Common Sense, 2016

[Biyah]

I am sure I am going to offend a few people with this post. Too bad. It’s time for some basic rules and a refresher course on common sense. We the social media, and indeed the country, seem to have lost sight of reality.

I wrote all these up, and then literally mixed them around so no bias would be shown by how they were listed. No accusing me of favoritism.

So, with that in mind...

Trout’s (Biyah's) Rules of Basic Reason, 2016 edition.

1: Political figures won’t destroy the country, even those of the opposite party from yourself. Bush Jr didn’t destroy the country, Obama has not destroyed the country... LINCOLN didn’t destroy the country, and he personally lead the U.S side of a civil war. Let’s step back and be logical for a few minutes. The President has lots of power, yes, but he also has to contend with Congress, the Supreme Court, and ultimately the American people. They also want to be reelected (either personally, or via their party with future contenders), which means no rocking the boat too much. Please remember this.

2: Not sharing a post with a cross or the face of white Jesus won't get you sent to hell. Nor will it save your soul. My personal opinion: he probably gets a bit peeved when you rush to share a post on social media in the allotted 10 seconds only to avoid ‘going to hell’ or for the sake of looking Christian. God calls all Christians to witness, not blindly throw things about.This means you have to tell your story, which requires more effort than just hitting ‘share’

3: Sharing posts won’t convince others to send you money. Even if Zuckerberg (for example) was so inclined, how would it get to you? Your address and/or bank account isn’t listed on FB, and you’d be a fool to send it via messenger if someone asked.

4: Along with point 3, sharing posts will not get lottery winners to share money. Again, no address. Also, a good 10th of americans don’t have a bank account, so how would you spread out the cash? You’re going to come up with addresses for the poor and homeless that even the US Census department can’t provide? Common sense, please; your average American is not going to personally share a 700 million dollar win with 300 million utter strangers.

5: Stop being fanatical! Not only do you look stupid, you prove you're stupid. The world won’t end if you take 10 minutes and listen to the other side. Remember kids, not only will an opposite party political figure not destroy the country (see point 1), but blind fanaticism leads to things like Michael Moore and the Tea Party.

6: Guns are tools. They are also deadly if improperly used. Not every American needs to prove they are American by owning one; neither do we need to take them all off the street. The social laws about other countries pawned off in memes are all only half truths and geared to a population that AGREED to those laws; and most of the ‘terrible statistics’ shared by the anti-gun crowd don’t take all facts into consideration. Point number 5 applies here: stop being stupidly fanatical (both sides). The country is not going to become a gun running bloodbath if the guns stay on the street, neither will it turn into a left-wing utopia if some are removed. My personal feeling; review and properly apply those laws already on the books, and THEN judge if new laws need to be written.

7: Stop believing everything you read without some basic research. And the flip side, stop forwarding everything you read blindly. It is SO easy to forward a post without fact checking; and the greater portion of the memes being sent out are either outright false, or clever misrepresentations. For the love of God, stop blindly forwarding posts that you think MUST be true because they so nicely conform to your view of the universe. The internet is out there. Do some research! If you can’t prove something is unequivocally true within 5 minutes, DON'T SHARE IT.

8: Vaccinations have NOT been linked to autism. Anti-vaxxers are putting everyone’s life at risk by creating a breeding ground for a future epidemic. That’s the truth, live with it.

9: Facebook is not a jury-pool. No court case has all its facts posted in a public place for FB to read, thus nobody on FB who is not also in the jury of (X) case has any expectation (or right) to know all the facts during a trial. This is called impartiality, so please, stop pretending you know if (X) person is guilty or innocent - you don’t.

10: If someone shares a piece of art that depicts Jesus as anything other than caucasian, s/he is not automatically a heathen. The face of God is everything - He made us in his image - which means God is more than a white dude with a brunette beard. Historically speaking, he probably was closer to what we’d called ‘olive skinned’. But even beyond being historically correct, let a person worship in peace.

11: Not all Muslims are suicide bombers, not all christians are murdering crusaders, and Jews of the modern era aren't old enough to have personally murdered Jesus. Show me proof if you believe any of the above to be true, and prepare to back it up... otherwise shut up.

12: Never before has it been possible to change national opinion so fast, as now. Twitter, FB, google+ - people’s lives can be destroyed by one false post, one lie, one misrepresentation. And this applies to more than just political figures; how about that person we think is a bully? Would it surprise you to know that many of those ‘bully’ posts are actually revenge posts, meant to shame a child who wasn’t actually a bully? (See point 7 and 9). Next time you want to share or comment on a post that could conceivably hurt or destroy another human, stop and wonder, do you actually know the truth? If not, DO NOT share or comment!

13: Regarding controversial subjects and hate/ignorance speech, IE: Abortion, LGBT rights, Gun Control, etc. You who are not God, be careful what you say - both sides. I’m going to use LGBT as my example subject.

If you are anti-gay, fine, let your opinion be known and leave it at that. In the end, it is not for you to have vengeance: that’s between the person in question and their Creator. Shake the dust from off your feet and move on, to paraphrase the bible. You have no more right to *harass* someone for their life choices as anyone else has to harass you.

If you pro-gay, you don’t need to plaster it on everything you do. Social media has made it damned hard to ‘turn the cheek’ and simply walk away from that which makes our blood boil. It’s *everywhere*. Realize, if you would, that your message has already been heard loud and clear, and you don’t need to shove it down people’s throats. Even neutrals can (and do) get annoyed by it.

Calling someone a murderer is not okay, neither is calling someone a damned bigot for not agreeing with (X) life choice. All these subjects have been argued to death long since, a passionate hate-rousing speech now won’t change the basic facts of life. I am not trying to say you don’t have the right to debate the subject, free speech and all, but there is a gulf between debate and hate. As a people and/or society, we have become so black & white in almost all ways; that there seems to be no room for a neutral middle ground. * It’s scary.* (See Point 5 & 12)

In short, courtesy is expected (I’d love to say ‘demanded’, but c'est la vie) from both sides.


14: Nobody has the right to NOT be offended. The term ‘SJW’ (Social Justice Warrior) has become more synonymous with the Gestapo than with actual Social Justice, and the topics for which they will attack have become more and more minute. On the flip side, it has become standard practice for a person with even a mild ‘dislike’ of something to scream it at the top of their lungs with the express purpose of attacking and/or hurting another. The internet has made it possible to spread opinion and/or disinformation in a way that has never before been possible. That means it's easier than ever before to offend someone with a thought or stance that you’ve held since you were a child. Much easier. It also seems to have thinned our collective skins against insults, contrary opinions, and disliked lifestyle choices.

Unless it’s hate you’re spewing; you have the right to espouse a belief and support it at the top of your lungs. And on the flip side, you have the right to detest what another person is talking about, and say as much. You do *not* have the right to chase that person out of town, off the internet, or any other medium - only because you are offended. None of us are robots, and we come from all walks of life- that is what makes democracy happen with any kind of true stability. But lately, it seems like we’re on a concerted effort to have anything that is ‘offensive’ wiped off the face of the planet/internet, and it seems like we can get butt-hurt at the mere mention of an offensive topic.

And that’s just not right, it holds echoes of the Romans destroying stellas and monuments in conquered lands, simply because they were offensive to the new overlords. It brings to mind a certain Orwellian story that, as children, we were told would never come to pass... Well, it seems we live in the world of 1984 now, and Big Brother is our own population; determined to silence the opposition by any means possible.

15: As a specific spin-off about point 7. Regarding people like the Food Babe and David Avacado Wolf, whose basic tagline is ‘Don’t eat what you can’t pronounce’, I only have one thing to say: Dihydrogen Monoxide. Every food, vitamin and mineral has a chemical name. The lines of fear they’re spreading is more insidious than all the terrorist claims that liberals have accused Republicans of using- and all so they can sell more of their own products.

Robert DeNiro is not a doctor, neither is Gwyneth Paltrow or any other Celebrity A-lister. David Wolfe and ‘Food Babe’ are not doctors, dieticians or anything else relevant. Why someone would listen to them for serious health advice is beyond my understanding. But, generally speaking: as a vaccine will not give you autism, neither will ice-cream give (or cure) cancer.

16: History is not politically correct, nor should it be. Whether or not you believe in social justice, you have to recognize that ‘rights’ and ‘fairness’ are definitions that have changed and evolved over the years. Humans are, historically speaking, selfish and strongly aligned to the majority of thought and opinion of the time. So, Slavery, the murder and deprivation of Native Americans, the ‘rule of thumb’ and harsh treatment of women - all this and more did happen, and it was considered perfectly natural. HOWEVER, those that perpetrated such acts were not (necessarily) evil- simply men of their times.

An example. Lincoln is seen, today, as the father of black liberty in the US - or at least one of the forefathers of it. In reality, if he were pulled from history and put in today’s social norms, he would be horrified. He would also, by today’s classifications, be called a raging bigot. Yet, at the time, he was called a dangerous liberal.

Point being, from a sociological standpoint, we have to take steps. That process continues today, oppression must first be recognized, THEN fought for. Freedom is, as they say, not free.

Those that post memes or links which seek to alter or misconstrue history really need to do more study on the subject. Whitewashing history for PC purposes is much more damaging than simply letting it be known as it was. After all, how else are we supposed to learn from our mistakes, if the mistakes are covered up?


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I’m sure there will be more, as I recognize more bullshit.

~B

[Biyah]

I have to clean this up, it's not perfectly gramatically correct. It was pulled off a series of posts I did on FB. I'll post a clean (but subject unedited) version later.

[Fedele]

Karma whoring doesn't work here, Biyah.

[Biyah]

Not karma whoring... idiot hunting

[Kemi]

This reminds me of FSensitivity

[Biyah]

no no, just common sense.

[Adytus]

Everyone needs a little common sense every now and again.