I’m Angry Too!
My friend says he’s angry. He’s not the only one. I suspect we’re angry for different reasons but I also suspect it just might be the same root cause.
I’ll admit, I wasn’t angry at first. I was sad and a little bit fearful about what happened on January 6th. Fearful things will get out of hand in a hurry, that it could get violent like it was last summer. Large groups of people don’t think clearly.
For as long as I can remember there has been a joke. “How do you tell if a politician is lying? His lips are moving.” but it’s no longer funny. Both sides lied during the most recent campaign. The list is too long to put in a blog post but I’m going to take the most egregious example that I witnessed.
Charlottesville “Fine people” lie – If you read the transcript from his interview you’ll hear him clearly denounce white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the violence while saying there were good people there at the same time. He clearly was not referring to the same people but the press and others kept saying it was him calling the extreme groups ‘fine people’. It wasn’t.
This lie probably did more to divide us as a people than anything else the press did. It fomented fear and distrust more than any other lie told that I can find.
This lie is still in the news today. Biden even invoked it during his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination. That made me angry.
One aside, I shared two great videos about the people involved in Charlottesville and some changes that came as a result of them being listened to. Check it out.
Republicans did it too. They lied about their opponents. That makes me angry too. I’m not going to keep this list going but if you want to share some examples of other lies, feel free in the comments (but you have to include unbiased evidence with it.)
I just want to hear the truth for once, from both sides. Using video clips, taking things out of context just to make a point prevents them from really making a difference, it works to divide us and that will be the death of us.
The truth matters.
Clarence Darrow once said “Chase after the truth like all hell and you’ll free yourself, even though you never touch its coat tails.”
From the Inglorious Basterds “I love rumors. Facts can be so misleading”. This was from the Nazi SS character Col. Hans Landa that we all learned to hate early in the movie.
From Scott Adams “You will get farther in life by learning to spot bullshit than you will by learning to spot opportunity.”
I recently wrote about Andy Andrews book “How do you kill 11 Million people?” and it lays out the case for lies and what can happen because of them. Spoiler alert, How do you kill 11 million people? You lie to them.
The lies we get are a result of the system we have. Power is everything and those in power will do whatever they have to so they can stay in power but there is a way to change that.
Keep reading.
As I “chase after the truth” I’ve decided outlets like FoxNews, CNN, and such are more about selling ads, stating an opinion, and spinning for an advantage for profit rather than telling the truth so I’ve turned them off.
Facebook is an echo chamber that reinforces what you already believe and stifles listening so much it’s not valuable for anything other than finding memes to make my friends laugh.
Twitter and Facebook are both filtering what we see as are Google and Amazon. Free speech and the search for truth is being stifled every day.
So what do you do in chasing the truth?
Web searches are a good place to start but don’t use google. Try DuckDuckGo.com. One benefit beyond the lack of filtering, no ads to follow you around from your searches. Learn more at SpreadPrivacy.com
News sources outside the US might be helpful, like the BBC or Tortois Media.
Tortois focuses on stories that have a longer shelf life, allows for deeper research and that might be the future of news. It does cost to be a ‘member’ but that means the ads are gone and that might be a good thing.
If the products you’re using are free then you are the product (or at least your attention is).
I’ve also looked at Axios.com as a source for news in the US. Fewer ads, clearly defined so you’re not chasing clickbait. They also state all employees are asked to refrain from taking/advocating for public positions on political topics. I don’t agree with everything I read there but that is probably a good thing.
So learning the truth is still possible if we want it. The sources are out there but how about the folks that will continue to lie to stay in power?
What can we do about them?
I certainly don’t endorse an armed conflict to resolve this situation.
Is there another way? I can’t bring you a problem without proposing a solution. Doing that is just whining.
The good news is, we have a path.
I get lots of agreement that we need term limits for all elected members of the government. It was not supposed to be a career. Those who are supposed to represent us will not go willingly but we have a path.
It’s called a Constitutional Convention and it allows for amending the Constitution without Congress. It takes 34 states to call one and there are 25 that have signed on and there are plans to get 11 more on board for a Balanced Budget Convention but there is another in the works that I like better because of their mission.
It’s called the Convention of States that is a national effort to call a convention under Article V of the United States Constitution, restricted to proposing amendments that will impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit its power and jurisdiction, and impose term limits on its officials and members of Congress.
This has 12 states signed on since it was formed in 2014, is better funded than the Balance Budget version, and has 3 million volunteers. Well, 3 million +1. I’m going to be doing more on this.
So what do we do from here?
I propose finding sources that will tell us the truth, rewarding them for their work and spend time listening to each other to discover our agreements, not just our differences. Turn off the commercialized media and we’ll be a happier people.
I propose getting involved in calling a Constitutional Convention like the Convention of States proposes to impose term limits.
Finally, I propose we work to take care of each other. To give more than you take.
This is the path I’m on.
We can all do these things. Are you in?
Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson