Are You Angry? Good
- Nate
- Aug 24, 2017
- 3 min read
I've been talking to several people about the uproar in this country over just about EVERYTHING, and I've felt a common emotion: anger.
Why are we so angry? Both the left and right see (what they think) is freedoms being trampled. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to marry, freedom to live certain lifestyles. The social-media and mass media produced hysteria only make things worse. Welcome to our culture wars!
What is going on in our country? Here is a short list of stuff that is sure to tick most people off.
1) Hysteria over (to be honest) lame things: ESPN pulling announcer Robert Lee from a game due to the similarity of his name to Robert E. Lee (Confederate general). We have people that want to change USC's horse mascot because it is a symbol of white supremacy. A Civil War reenactment was cancelled out of FEAR of potential rioting. There was some tiling in a train station that looked coincidentally somewhat like the Confederate flag... so that had to go down.
2) Classical books have been censored by schools because of their portrayal of tough subjects: To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Historically, banning certain books is the start of more widespread censorship that in turn leads to... I shouldn't have to fill in the blank. Read a history book!
3) Justifying crime in the name of peace (a.k.a. "suppressing freedom). We have countless examples in the past year of criminals rioting to prevent speakers on certain campuses from speaking. We have vandals tearing down historical monuments without any legal justification. CNN just wrote a sympathetic article on Antifa (anti-fascists) about how they use violence to achieve peace. Huh... how many groups have used that justification? "Oh, we want peace, too! We'll just get to it by using violence. What could go wrong?"
4) Hot-button topics are being fought over: LGBT, abortion, racism, and more.
5) The media and social media doesn't help AT ALL. They shovel this stuff in our face 24/7 and it helps to fuel anger, hatred, and violence.
Here's the thing I've realized. This is all by design! Both the media and social media conglomerates are controlled by a FEW people who are connected (I'm sure Zuckerberg and Bezos have each other on speed dial). If they wanted to, the way America is being portrayed on the news could be much better!
Did you know there are good things going on in this country? No? I'm not surprised! Job creation is fantastic. More and more people are becoming active in politics, and thus are learning about issues that used to be "lame" (economy, legislation, etc.). There is new technology (as always). I could continue.
I see this country going in one of two directions.
Civil War or Education
We have the violent faction of white supremacists and their friends on one side. We have the violent section of Black Lives Matter and their friends on the other. We have politicians and media heads that preside over the entire thing and fuel the fire. We have angry people in the middle that can take either side when forced.
This leads to Civil War if we don't find peace.
However, there is a flip side. Maybe we can USE these situations to oust the fanatics on both sides and expose their dangerous ideologies. Maybe this can be a teaching point for the next generation ("See? These are the mistakes you DON'T want to make"). Maybe this can be used for understanding and dialogue, which results in a richer culture.
What we need is for those reasonable people in the middle NOT TO GET ANGRY. We need the reasonable people to strive for peace. We are, by far, the largest group out of the three (the extremists on both sides, those in power who are trying to fuel the fire, and the people in the middle).
We need to speak and be active, but to calm the fire. Not stoke it. This is heading in one of two directions. The people in the middle will decide the fate of this nation. Will you pick a side for a Civil War? Or will you refuse to see sides, recognize the plot BEHIND the whole thing, and help educate the next generation?
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