Hopefully calm will be restored as the nation moves back toward some semblance of whatever it is we consider 'normal' for the last 9 months. I hope things continue to improve as we move out of the Covid scare and fear mongering (yes, Covid is real, I had it as have many friends, but no it's not so bad for 95% of the people who get it). If we can move past all this, my job opportunities may improve.
Then again, who knows? I know few of you are on Facebook, but I am (or was). It allowed me to reconnect with friends and family and it's a useful tool. I've also shared Maggie's articles there with my friends, and met many other people who I share interests with. I am well aware of the privacy issues, but I know how to navigate them (part of my everyday job) and manage them effectively. There is, however, one thing I can't manage. It's the real problem we're facing today. It's the reason I deactivated my Facebook recently (after letting people know how they can reach me if they want/need to).
I am aware of many HR Departments doing sweeps of social media to find things out about people. I have heard several stories of pro-Trump people losing job offers. This doesn't surprise me at all in NYC today. The shift here has been significant from not just hating Trump to full-fledged belief that anyone who supports him is a deranged psychopath. I have never been a Trump supporter, but that doesn't mean anything because I've never hated him, either. It's best to hate him with the passion of a thousand suns in order to win approval with many organizations today.
I haven't loved him, haven't hated him, I've merely tolerated him, and realized his persona was a massive problem but that he was accomplishing some good things. I was for honesty and balance of thought and reason. Today, you can't be that way. You have to be a true believer, or at least not come across as a believer of "the other side". In other words, it is almost a requirement to be Progressive to be "acceptable". Such is the nature of modern definitions of Diversity - be like us or you're not acceptable. I'm all for Diversity. Diversity of thought, and respect for other views, without accepting the enforcement of those views on others by law, social shame, or other means of behavioral modification (brainwashing via education, for example).
Case in point, a family member who is a Trump supporter shared a story with me. They had a friend who lived in a city and each would share 1 picture a day of their respective areas. It was a way to stay in touch and share lives and enjoy the pleasures of friendship and our heritage. The city-dweller is a die-hard Democrat, but friends are friends and politics rarely played into friendship - as it should be.
On Thursday the city dweller refused to share a picture saying "After the treason that took place, nobody who supports that man deserves anything." The family member wrote back a simple note which basically said that the entire summer had gone by and not a word was said about the riots which had burned down a good portion of the city. Not a word had been said about other cities on fire, or the demands for a voice to be heard. There were legitimate complaints and protests this summer, but all were punctuated with damaging riots, looting, arson, death, and destruction of homes and livelihoods. But not a word was said, in the nature of friendship. On Wednesday a few clowns performed bizarre acts of nonsense in the Capitol. Their main contention was they wanted their voices heard and inquiries made into potential election meddling. Nothing was burned, no livelihoods lost and a single death at the hands of a trigger-happy cop. There was no treason or sedition, just overanxious and overzealous people overstepping bounds.
Unfortunate, yes. But it was mostly peaceful, unlike the nonsense from the summer before. So if friendship hinges on these kinds of events, then perhaps our city-dwelling friend needs to rethink their priorities.
A simple note was returned which said "this is why I love you." Friendship resumed. Logic and reason must be applied, even when people disagree.
We can get along. But as I've felt all along, the real problems exist on the Left. They have allowed Trump's persona to overwhelm all reason and rational thought. He has been off the rails lately. Regardless of how you feel about what he's accomplished, and regardless of how much we believe 'something' happened to the election, there are better ways to deal with all this. We are better than that, and we on the Right are much, much better than those on the Left when it comes to remaining calm and persevering. We don't have to stoop to their levels.
I know sometimes it seems we must fight, we need to get angry and push back. There certainly are times for that. I don't believe this is the time. There are better ways to get what we want and lowering ourselves to the level of the mob we saw all summer is not that way, regardless of how much the media approved of it.
But it is becoming clear to me that fascism slowly is creeping in from the Left. Mindful of this, we need to be careful that we don't fall into that same trap.
