This year has been so much, all at once. It's been chaos and burning, fear, lots of fear. No one's had a clear idea of what's going on. So much anger and politicization. I've had so much rolling around in my head I keep wanting to write it all down but not taking the time.
It's kind of ironic really. Growing up I thought that as a nation we valued public sanitation and had the means and tools to counter infectious diseases. That surely a plague the likes that people used to see wouldn't happen in my lifetime, how foolish. Plus I thought that we as a nation had overcome racial inequality for the most part and that now we were just trying to overcome bias and prejudice that was residual from the past. How wrong I feel now!
I thought the "War on Drugs" was a good thing, that we were addressing a problem by putting "criminals" away. How little I knew about how the system worked, how unfair it is.
This year conspiracy theories galore have emerged and people have become so outspoken about their pet theories. Yet it's hard to know who to trust really.
It has become clear that our government is a shell, impotent and corrupt, and I have no idea what to do about it. Revolt? Join those out protesting? Vote in another parody of an election?
Also I feel so lost. I keep wishing that somebody older and wiser could step in and be there for me. Come over and help me set up a garden or something. Help me figure out how to use my resources better. I have 2 refrigerators and a chest freezer and cupboards of food and I still feel like I'm starving. I used to know how to manage it all but I work so much that I don't feel free to figure out what I'm doing. I'm hungry all the time!
I'm feeling so isolated. I'm an introvert so for the most part I'm OK with how things have panned out with me being able to work from home. But I feel like facing the world outside of home makes me stretch my comfort zone out and I think it's sometimes good for me.
I read that we are becoming a society like the one that Ray Bradbury was trying to warn us against in his book Fahrenheit 451. It's true. " No one wants to be made uncomfortable, no one wants their beliefs challenged. To be exposed to diverse opinions would demand considered thought and might upset a life of naïve pleasantness. Such a possibility provokes resentment from an immature mind, and resentment often leads to self-righteous destruction. Look at the first line of the novel: “It was a pleasure to burn.” Why a pleasure? Because maintaining a false sense of moral superiority by silencing people who disagree with you is one of the perversities of human nature, something that a liberal education is designed to remedy. Intellectual development is always a struggle, and the search for truth never ends; it requires continuous exchange and debate." (Taken from the site Intellectual Take Out).
I want to think more. It's my nature to sit and think but I feel like that's been limited lately because of certain demands on my time. I want to be knowledgeable, broadly educated. I wish I had the time to study Latin, Greek all the old texts.
But then there aren't many people that feel like this and it's hard to find those who do in order to have intelligent conversations. Every once in a while I'll find someone, then I lose them. That seems to be how it is for me.
Also I want to do something towards resolving the issues we face behind racial inequality and our history of slavery. I've always heard that I had ancestors who fought on both sides of the Civil War so I thought I would look them up. I found a resource, a book of our family history that some of my ancestors have put together. There are a couple of mentions of slaves and their names. I bought the book and I'm going to pour through it and find out the details as much as possible and work with a group called "Coming to the Table." Which is a way for Black and White people to reconcile what has happened. Black people have a hard time finding anything out about their ancestry so I will share what I find in hopes of helping someone find their ancestors.
I've also decided to make regular donations to the "Legal Defense Fund" to help those who are caught in the trap of the American Criminal system (not Criminal Justice, there's very little justice going on).
SG
It's kind of ironic really. Growing up I thought that as a nation we valued public sanitation and had the means and tools to counter infectious diseases. That surely a plague the likes that people used to see wouldn't happen in my lifetime, how foolish. Plus I thought that we as a nation had overcome racial inequality for the most part and that now we were just trying to overcome bias and prejudice that was residual from the past. How wrong I feel now!
I thought the "War on Drugs" was a good thing, that we were addressing a problem by putting "criminals" away. How little I knew about how the system worked, how unfair it is.
This year conspiracy theories galore have emerged and people have become so outspoken about their pet theories. Yet it's hard to know who to trust really.
It has become clear that our government is a shell, impotent and corrupt, and I have no idea what to do about it. Revolt? Join those out protesting? Vote in another parody of an election?
Also I feel so lost. I keep wishing that somebody older and wiser could step in and be there for me. Come over and help me set up a garden or something. Help me figure out how to use my resources better. I have 2 refrigerators and a chest freezer and cupboards of food and I still feel like I'm starving. I used to know how to manage it all but I work so much that I don't feel free to figure out what I'm doing. I'm hungry all the time!
I'm feeling so isolated. I'm an introvert so for the most part I'm OK with how things have panned out with me being able to work from home. But I feel like facing the world outside of home makes me stretch my comfort zone out and I think it's sometimes good for me.
I read that we are becoming a society like the one that Ray Bradbury was trying to warn us against in his book Fahrenheit 451. It's true. " No one wants to be made uncomfortable, no one wants their beliefs challenged. To be exposed to diverse opinions would demand considered thought and might upset a life of naïve pleasantness. Such a possibility provokes resentment from an immature mind, and resentment often leads to self-righteous destruction. Look at the first line of the novel: “It was a pleasure to burn.” Why a pleasure? Because maintaining a false sense of moral superiority by silencing people who disagree with you is one of the perversities of human nature, something that a liberal education is designed to remedy. Intellectual development is always a struggle, and the search for truth never ends; it requires continuous exchange and debate." (Taken from the site Intellectual Take Out).
I want to think more. It's my nature to sit and think but I feel like that's been limited lately because of certain demands on my time. I want to be knowledgeable, broadly educated. I wish I had the time to study Latin, Greek all the old texts.
But then there aren't many people that feel like this and it's hard to find those who do in order to have intelligent conversations. Every once in a while I'll find someone, then I lose them. That seems to be how it is for me.
Also I want to do something towards resolving the issues we face behind racial inequality and our history of slavery. I've always heard that I had ancestors who fought on both sides of the Civil War so I thought I would look them up. I found a resource, a book of our family history that some of my ancestors have put together. There are a couple of mentions of slaves and their names. I bought the book and I'm going to pour through it and find out the details as much as possible and work with a group called "Coming to the Table." Which is a way for Black and White people to reconcile what has happened. Black people have a hard time finding anything out about their ancestry so I will share what I find in hopes of helping someone find their ancestors.
I've also decided to make regular donations to the "Legal Defense Fund" to help those who are caught in the trap of the American Criminal system (not Criminal Justice, there's very little justice going on).
SG
