naudiz
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2000
- Posts
- 2,942
In regards to everything that's happened since September 11: I'm not sure how I feel about any of this. Okay, that's not entirely true. I've got all sorts of feelings on the matter, I'm just not sure how to sort them all out. So I'm going to ramble.
I read an article in the newspaper today about the outpouring of support for Americans toward fellow Americans, particularly those who follow the Islam faith. It's like the more trouble the bigots cause, the more decent Americans rise to the occasion and support their neighbors. I wish the bigots wouldn't cause trouble at all, but it does illustrate the American spirit to me in ways I never would've appreciated otherwise. We have our bad element - everyone does, but we are, overall, good people.
I'm truly proud to be an American, not because of the rhetoric I've been fed all my life, but because I look around and I see a nation of united people who simply will not lie down and die. The harder you tear at us, the more we come together. Sometimes it seems like our rerserves of strength are limitless. No matter how hard we're tested, we will survive. That gives me hope.
But then I see people shredding each other over things that seem so small to me, like definitions of fear and the difference between putting on blinders and trying to move on as best one can. Facts get evoked, but in the realm of emotion, what do facts matter? Emotion doesn't care about fact. But you know, it isn't how we feel that incriminates or validates us, it's how we act in response to those emotions.
Concern isn't wrong. Fear isn't wrong. Anger, grief, calm, even feeling nothing at all - these things aren't right or wrong. They're there. How you let your feelings direct your actions: that is what matters. Not everyone who is afraid is cowering in a corner. Not everyone who is angry is out smashing up mosques. I would say most of us are carrying on, regardless, because while our feelings are real, we don't let our emotions rule us. Okay, I'm not talking about everyone when I say that, obviously.
Sometimes I'm afraid, not because I think I'm going to die or that it's Armageddon, but because this is a big deal. This is change on a global level. There are few lives on Earth that won't be touched by this. When I feel scared, it isn't of anything in particular. It's at the enormity of it all. It's big, and I'm small. On the very basic level of animal instinct: that's scary. So yeah, sometimes I'm scared. In response to that fear, I seek out others, just like a good little primate. I find comfort in numbers. In friends, in family. I reaffirm my social ties to remind myself that I may be small, but we are not. Life goes on.
I get angry sometimes. Maybe it's a defensive response to that 'it = big, me = small' equation. Maybe if I puff up and act big and scary, the huge badness will back down and go away? Intellectually, I know better, but intellect and instinct are only on tentative speaking terms at best. Mostly, I get angry at how selfish and stupid people can be. The terrorists, the bigots, and those self-proclaimed 'pacifists' who come to stir up shit and pour salt in our wounds under the banner of caring and peace.
I'm not saying pacifists suck. I'm saying that people who call themselves pacifists, who care nothing for peace but will use it as a buzz-word to push agendas and criticize, suck. Ever notice how these people don't offer up any viable solutions? They say the USA's response is wrong, but they won't share with the class just what is right, except: peace. Okay, you've sold me. Peace. How much is that going to cost? Peace. Yeah, I got that part. Peace. Riiiight. How do I get me some of that? Peace. Um... I'm starting to think you have no idea what you're talking about.
If you don't have any better ideas, do us a favor: think, don't talk - think. When you have a better plan - an actual plan, with viable consequences considered and accounted for - I'll be all ears. Until then, go to the back of the room, put your head down on your desk, and enjoy some quiet time. Because all you're doing is upsetting people, and that isn't conducive to peace. Then again, why should I lecture? I think these people know that, but they don't care who they hurt, or at the very least, annoy.
Ah well. The price of liberty is eternal viglance, and the tax is enduring the idiocy of others. Stupidity and selfishness are rights, I guess. Small price to pay for being able to say what I think.
Was this going anywhere? Not really. I'm about rambled out, now. If you're still reading this: hey, thanks for hearing me out.
I read an article in the newspaper today about the outpouring of support for Americans toward fellow Americans, particularly those who follow the Islam faith. It's like the more trouble the bigots cause, the more decent Americans rise to the occasion and support their neighbors. I wish the bigots wouldn't cause trouble at all, but it does illustrate the American spirit to me in ways I never would've appreciated otherwise. We have our bad element - everyone does, but we are, overall, good people.
I'm truly proud to be an American, not because of the rhetoric I've been fed all my life, but because I look around and I see a nation of united people who simply will not lie down and die. The harder you tear at us, the more we come together. Sometimes it seems like our rerserves of strength are limitless. No matter how hard we're tested, we will survive. That gives me hope.
But then I see people shredding each other over things that seem so small to me, like definitions of fear and the difference between putting on blinders and trying to move on as best one can. Facts get evoked, but in the realm of emotion, what do facts matter? Emotion doesn't care about fact. But you know, it isn't how we feel that incriminates or validates us, it's how we act in response to those emotions.
Concern isn't wrong. Fear isn't wrong. Anger, grief, calm, even feeling nothing at all - these things aren't right or wrong. They're there. How you let your feelings direct your actions: that is what matters. Not everyone who is afraid is cowering in a corner. Not everyone who is angry is out smashing up mosques. I would say most of us are carrying on, regardless, because while our feelings are real, we don't let our emotions rule us. Okay, I'm not talking about everyone when I say that, obviously.
Sometimes I'm afraid, not because I think I'm going to die or that it's Armageddon, but because this is a big deal. This is change on a global level. There are few lives on Earth that won't be touched by this. When I feel scared, it isn't of anything in particular. It's at the enormity of it all. It's big, and I'm small. On the very basic level of animal instinct: that's scary. So yeah, sometimes I'm scared. In response to that fear, I seek out others, just like a good little primate. I find comfort in numbers. In friends, in family. I reaffirm my social ties to remind myself that I may be small, but we are not. Life goes on.
I get angry sometimes. Maybe it's a defensive response to that 'it = big, me = small' equation. Maybe if I puff up and act big and scary, the huge badness will back down and go away? Intellectually, I know better, but intellect and instinct are only on tentative speaking terms at best. Mostly, I get angry at how selfish and stupid people can be. The terrorists, the bigots, and those self-proclaimed 'pacifists' who come to stir up shit and pour salt in our wounds under the banner of caring and peace.
I'm not saying pacifists suck. I'm saying that people who call themselves pacifists, who care nothing for peace but will use it as a buzz-word to push agendas and criticize, suck. Ever notice how these people don't offer up any viable solutions? They say the USA's response is wrong, but they won't share with the class just what is right, except: peace. Okay, you've sold me. Peace. How much is that going to cost? Peace. Yeah, I got that part. Peace. Riiiight. How do I get me some of that? Peace. Um... I'm starting to think you have no idea what you're talking about.
If you don't have any better ideas, do us a favor: think, don't talk - think. When you have a better plan - an actual plan, with viable consequences considered and accounted for - I'll be all ears. Until then, go to the back of the room, put your head down on your desk, and enjoy some quiet time. Because all you're doing is upsetting people, and that isn't conducive to peace. Then again, why should I lecture? I think these people know that, but they don't care who they hurt, or at the very least, annoy.
Ah well. The price of liberty is eternal viglance, and the tax is enduring the idiocy of others. Stupidity and selfishness are rights, I guess. Small price to pay for being able to say what I think.
Was this going anywhere? Not really. I'm about rambled out, now. If you're still reading this: hey, thanks for hearing me out.
