WHAT SCARES ME
I live in a
traditionally low crime suburb of New York City. We have always had the occasional
shop-lifter, drunk drivers, and people who are not polite. None of these societal misfit actions ever scared
me. Not a fan, but never scared me.
A few weeks
ago, a few miles from my home, a lady in a BMW stopped at traffic light in the
middle of the afternoon when a car pulled up next to her, a person jumped out,
tapped on her window with a pistol, pulled her out of her car, hopped in, and both
cars drove away.
That scares
me.
In the big
cities, they don’t just shoplift, groups just walk in, tell the store keepers
to fuck off and calmly load up bags of goods, then walk away. If these crimes are in the city they will
soon reach my nice safe enclave.
That
scares me.
Around the
country there are stories of people randomly being accosted and beaten. Sometimes for money and or electronics, sometimes
seemingly just for sport.
That
scares me.
Recently
Elon Musk bought out media giant Twitter.
He is planning on making Twitter a free speech platform. Twitter will not be actively monitoring all
opinions. If someone wants to claim the Earth
in is not round, they now can print such “disinformation.”
Many people
are very upset over this.
Somehow, That
does not scare me.
“The
Election was stolen!”
Interesting,
let me think about that, let me do some research…probably not, but the opinion does
not scare me.
“Covid is
a fake, made up by the Government to control the little people!”
Interesting,
let think about that…no! That is ridiculous.
Still not
scared.
Point is,
disinformation does not scare me, I am able to think. Repression of information deemed as
disinformation, by someone I never appointed does scare me.
When
information, beliefs or opinions are suppressed by someone else, (Government?)
then freedom to think is also suppressed.
Loss of Freedom
of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to think…
That does scare me.
You
disagree?
That would scare
me if you were not first allowed to think about it.
You are so right!
ReplyDeleteYes. It IS scary to be told what to believe, and not allowed access to information to make your own decisions. Yet toddlers are wise enough to determine that a doctor mis-labeled their gender at birth.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. I’ve never liked or felt comfortable being told what to think. It totally goes against my grain. In fact it makes me angry. It used to be, everyone allowed others to think for themselves- whether we agreed or not. We still were able to coexist. Not anymore. Now you have to be careful what you say or who you say it to. I’m also to the point where I don’t care anymore - let the chips fall where they fall.
ReplyDeleteThat’s very scary the crime so close to your safe neighborhood. We have crime here - not like in big cities but it’s coming. I read in the news - many of these people aren’t even from around here. WTH? From other states. Probably because of our lenient laws. Get arrested one hour and you’re back on the streets the next. You can steal up to $900 and you’re good to go.
It’s all a mess and it’s scary to me to know there are people who still think, everything is great. What is wrong with these people????
Violence terrifies me and even though a lot of disinformation is taken as gospel by those prone to violence disturbs me, I still believe we have the right to think through what we read and hear.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to be able to think and decide for myself. I dislike the disinformation policing - it's censorship pure and simple.
ReplyDeleteI would let them have the car with all the canines I own in it. Actually, let them get in and then press the panic button on my fob as they put the car in gear. But first I open the back door so my dogs can flee. I do have a fantasy life. Maybe quickly roll all the windows down and open the tailgate and all my plastic bags back there fly out as they pass through the intersection.
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feeling about disinformation. I suspect those that followed the giant Q know it is malarky. That is just their opinion and they are sticking to it much like anyone who lies and know you know they are lying.
But----- the schoolteacher in me dislikes false facts. There are innocent people who get sucked into false beliefs. A former student who was very bright got sucked into a cult here in GA. The leader was like most egomaniacal cult leaders, disgusting. But I do not think this young man was. He was just looking for path. I can always tell when people are going through a lot of stress. They get real religious.
Personally, I think we as a nation need to be more humble. People think their politics can only be right. And you know, I love people who have those fanatical politics.
The schadenfreude in me is looking forward to laughing at Elon Musk eventually selling Twitter cheap. It cheapens the brand to allow crazy talk. Afterwards, Elon Musk will have more money than the rest of us put together. Twitter is chump change. I'm still going to grow my turnip greens in the winter to save on money.
Amen
ReplyDeleteI've become very cautious about when I go shopping..where I shop...and my surroundings. I make sure all doors are locked when I'm home alone. (sorry Jack about locking you out when you came home for lunch!) We have guns and we know how to use them. One shotgun is by the backdoor. I live in small town America near the Amish but crime is creeping everywhere..and yes that does scare me. I do try to know what's going on in the world so I can make good decisions and not be lead around by big mouth millionaires. It's good to be scared by the things you've mentioned. It's only going to get worse but I'm also an optimist and will always hope for good to triumph over evil.
ReplyDeleteYou are right. The "misinformation" police are the scary ones, and now it is clear that the FBI succeeded in pushing Facebook and others to censor based on their political agendas. Yikes. I prefer to read about all sides and make up my own mind, like you.
ReplyDelete