I am inspired today by a friend of mine in the Navy in San Diego. I don't disagree with everything he says, but I have put his Facebook post here, and I have responded to parts in color:
I have a seriously difficult time considering my beloved country 'The Home of The Brave' anymore. Why? Because this is rapidly becoming a nation of fear and loathing (no referential pun intended).
We're afraid of our law enforcement personnel. -- I'm not afraid of them, but I've certainly seen unprovoked, unjustified police brutality. The whole method of policing here in the US has gone the wrong way, and the over-use of guns, to me, just demonstrates an additional level of cowardice not even touched on in Oni's post.
We're afraid of our healthcare professionals. -- In my case, it's not a matter of fear, it's a matter of justified distrust based on lots of experience with doctors who violated my trust, and often the Hippocratic Oath. I can't tell you the number of times I have nearly died due to the actions of a medical doctor.
We're afraid of the rich. -- I think it's not so much fear and loathing as resentment due to mistreatment. I've known lots of people who were rich--worked for them, was related by marriage to them, knew them socially. This is merely a major reminder that, while we may be a society that often behaves without what is classically referred to as "class", we are not a classless society. There is a definite divide between upper and lower classes, and there's not nearly so much upward mobility as we would like the rest of the world to believe.
We're afraid of the powerful. -- We're not afraid of the powerful so much as the power that is weilded against us.
We're afraid of religion. -- Not religion, just religious fanatics. If you had been treated by the religious the way I have, you would learn a good healthy dose of resentment as well. Abuse frequently leads that way, or it leads to Stockholm syndrome.
We're afraid of offending anyone. -- This is a symptom of Political Correctness and, while I myself have a massive fear of offending, it's also a syndrome related to excessive hypocrisy.
We're afraid of being offended. -- This appears to be a rampant fear, also related to hypocrisy. I have no fear of being offended. If I'm offended, I figure I have a problem that I need to deal with.
We're afraid we're being spied on. -- It's not acceptable for a government to spy on its own people. The only possible excuse for it is tyranny. I have nothing to fear from being spied on, but that does not mean I accept it. This goes under the heading in the Constitution of Unlawful Search and Seizure.
We're afraid we have no say in anything. -- You have no say if you refuse to say anything, or if you refuse to vote. These are choices you make. If you want a voice, use it. It may be a small voice in a sea of louder voices, but it's still a voice. Also, you have a say in what is sold by buying it. If you don't approve of something someone does, don't give them money.
We're afraid we'll never get paid enough.-- That's not a fear so much as a likelihood. However, if you don't put your full effort into your job, you don't deserve to get full payment for it, or to be promoted, or get better jobs. You (should) only get paid for what you actually do.
We're afraid we're being manipulated. -- No, for the most part we ARE being manipulated. That's what advertising is all about. That's what 50% of all body-language is all about. Heck, that's what half of the communication involved in most relationships is all about. The thing is to become aware of the manipulation, and decide whether or not you want to let it affect you.
We're afraid we're going to need another drink. -- If you have a fear of that, you probably have a drinking problem. Or at least a depression problem.
We're afraid of the people we consented to put into power. -- Yes, but that's largely because people don't really learn about the candidates, and merely vote for the chosen team. I have some answers to that, but they will most likely never be implemented. The best answer to this is to learn as much as you can about each of the candidates and make an educated, rather than party-line, decision about your chosen candidate. I'll bet if more people did this our elected officials would look very different.
We're afraid of being 'conformists'. -- That's just silly. Whoever you are, be yourself rather than fighting to keep up with the Joneses, or beating the Joneses. The Joneses don't matter because they're not YOU.
We're afraid of being victims. -- And fear creates victims.
We're afraid of getting hurt. -- Learning from pain allows growth. If you're afraid of the pain, you will repeat the same mistakes, and the same pain, over and over again.
We are a society and a nation consumed by fear, and that fear is tearing all of us apart, tearing this nation to pieces. Fear rules only one thing: Animals. Beasts. Unintelligible base lower creatures. Fear and panic drive every herd species, and the more we allow our fears to drive us and our society the less human we will become.
We're afraid of our law enforcement personnel. -- I'm not afraid of them, but I've certainly seen unprovoked, unjustified police brutality. The whole method of policing here in the US has gone the wrong way, and the over-use of guns, to me, just demonstrates an additional level of cowardice not even touched on in Oni's post.
We're afraid of our healthcare professionals. -- In my case, it's not a matter of fear, it's a matter of justified distrust based on lots of experience with doctors who violated my trust, and often the Hippocratic Oath. I can't tell you the number of times I have nearly died due to the actions of a medical doctor.
We're afraid of the rich. -- I think it's not so much fear and loathing as resentment due to mistreatment. I've known lots of people who were rich--worked for them, was related by marriage to them, knew them socially. This is merely a major reminder that, while we may be a society that often behaves without what is classically referred to as "class", we are not a classless society. There is a definite divide between upper and lower classes, and there's not nearly so much upward mobility as we would like the rest of the world to believe.
We're afraid of the powerful. -- We're not afraid of the powerful so much as the power that is weilded against us.
We're afraid of religion. -- Not religion, just religious fanatics. If you had been treated by the religious the way I have, you would learn a good healthy dose of resentment as well. Abuse frequently leads that way, or it leads to Stockholm syndrome.
We're afraid of offending anyone. -- This is a symptom of Political Correctness and, while I myself have a massive fear of offending, it's also a syndrome related to excessive hypocrisy.
We're afraid of being offended. -- This appears to be a rampant fear, also related to hypocrisy. I have no fear of being offended. If I'm offended, I figure I have a problem that I need to deal with.
We're afraid we're being spied on. -- It's not acceptable for a government to spy on its own people. The only possible excuse for it is tyranny. I have nothing to fear from being spied on, but that does not mean I accept it. This goes under the heading in the Constitution of Unlawful Search and Seizure.
We're afraid we have no say in anything. -- You have no say if you refuse to say anything, or if you refuse to vote. These are choices you make. If you want a voice, use it. It may be a small voice in a sea of louder voices, but it's still a voice. Also, you have a say in what is sold by buying it. If you don't approve of something someone does, don't give them money.
We're afraid we'll never get paid enough.-- That's not a fear so much as a likelihood. However, if you don't put your full effort into your job, you don't deserve to get full payment for it, or to be promoted, or get better jobs. You (should) only get paid for what you actually do.
We're afraid we're being manipulated. -- No, for the most part we ARE being manipulated. That's what advertising is all about. That's what 50% of all body-language is all about. Heck, that's what half of the communication involved in most relationships is all about. The thing is to become aware of the manipulation, and decide whether or not you want to let it affect you.
We're afraid we're going to need another drink. -- If you have a fear of that, you probably have a drinking problem. Or at least a depression problem.
We're afraid of the people we consented to put into power. -- Yes, but that's largely because people don't really learn about the candidates, and merely vote for the chosen team. I have some answers to that, but they will most likely never be implemented. The best answer to this is to learn as much as you can about each of the candidates and make an educated, rather than party-line, decision about your chosen candidate. I'll bet if more people did this our elected officials would look very different.
We're afraid of being 'conformists'. -- That's just silly. Whoever you are, be yourself rather than fighting to keep up with the Joneses, or beating the Joneses. The Joneses don't matter because they're not YOU.
We're afraid of being victims. -- And fear creates victims.
We're afraid of getting hurt. -- Learning from pain allows growth. If you're afraid of the pain, you will repeat the same mistakes, and the same pain, over and over again.
We are a society and a nation consumed by fear, and that fear is tearing all of us apart, tearing this nation to pieces. Fear rules only one thing: Animals. Beasts. Unintelligible base lower creatures. Fear and panic drive every herd species, and the more we allow our fears to drive us and our society the less human we will become.
The problem is, of course, that we're not a herd species, no matter how much we're behaving like one. We're primates. Troops of primates have a very different dynamic, but we're not acting on it.
Courage, true and real genuine courage, seems to be as rare as common sense now...lost in the din of the cacophony of raised voices: The Media, screaming at us from television, radio, and computer monitor; The Academia, bellowing from their Ivory Towers, their lecture halls and their classrooms; and all of them contrasting or contradictory in their demands, pulling us in two separate directions at the same time!
They tell us that we are brave, that we are strong, but look around you. Do you FEEL brave and strong when you take in all that is transpiring in our nation? Or do you, too, feel the crushing weight of an unspeakable doom pressing down upon us all, irresistible and overwhelming, suffocating your pride, your hope, your ambition and positivity?
"Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration."
Unless America faces all of it's fears, confronts them without hesitation, fear will dominate and swallow us whole until none but fear remains and all is ruin.
They tell us that we are brave, that we are strong, but look around you. Do you FEEL brave and strong when you take in all that is transpiring in our nation? Or do you, too, feel the crushing weight of an unspeakable doom pressing down upon us all, irresistible and overwhelming, suffocating your pride, your hope, your ambition and positivity?
"Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration."
Unless America faces all of it's fears, confronts them without hesitation, fear will dominate and swallow us whole until none but fear remains and all is ruin.
I realized that we had become a nation of cowards on September 11, 2001 when I learned that more than one plane-load of people had allowed themselves to be hijacked, and then immolated, by a couple of jerks with BOXCUTTERS.
You mean to tell me that you would rather die than receive a shallow cut with a poorly designed knife that's entire purpose is to cut corrugated paper-board? I think the time it would take to disable the hijacker would be little enough that you'd have ample time to staunch the bleeding while you didn't die in a fiery plane crash
How stupid is that?
I don't generally disagree with this, I just find it a bit depressing that so much of it is true, and so much of it is easily solved.
