Rudderless Sunday

There is so much I want to write about. Not just want; almost have to . . . I can’t quite put it into words but it stems from looking around and wondering if others are seeing what I am seeing. 

I want to ask Republicans/Conservatives if they know what they are doing and if they have thought things through? I want to ask Democrats/Liberals what the hell is wrong with them and do they know they are losing the moral high ground?

I want to, but it’s all such a mess.

Plus, many people seem to just shrug their shoulders and go on as if nothing is happening. I mean, yes . . . one hundred years from now — one way or another — all this will be but a memory, perhaps no more than a footnote in the annals of history. 

I don’t think so, but even if that’s the case, we — the people living and breathing and talking and shitting in this time and place — are going through it, and it’s not “nothing.” It’s something and it’s potentially something big. Global, even.

Yes, there are strident voices on both sides shouting this or that warning . . . but that’s the problem. They are strident; they exaggerate, they distort, and their calls to action are not comforting me. Most of all, there are no measured, deliberate, reasoned voices addressing the concern of the centrists, the non-partisan moderates. 

I recently listened to a podcast where Sam Harris put the focus on what I intuitively knew but had not solidified in my thinking; he said the moderate can no longer find any room — a space to exist — between the far left and the far right. 

I’ve experienced this even with people who know me and know my views on things . . . despite them knowing how I feel about a given subject, I’ve been accused of being all sorts of things for just mentioning the possibility of a counterargument and more nuanced approaches to problems. 

Here’s how — in the current political and social environment — it works . . .

. . . if you are a Democrat/Liberal you cannot, under any circumstance, allow that “the other side” has any valid arguments. Everything your side says and does is right and justified. Everything the other side says and does is inherently “evil”.

. . . if you are a Republican/Conservative you cannot, under any circumstance, allow that “the other side” has any valid arguments. Everything your side says and does is right and justified. Everything the other side says and does is inherently “evil”.

Sometimes, when stuff really bothers me, I’ll engage a Republican and point something out. Their retort is “Yes, but Democrats did the same thing!”

Other times, when stuff really bothers me, I’ll engage a Democrat and point something out. Their retort is “Yes, but the Republicans did the same thing!”

Here’s the thing: 

“When the other side was doing what you are now doing, you yelled about it and said it was not right. Are you now saying it’s “OK”, and if so why is it OK now and not back then, when you were yelling that it was wrong?”

I don’t get answers. All I get is deflection. And accusations of “favoring the other side”. 

Folks, let me clarify something . . . I have no side. I blame each side for the mess we are in.

Some things are, of course, the same . . . only more extreme. 

You’re either for open borders or anti-immigrants. If you would allow any refugees here, you don’t care about security and you are to blame for any domestic terrorism. There is no middle ground. 

Here’s a new one . . . if you are not Christian, you are not a “true” American. At the very least, you cannot be trusted and should have no voice in government or anywhere. 

In some quarters it’s OK to be anti-Christian and even openly hate Jews, but if you are concerned about Muslims, you are a bigot and don’t understand how mutilating young girls is a “cultural” thing. 

Pick a topic, and all you hear are the extremes. And those extremes are fueled by our politicians, celebrities, and some of the worst scum society has to offer (religious leaders and pundits).  

Honest, I have no idea where to even begin.

I do have opinions on freedom of speech, immigration, fake news, the press, the environment, trade, the economy . . . you name it, and I have an opinion. I don’t parrot the vacuous, dishonest, and self-serving hypocrites spouting off on television; I can formulate my own opinions, thank you very much. 

But, before I indulge in yet more opinion pieces that no one will read, allows me, if you will, to speak as I have, in broad terms, about the greater problem. 

Is it, in fact, that the majority of the population are ignorant, non-thinking mouth-breathers whose sole capacity and purpose in life is to serve as echo chambers to pundits who are getting ultra-rich spouting hate-speech and egging on the spread of intolerance and close-mindedness? 

Is there really no room for moderates in a given discussion? 

It’s how it looks to me, and it’s depressing.  

Perhaps there are groups out there who engage in worthwhile discussions; reasoned, polite, based on facts and logic, and minimizing emotional responses.  

Boy, I would sure like to be a part of those.

Instead, almost anywhere I go, even in venues where I expect informed critical thinkers, I get elements of the echo-chambers, and those elements immediately shut down any conversation. 

I think . . . I think politics has become people’s religion. I mean, for the Republicans that is a literal truth, but the surprising thing is that Democrats are not that far from it. 

I can now revel in being non-religious in multiple meaning of the word; in relation to belief in scriptures and in relation to belief in a given ideology.

Thank goodness I can still go to a restaurant and get decent food . . . 

As usual, click on any of the photos for a larger version. Or, if you so desire, go to THIS SmugMug gallery for the originals. FYI, the food photos are only here and not in the gallery.

As for what I wrote above . . . well, we are royally screwed, aren’t we? 

. . . but that won’t stop me from writing my opinion pieces. Maybe soon, or maybe when the shit stops sprouting wings and flying around after hitting the rapidly rotating blades. 

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

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. . .  my FP ward  . . . chieken shit.

Finally, if you interpret anything on this blog as me asking or wanting pity, encouragement, or advice to better my life, know my subtle mix of irony, sarcasm, and humor is blowing right by you.