Do you ever look around and think, “What the hell is going on around here?” I can’t be the only one that shakes their head when looking at my Twitter feed or my FaceBook timeline. It’s not just the politics. It’s not just the racial divide we find ourselves buried in. It’s not just the religious posts or cross fit crys for help. I see battles within friendships and families. I find myself thinking quite often that there has to be something more to all of this. There has to be something better for all of us. We have all developed our opinion on hot topics but our opinion has not been challenged and a lot of times, it is limited to “how my wife feels” or vice versa. When you form that opinion without the appropriate level of personal conviction, you are just playing it safe and avoiding the potential questioning and debate. It’s an easy way to have an opinion. You can proudly proclaim the ways you would do things without providing any reasoning other than “that’s the way I roll.” Personal conviction leads us to do things we are eager and able to justify. And we are pushed to do these things because we feel they are the right things to do in given circumstances. The justifications may not always be understandable to others but that’s where it’s on you.
But there is a different way to look at what’s going on. Let’s be honest, the tear gas and blocking citizens from getting to areas where they are supposed to be is just disruptive and accomplishes nothing. It should be first noted that there is a stark difference between a peaceful protest and vandalism. A peaceful protest, with signs and chants and non-threatening discussions with your fellow American across the aisle seems so elementary but it has a much higher success rate than running up into someone’s face and droning on about ISIS while daring you to hit them so they can take it to another level. I’m as reasonable a person as they come but I watch some of these exchanges and I wonder how somebody didn’t get decked before it was all over. There is nothing more enraging as a free thinking individual than when someone gets in your face and starts pushing your buttons. “Keep your hands off me,” they say as they push every mental trigger you have. Your job in this is to allow someone to verbally undress you while you remain collected enough to realize when it’s over. Any retaliation action on your behalf in that situation will certainly be zoomed in on and labeled intolerant. No win situation.
When posting on social media, the same thought process and care should go into hitting post, depending on your need for drama. Social media, like other modern day tech, is strictly risk vs reward when considering when to post on something hot or trending. The risk is that you are going to have an opinion that puts you in the minority. If you are attacked, it’s easy to lose focus and start to ramble with your responses and lose the meaning in your original post. Some people can handle it very well and should continue to handle it that way. Then you consider the reward for your post. Does your post have the potential to bring a few people together? Does it have the ability to turn the screw on someone who has been spewing nonsense for far too long? I tend to think the only reward worth the risk is when you have the opportunity to repair a relationship or clear your name from a previous issue. If the post has an above average chance to put your followers in a frenzy and have other followers shaking their head at the gall you had to post, there isn’t much room for a win there. Of course, some people enjoy being “that guy” so more power to you.
Here’s a concept I’ve been working on. It has it’s flaws but it’s still in a beta stage so to speak. I’m tweaking it from time to time and it’s provided me with a better comfort level when assessing friends, their posts and whether or not they are pushing me away. I’d like to say that it isn’t personal but a lot of social media friends are friends in real life and there have been moments that made me consider whether or not a mindset being displayed in public was a mindset I could be comfortable with in a friendship. And my goal is not to change someone else. People are people and a lot of years and events have worked together to make them a certain type of person. And they aren’t always bad either. They just don’t sometimes fit what I am trying to get out of life. But let’s be clear about something, none of us are well enough adjusted to just brush off the things we see and keep 100% focus on ourselves. No, we care about what our friends and (maybe not) friends are babbling about. We come to their rescue with our built in stats and info. We jump in with them when they are trying to take down a left wing zealot. Never leave a man behind, as they say.
Listen, we are all made of stardust. We all have hearts, minds, souls. We really aren’t as different as society would have you believe. I am no different than Heath Gilbert at work or my brother from another mother, Anthony Jenkins. We want what’s best for our families. We want to enjoy life. We want to make money at our jobs to be able to enjoy the hobbies we have. What that means for us is doing the right thing, relying on each other when the time comes, and depending on the others to have your back when the opportunity presents itself. Our lives are not based on who of us voted for Trump or who voted for Clinton. If one of those guys didn’t want to celebrate the inauguration, I also have zero issue with that. I voted for Trump and I didn’t celebrate the inauguration like many did. I voted for him but I’m not sold. I am more sold than I was with Hillary and there was no real contest. But I’m not sleeping better than I have in 8 years because Trump is our president. I have my reservations.
I firmly believe that we have more influence in the success of our country than we are given credit for. We can’t sit around and wait for the government to fix all of the problems that have been created over the last 50 years. There are too many interest groups and old Washington is still alive and well. They are going to continue to look out for them. What we have to do is make changes where we can. Sometimes we have to stick our noses into things to make sure the movement is happening. Chris Cohilas is a prime example of a local leader making noise in Washington to protect his constituents. The storm that came through Albany a few weeks ago has left many homes and neighborhoods still in disrepair, with more potential severe weather on the way this weekend. The bureaucratic red tape involved in getting FEMA, GEMA, local power cooperatives and multiple local businesses on the same page to move forward with a resolution doesn’t just happen. It takes a leader to step up and do what he thinks is right. That’s what Cohilas has done. He made a previous comment on FaceBook that this was not about party lines or ideaology. This was about people getting the help they need. Novel concept that could use some run in Washington. Chris is a political figure. But today, if you took a poll of Dougherty County citizens, they could care less if his affiliation is Democratic or Republican. That’s the key definition of independent for me. I’ll go with who I think gives us the best chance to better our economy, our schools, our taxes. Libertarian, Republican, Democratic, none of that matters to me.
So as for affiliation, I am an American. I am for any leader that can make us the powerful nation we have been over the last few 100 years. I am proud to be an American and believe we do a lot of good in this world. I also believe we get involved in things we have no business being involved in. And you can believe me or not but when I see a President, I don’t see a gender or a race. I see the leader of the free world and I expect them to have the best interest of the entire nation close to their heart.
So, you can keep on sharing your memes, fake news and photoshopped images but know that you are part of the problem. Keep blasting another race because of their beliefs or fears of the changes that are taking place but know that you are part of the reason race relations are as tense as they are now. And don’t read this wrong. I love a good political joke or meme. But when the intent is clear that the attack is on group of people or group of voters, it’s not a good look. Let the intolerant do such things. We should just sit back and not take the bait. Let the legacy of the incoming president write itself, for better or worse. Let’s just give it that opportunity.
J-Dub
Preach brother preach. Fake news drives me crazy!