JustAL Loqui

Category: We’ve Lost Our Way

  • Dare To Stand Alone

    The notion that we must be absolute in our opinions pertaining to political and social associations troubles and confuses me. You’re either with us or against us.  Republican or Democrat, Republic vs Democracy, Red State or Blue State, Left or Right, Conservative vs Liberal, Christian or Atheist, Pro-Life vs Pro-Choice, the right to provide for yourself and your family or depend solely on the government to provide. Even rights dictated by the law of the land have generated rifts in friends and families. To be viable it seems we can only reside in the extreme fringes of these issues, there can be no middle ground and certainly no room for debate. Anything short of “extreme” shows a lack of commitment.  We can no longer look at an issue and ponder through a process to determine for ourselves the right decision; this too shows a lack of commitment to your masters.  Regardless of the camp in which you reside, YOU MUST defend the “camp’s” viewpoint. It is not enough to ignore or disregard opposing viewpoints, we must also viciously attack opposing viewpoints as well as the person with those viewpoints. Additionally, we must be quick to label any opposing viewpoint as hate speech, systemic racism or “just too stupid for words.” To debate is beneath us and a waste of our time. Why bother with an honest debate? It’s common knowledge the opposition is without a doubt wrong on any conceivable level.  Sadly, all too often the viewpoints you hold near and dear are based on a platform developed by others who care little for anything other than what is best for them; and that viewpoint can change with the wind and when it changes, YOU MUST change with it. 

    Our ability to reason and calmly debate is, or should be, a significant part of our humanity.  We have lost the ability to debate.  Not so long ago the art of debate was taught in our public schools but has been pushed aside; why it has been removed from the curriculum is anyone’s guess.  We have become all too willing to forfeit our “reasoning” in exchange for the good feeling of standing on what we have been told is the moral high ground.  Claiming the moral high ground is easier than becoming familiar with the art of honest debate. We must take on the position and attitude of “our team,” or stand accused and be ostracized; to be cast out. You must be ostracized. Our cancel culture points that out on a daily basis.  Anything short of public annihilation, and you may stand out as someone who is above the fray; someone willing to walk a different direction; one who demonstrates discernment and has an ability to reason, most importantly someone who can think for themselves; you are a major threat to them. Your dismissal has been mandated.

    If, when faced with historical and current fact, we are unwilling to admit we may be wrong and admit our error, then it must be said arrogance has replaced intellect, humility and integrity. If our viewpoint cannot tolerate debate or abide remarks meant to question, then we have by our own making placed ourselves in shackles and do the bidding of a misguided cause. We have become nothing more than a puppet. Do not let others dictate your thoughts, your beliefs, your passions nor allow your viewpoint to be guided solely by the whims of others. Are there absolutes? Yes. Be willing to stand up for them. Be willing to stand alone for them. Absolute truths do not need defending, but a cordial debate is healthy. If a debate quickly turns into a personal attack, then take that as an indicator that the “truth” being presented is lacking.  With regard to absolutes… others can question it and others can deny it, but their opinion does not diminish that truth, regardless of fierce and unrelenting attacks.  Do not fear being an outcast, it may be the only thing that saves you.

  • How Will You Be Remembered?

    This is an older article I wrote in 2010… but I think it still rings true today.

    I heard a line in a movie once that I thought was very profound, “What you do in life, echoes in eternity.” The movie was a fictional account of what an individual did while facing insurmountable odds. Some of you may know what movie I’m talking about, but the movie is not the premise of this discussion.

    How will you be remembered? Did you make every attempt to go to work every day and support your family? Did you go the extra step and extend your hand to others you knew needed assistance? Do you do for others as often as you can or do you wait for others to do for you? Do you cling to integrity or do you bend left or right of center based on the opinion of others?

    Everything we say, do, think and see has molded us into who we are today. Our experiences, both good and bad, have added fabric to the material that makes us who we are. Who we are will dictate our actions and our actions expose our worth. Doing the right thing is usually harder than doing the popular thing, but both carry direct and/or indirect consequences to ourselves and to those around us. Your actions will inscribe a memory in the minds of your family, friends, associates and strangers.

    Will the memory of you bring a smile or will it bring a dismal response? Will you be remembered at all? There are several names from history that will never be forgotten, some good and some bad. Names like Hitler, Gandhi, Mandela, Gangis Khan, Sgt York, the Wright Brothers, Lincoln, Stalin… all are names that resound in history. Had Sgt York not acted selflessly that one time it is possible you would not know his name and it is very possible that day during WWI would have ended very differently. Had Nelson Mandela let depression and hate take over his persona what would have been the outcome? Most of us will not go down in the history books. We will live our lives and then fade closer and closer to total obscurity with each passing generation. The best we can hope for is to affect those around us in the present and hope, once we are gone, we will be remembered by friends and family as a person of worth. If we are lucky our worth will be passed on to someone who will carry on, someone we have affected in a positive way.

    By our actions we display a right way or a wrong way to our children and those with whom we have influence. I suspect, if the truth be told, we will pass on both right and wrong; both ends of the spectrum. Hopefully the positive side of the spectrum will carry more weight… hopefully. It is a good bet that three generations from now no one will know your name or know what or who you were, but you can have a positive effect on that generation if you have a positive effect on this generation because they will pass that on to subsequent generations.

    Whether you want to or not you will affect those around you. By your actions, either good or bad, you will bestow upon someone a piece of fabric that will intertwine itself into who and what they will become and they, in turn, will pass it on to those around them. That is a great responsibility, one you may not acknowledge, but it is there nonetheless. What you do today will echo into the next generation and perhaps beyond. Please take that into account when you are faced with an option that requires a hard decision; others are watching and others will be affected. Think of who you are, who you want to be, and how you want to be remembered.

    Addendum added 6 February 2022. The two pictures portrayed in this article were not chosen at random nor were they chosen to demonstrate a specific segment of history. They just happened to be two pictures from the same era from opposite ends of the spectrum. These two men, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the unnamed guard were both at the work camp at Flossenburg Germany at the same time; one a guard and one a prisoner. Both roughly the same age, both raised in the same country, but they are remembered differently. This is the choice we make with every action and every word we speak. How will you be remembered?

  • The New Norm

    It’s now 2022 and the buzz phrase of the day is “The New Norm.” Its most recent application is used to identify the many changes in our daily lives brought on by the, all too often falsely focused, attempts to mitigate COVID. But things have been changing for a long time. Look at what is acceptable behavior today and compare it to similar behavior from 60, 40, 20, or even 10 years ago. If you are still able to visualize and be persuaded by truth, you will acknowledge significant differences and slowly creeping changes that are proving detrimental to society. Analyzing the differences will reveal to you the damage done by the “new normal” adopted by our society. There are some cities in this nation that no longer consider certain felonies a crime and will refuse to prosecute; this is an open door to anarchy. An ID is required to buy a pack of cigarettes, but asking for an ID to practice a most precious right of citizenship is considered racist. Fact is, it is not racist but using the term “racist” is a sure fire way to get what you want. Another fun fact, it is easier to defraud and circumvent when IDs are not required and we willingly accept this as the “new norm.” I challenge you to identify any behavioral change, at the social level, that has improved society as a whole.

    COVID has changed what we do, but has had little to do with a change in who we are. COVID has had nothing to do with the decline in honor, integrity, compassion, and respect. Before you go all “social justice” on me, I’m not saying these attributes are dead in us all as individuals. I know far too many honorable and compassionate people to believe that. But, these people are not the norm and sometimes it takes a little effort to seek them out. A sure way to find a person of honor is to look for anyone ridiculed for doing the right thing. It’s easy to find people who talk it, hard to find those who live it. Those who easily and eloquently talk honor and integrity often show a distinct inability to practice honor and integrity when pressed into service. A distinct indicator that shines a bright light on those who lack any level of integrity are those who condemn a person based on an action committed and then praise a different person who does the very same thing. Do they think we are blind and do not see. If you do not see, it is because you decide to turn a blind eye and pretend all is well. If you condemn an action, then ignore the same action when your role model does it, then you should consider that a trait to analyze and re-evaluate.

    Far too often the role models for our youth are fictional super heroes whose powers come from CGI or sports superstars who, when removed from the arena, fall short and are found wanting. Those who pursues honor, integrity and compassion and teaches the same are not only ignored, they are often sought out and ridiculed by the woke culture.

    You cannot accept a “new norm” and live by a code, the two contradict each other. If you live your life based on a true “code” of honor, integrity, and compassion then chances are, more often than not, you abide alone. But, you cannot always abide alone, you must seek out like minded people who live by a similar code so you can support and encourage each other when the “new normal” presses in and attempts to force changes that are contradictory to your sworn code. Standing against tyranny is a group effort, a single entity will fail with time.

    You cannot stand alone against the Woke Culture.

    Often times, to abide by your code, you must not only walk alone but be content to do so; you must be comfortable with a life detached from what society offers. Many, once they sense you abide by a code, will do everything they can to break you down, ridicule you, embarrass you, and shame you. Why? Because if they can break you down, and see you go against your chosen path under pressure, it justifies and vindicates their failures and shifts the light that highlights their faults away from them. To see a person stand firm to their values in the face of adversity – whether those values be a belief in God, a belief in a high moral standard, or a refusal to see a lie as truth or see evil as good – is something today’s “normal” cannot abide. All too often if, after extreme effort, they cannot break you they bring false testimony against you and let loose the trolls of propaganda.

    If you refuse to see evil as anything other than evil, then today’s “normal” will label you as deplorable, despicable, unworthy, and a blot on the utopia so many believe they live in.

    So, if you live your life based on a high moral value (yesterday’s value, not today’s) then expect troubled times, expect to be hated, expect to see the “new normal” suffocate your surroundings. The “woke and cancel” culture will make you their next focused target. Seek out like minded people and associate yourself with them. Dissociate yourself from those who see your code as something to attack. Disassociate yourself from those who see evil as good and see good as evil. Standing firm will win some over but most will never accept the possibility they could be wrong; even when wrong stares them in the face.

    And most important, do not hide your code, allow it to be a beacon so those of like mind can find you. Your beacon will draw in the trolls, but it will also summon the allies.

  • Who is Responsible for My Safety

    Couple of problem areas to discuss today.  Stupidity should have consequences. The results of stupidity should hurt and leave a visible scar to be a constant reminder of what happens when you do stupid things. Signs are often plastered around work sites warning of potential accidents and injuries; “Watch Your Step” “Lift With Your Legs” “Wear Safety Glasses” “Caution, Wet Floor” to name a few. Why do we need signs to point out danger areas? If the floor is wet, common sense would (should) tell you to walk with sure footing. But apparently, we need a sign to tell us because we have lost the ability of critical thought and therefore cannot be expected to take responsibility for our own actions. We slip on wet pavement or trip over a crack, it’s obviously someone else’s fault, even though 500 other people just walked over the same area and did not slip and fall. We have willingly relinquished our God given obligation to take care of ourselves and our family; it’s now someone else’s responsibility and they own a little piece of us.  That’s problem one.

    Problem two. Not only do we need warning signs to replace our sense of self preservation and common sense, the warning signs and/or notices cannot offend fragile sensibilities of the workforce; it might hurt their feelings.  A requirement to wear safety glasses cannot contain a picture of a nail embedded in someone’s eye; the consequence of not wearing safety glasses. Why? Because the picture may offend or give someone nightmares. The warning has no teeth.

    What has happened to bring us to this? We’re not responsible for our own safety but when someone else is forced to step in and protect or warn us our first instinct is to look for ways to be offended. Sign on the wall says, “Wear Safety Glasses.” Company issued you a set of OSHA approved safety glasses, but you don’t wear them because you don’t care for the way they look.  You lose an eye, and you blame the employer; employer is not at fault, they voiced their safety requirements on a Politically Correct sign, they gave you glasses.  OK, let’s sue the company and make it the insurance company’s problem.

    We are our own worst enemy. We have pushed the envelope so far that companies will check a “safety” block on an official form or give notice in a bulletin, but the warning has no teeth.  Any effort to add teeth is met with rebuke. In truth, most companies care nothing for safety anymore.  How can they? Any legitimate attempt is deemed offensive; they care about the perception of safety. It boils down to, “Can they demonstrate compliance in a court of law.” This dilemma is not their fault, it is ours.

    For grins and giggles let’s take this one more step; a third problem if you will. We are so concerned with the perception of safety we have muffled individual advancement.  Face it, most advancements (both at the individual and national level) has come about when someone is willing to take a risk. Whether it was a physical safety risk, financial risk, or, in the case of writing politically incorrect blogs, the risk of personal standing.  Don’t fear taking a risk, don’t let fear stop you.  In fact, walk up to fear, look fear in the face and slap it across the face as hard as you can, you may find there was nothing to fear at all. Even if there is something to fear, chances are you will prevail… if your courage holds.

  • It’s Not Them – It’s Us

    Throughout the many decades of my active military career and post active military career working for the Department of Defense I have had the privilege of working with some great and sometimes not so great people from all corners of the world; literally.  I’ve worked with people I would trust with my life and I’ve worked with people I would not dare take my eyes off of them for fear they would knife me in the back; literally.  I have spent time in places I never before knew existed and endured hardships that, after the fact, were events to ponder as to how I survived with my mind (and body) intact.  I learned from them all, people and events alike; the good and the bad, and even the ugly.  I learned how to respond, how to act; more importantly, I learned how not to act.  I can’t say I always react properly based on my life’s tutelage, but I try.  I have my bad days just like everyone else.  I’ll not say I have an ability to understand the cause and effect of past events; what precipitated the event, how they played out, and the resulting aftermath.  There are however, many past events within history (both global and personal) that I, from time to time, try to figure out.  Why did it happen and how did it happen.

    I’m currently living in the heart of Germany, a wonderful experience; I’m about an 30 minutes from the border of the Czech Republic.  The food, the people, and the scenery of Bavaria portray just a bit of the overall experience.  I must admit I have yet to meet a rude German, however, sadly if pressed into a truthful statement, I must admit I’ve met rude Americans here.  I’m not saying there are no rude Germans, I’m just saying I’ve not met them yet.  For the most part my existence here is pleasant but it brings to mind one of those “events” that eludes my understanding.

    How could these wonderful people, a mere generation ago, march hundreds of thousands to extermination camps?  This is not a question meant to isolate the German population as evil incarnate.  Every nation has its dark past that shames the pages of its history.   The United States’ initial agricultural foundation was built on slavery.  The Chinese, European, and African immigrants who came here were dogged, berated, and beaten, the Native Americans were all but exterminated.  In fact, as Germany was using their camps as mass murder facilities we, the United States, had its own camps that “protected” the Japanese Americans, many of whom were born here and lost everything when we decided to “protect” them.  So let’s not stand on the moral high ground and judge the representation of the Germans portrayed in the ‘30s and ‘40s.  This chronicle has nothing to do with a single nation or isolated group of people.  If you look at the whole picture, and assess the portrait correctly and honestly, you will see that throughout history there was never a moment when we were not, in some small and large part, all to blame. 

    So, back to the original question.  How could a civilized, hardworking, generous, educated, and supposedly spiritual nation allow such things?  How can a group of mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters stand on the sidelines and watch the fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters of others be forced through a gate knowing full well what was happening within those walls.  How can these same mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters be the ones herding the crowd through the gate?  There were those who stood their ground and tried to stop it and it cost them their lives; Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Johann Maier, Rupert Mayer to name a few.

    So, what’s the answer?  This is a question that each of you must answer for yourself.  If you ignore the question it will all happen again, as it has many times in the past.  In fact, it’s happening still in several parts of the world, although many refuse to see or acknowledge this truth.  If we acknowledge the current atrocities, we will have to admit our complacent involvement and willful ignorance.  So, as you can see, this narrative has nothing to do with others—it has everything to do with the individual, you and me.

    We do not, even collectively, have the ability to stop all evil in the world; even if we could, complacency and apathy would stand in the way.  But we can control the evil within our own lives.  If we do that, it might give strength to the person next to us to control theirs.  We might not be able to change the world, but we can change our little part of it.  It’s really not that hard.  Do not let complacency, apathy, or an artificially manufactured self-destructive hatred forced upon you by others, turn you into something you were never meant to be.

    Here’s a final question.  Would you be willing to give your life to stand against such evil?  Ponder that question diligently as there may be a time in the not-so-distant future when you will need to make a decision.  Will you stand up to hatred and evil and possibly lose your life or will you turn your back to it, ignore it, and die anyway.

    Just a thought.