibly allow some of it to be stripped away -- for our common survival.

And all the above as we realize that what is "now" is not just now -- it is, and has been, common to all mankind through all of history.

But it is also "now" in another sense. The one expressed in that old, very common, and very wise phrase: "This, too, shall pass."

_

America the Wise

In 2016 we the people voted for borders. The elite mocked us for this suggesting that our motive was small-minded, intolerant and hateful.

We the people, in turn, called them on this name-calling with a stark denial that small-mindedness and "hate" had, for most of us, anything at all to do with it.  -That our actual reasons were a mix of simple practicality along with the desire to preserve our nation's unique qualities and culture. -One based on personal liberty and individual responsibility.

Oddly the age-old concept of a 'gated nation' was resisted and ridiculed by people who themselves often chose to live in gated communities -- but none-the-less we the people had it our way, electing a man who shared our values and had the strength and wisdom required to make those shared values the controlling principles in both the law and the land.

This resulted in, not a diminishment, but an increase in the volume of the ridicule -- both for our elected president and for we who elected him.  -Not just here in America, but in many nations abroad -- especially the border removers that make up the controlling bureaucracy of the European Union.
Then came, yes! the coronavirus. And with its coming little by little everything started to change.
President Trump had cut off traffic first from China -- the coronavirus' initial source and center -- then from other nations to where it had moved as an uninvited migrant.

Only now -- better late than never for sure, but very late none-the-less -- are the world's other nations starting to emulate the wisdom of our president and of the people of our nation, and close off their own borders. They are doing so begrudgingly and often hypocritically -- this as they deny their own actions and continue with their anti-border rhetoric.  But closing their borders they are. By necessity. Knowing that doing so is, in reality, a matter of life and death.

America, be glad of your own actions. For because of them you have bought yourself time.

America, be proud of your people -- for they once again showed themselves wiser than the world's "kings".

America, continue to trust in your founding principles. And to see Divine wisdom in what you have, by His grace, been allowed to become.

America, stand tall! Stand proud! Remain strong!

And let us do so standing together.

_

Adding Light to Some Likely Dark Days

Its oft said that the world today is smaller than it used to be.  Modern travel and communication make it so. And this, note, was being said even in the days of 'just' radio and three-network TV.

If radio and TV made the world "smaller," then today's world must be seen as micro-miniaturized. For today we can (and do) talk and communicate around the world, in pretty much real-time, more easily than granny and grampa did across the room.

There's a cost to this, however. A real one. And it is to our peace of mind.  No small thing. For the fact is that relatively few people today seem to be able to stay positive.

"The whole reason people read the papers is to hear about other people's problems."  -That's a quote (as remembered) from the 1954 film "Hobson's Choice."  And if back in 1954 that rang true -- and it did -- how much more such is true today when people seem to have far fewer positive things to fill their lives.

Having one 'crabby' friend or relative always seemed to be every person's fate, but being surrounded by such can be, and for many people is, tiresome.   And today such 'crabby people' seem to be almost coming out of the woodwork.

If you try to stay positive and hopeful you will often be told that you are naive. That you are "foolish" or "easily mislead."  Try to actually counter the nay-sayers and you may well find yourself under direct attack.

And if all this negativity were only about small matters such would be sad and bad enough. But today negativity is for many a total, almost all-encompassing, point of view. It is how such view the entire world around them. And if you do not go along with that, If you dare to see the good or, worse from their point of view, see an upside in anything, you yourself will often become the target of their nay-saying.

Is there a defense against this depressing negativity?  Yes, there is. And it is threefold.

First, we must search for all the facts on the subjects we choose, or feel forced, to focus upon.  Nay-sayers tend to only find and believe the negatives. The bad. The wearying. Bright spots -- and there almost always are some such -- are either darkened or totally denied.

We need not join in that.  If we see something positive we can (and should!) say it.  Fearlessly.

No, not with undue exaggeration, but honestly.  For it, too -- the positive --  is a part of the story. Often a big, if neglected, part.

Two, learn to laugh at life's ill twists and turns.

The best humor often is just that -- wry humor.  Humor discovered in otherwise dark things. Indeed some of the world's most historically oppressed peoples credit their community's developed sense of humor as the key, not just to their joint survival, but to a greater than typical ability to find joy in life.

We can do that too.

And three, we can choose friends and associates who choose to do the same.  Limit the negativity. Deny others the opportunity to drum such endlessly into our heads until our joy in life, too -- like their's -- disappears.

This includes the media, certainly. Today's Harpies of Horror. But others, too, closer to home.

That old "friend" for instance -- he or she who sometimes leave us wondering how they ever came to be seen as a "friend." Those that never have a good thing to say about anything, and who themselves gravitate to, and sit at the feet of, all the sponsors of, and spokespeople for, negativity.

Right now, especially, all the above is of added importance. This because some genuinely dark days may be ahead.  And many of us, even if we are not as greatly impacted as some others may be, may find ourselves in a sort of 'soft lockdown.' Limited to our home with the only break to our boredom and concerns being available from 'out there' in the ether.  -The home of the Dark People. Those without hope or light.

If so, let us choose carefully. And to the extent that we can be so, let us each be a light in a dark time. Being so ourselves, and seeking out others who we sense themselves need such light.

In short, let us be true friends to one another. Adders to, not diminishers of, each other's hope and happiness.

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