The Greater Good

February 17, 2021February 16, 2021

The Greater Good

I get really twitchy when somebody tells me they are doing or saying something to me for my own good. I am a fully competent adult, thankyouverymuch, and I can make my own decisions. I get even twitchier when I’m told that some policy or governmental action is for the greater good. Governments rarely, if ever, do things purely for philanthropical reasons. Governments are filled with politicians. And politicians have but one goal, and that is to remain in a position of power. I wrote before about fear and how the powers that be will make sure that we are afraid. Now, I want to talk about how they’re going to make sure that we will be happy. And we will be happy as we are instructed. It’s for our own good.

February 12, 2021February 12, 2021

Cancel Culture, Fear, and Censorship

And now we bring them all together. Fear is the thing that ties cancel culture and censorship together. Yes, cancel culture and censorship are essentially the same thing, but there are differences. I’ve talked about censorship before. Can a non-governmental organization censor an individual? Yes, it can. The constitution prohibits the government from censoring speech, but it does not mean that a non-governmental organization cannot do so. Just because it’s legal does not mean that deplatforming or removing a website from your servers because you don’t like their political views is not censorship. Of course it is. Declaring it to be a legal action done by a private company does not make it any less censorious. Especially when said company has set itself up as a tech version of the public square.

February 10, 2021February 10, 2021

Be A Happy Warrior

You will be made to fear is the mantra we’ve been living with for almost a year now. But I say, don’t be afraid, be a happy warrior. Laugh at the fear, laugh at those who want you to live in fear, and laugh at those who peddle the fear (right after you yell at them for peddling baseless fears).

February 7, 2021February 7, 2021

How does a third party become viable?

The question came up in an online group: What would it take to get you to support a third party? A number of responses came back. Some said that they’d been too disappointed in others like the Libertarian party (described as Democrats Lite) and thus had gone back to changing the existing Republican party. Others that third parties never ran viable candidates or ended up appearing too crazy. Several said that a third party should abide by the US Constitution and not compromise on that. In addition, a clear set of values needed to be articulated and adhered to. My response was that to truly be viable, a third party would need to not only criticize current policies from major parties, but offer viable, workable alternatives to those policies. It was also noted that to gain support, a third party would need to identify actual problems as opposed to proposing solutions to problems that don’t exist.

January 29, 2021January 29, 2021

Hero-worship and politicians

Hero-worship of political leaders of all stripes is nothing new. But it is most definitely not something we should be doing. Politicians, democratic or authoritarian, are human beings just like the rest of us. Unlike Roman generals in their triumph through Rome, modern leaders don’t have a slave behind them whispering in their ear, “Remember, you are mortal.” Perhaps that custom needs to be revived for our current political leaders.

January 20, 2021January 20, 2021

Projection

The other day, I started a blog post about rhetoric that wound up all rambly and somewhat incoherent. I had been thinking about the endless discussion in the press about the “incursion” into the Capitol building on January 6. Or the “riot” that had taken place that day. Or the “insurrection” that had occurred. All these words mean different things and conjure up vastly different images than does “protest”. And of course, the media would have us believe that the burning and looting that occurred in numerous cities this past summer was nothing more than “mostly peaceful protests.” Because only a “riot” would include looting and burning and riots are bad. So, if you’re on the side of the rioters, you need them to be only protesting. Those guys riot, we’re just protesting.

January 12, 2021January 12, 2021

Censorship

Yes, Twitter is censoring the President of the United States. Yes, Apple, Google, and Amazon are censoring and engaging in monopolistic business practices against Parler. This is what’s happening. If you said “Yay! Twitter banned Trump!” you are a proponent of censorship and an opponent of free speech. Yes, you are, no matter how fast you spin in circles to justify it.

January 7, 2021January 7, 2021

Strange days and dilemmas

Strange couple of days, to be understated about things. Protests at the Capitol building in DC ended with an unarmed Air Force vet, Ashli Babbitt, killed by an officer with the Capitol police. She’s been labeled a terrorist, but she was unarmed and the officer shot through a window at a target he couldn’t clearly see. Nerves? Most likely. But, this should be a “SAY HER NAME” moment and you know damn well it won’t be. Ashli Babbitt Ashli Babbitt Ashli Babbitt Ashli Babbitt Ashli Babbitt. I haven’t been on FB since yesterday and seriously doubt I’ll go on any time in the next 72 hours or so. I simply do not want to see the garbage that some will attempt to pass off as dialogue.

January 3, 2021January 4, 2021

First Weekend

Sunday night of the first weekend of the new year. We did some things we’d talked about for this weekend. But then, didn’t get to others. So far, 2021 hasn’t been bad. Ha. I’ve been thinking about my approach to this year. This will be my first full year of “retirement.” How am I going to schedule myself? What do I need to do to make sure I’m writing or plotting or reading/researching or working on covers or something productive? For academic research I’ve used the Pomodoro method where you work for 25 minutes at a time, take a couple minute break and then another 25 minutes. Every four “pomodoros” you take a longer break (hour or so). This has worked in the past and I’ve done it a few times with the fiction writing. I think I will make sure I use this method every time I sit down to write.

December 31, 2020December 31, 2020

Stay Sane Inside Insanity

The title of this post comes from a line from Columbia in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and I think it encapsulates how I’ve tried to get through 2020. It is with relief and trepidation that I wave at 2020 in the rearview mirror. Relief that we made it through the year. Trepidation about what awaits. I know the external things (pandemic, lockdowns, general governmental crep) will ease somewhat. I say somewhat because I don’t believe that general governmental crep will ease all that much and in fact, will likely get a lot worse, at least at the federal level. But what will 2021 bring? I’m hoping for the best but (mentally at least) preparing for the worst.