My Public Announcement (Long Post)

MY PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT (LONG POST)

Forgive the self-indulgence which follows. I need to address a few things and announce a few changes.

I’ve taken a break recently from my usual public activism. Admittedly, right now is the wrong time to NOT engage in advocacy and current affairs. Call this pause a serious abdication of citizen responsibility. Common decency demands more of us–all of us. Decent people must speak out. The dangers we face are real. The consequences of silence and indifference are self-evident, and likely about to worsen.

During my sabbatical, I resisted the daily urge to post on Facebook. Moreover, I ceased meaningful social media exchanges. I also suspended my own personal writings at my website and sidelined my contributions to online content sites that regularly publish my work which gives much wider attention to my ideas . I also limited my own social engagements–aside from usual home life. This inactivity wasn’t born out of any resentment or to make a protest. It wasn’t even planned. It just happened.

What created this diaspora of detachment?

I’ll try and put it in the simplest terms. I’ve lost hope in people. Many people, that is. Most people, in fact. I share these thoughts with no pointed anger at anyone in particular, and do so without hesitation. Humanity’s arc has always bent slightly upwards towards progress and in the cause of justice. Even with interruptions and occasional relapses into bad times, generally speaking, people have very slowly but gradually become wiser and certainly more aware of what’s going on around them. All over the world, mostly.

But that might not be true anymore. Just look around.

It’s become clear that this country (maybe other countries too–I haven’t traveled abroad lately) is not the same as it once was. Our society, the people who populate it, and the times we live in have changed. Ruthlessly so. And I don’t think we’re ever going back to the way things were before.

To so many–FACTS no longer matter. For many–REAL DATA no longer matters. This isn’t my hyperbolic cynicism. The evidence on this has become overwhelming as well as alarming.

I just had someone confront me yesterday here on Facebook who claimed that January 6th 2021 and the attempted overthrow of the United States government was in his words a giant “hoax.” What? A hoax??? I can’t even…….(insert the freeze frame of a depressed man with his head collapsed into his hands pondering the question of how is such stupidity possible?)

HISTORY no longer matters, or at least we never learn from it. EYEWITNESSES no longer matter. TESTIMONY no longer matters. ETHICS no longer matter, certainly not in business nor politics. HONESTY no longer matters, and without honesty what do we have? Lies. Telling the TRUTH no longer matters. HUMILITY no longer matters. KINDNESS no longer matters. Personal RESPONSIBILITY no longer matters. Reckless disregard on such a mass scale has become scary. Seriously, how do you communicate, let alone live with people who devalue all the noble virtues of humanity?

Without these things, absent any of these virtues, democracy ceases to function. Fear prevails. Lock-step thinking takes over. Truth is shut out. Media becomes the mouthpiece of the king. When our virtues diminish and slowly disappear, we’re doomed to repeat the worst horrors of the past. That’s the direction we’re headed in now.

Echo chambers, alternative realities, crackpot conspiracies — all have seized control of the national asylum. The craziest political circus acts among us have more followers and fans than bona fide intellectuals and scientists. Recently, it’s gotten to the point we can no longer trust what comes from our own government, nor its elected officials, nor leaders, nor federal agencies, and not even the pillared institutions who run the scoreboard on a common set of “facts” like national statistics. Even the scorekeepers are lying now. We certainly can not longer trust the simpler things we see and hear, given the nefarious uses of artificial intelligence (AI) and dangers of sophisticated disinformation, which are odious, deliberate, and are worsening.

This point cannot be overstated enough. To (we) secular humanists, faith in people is absolutely essential. We trust in people to collectively improve our living standards. We trust in people to do the science and try and cure ailments. We trust in people to build things. We trust in people to prepare our food and keep us clothed and keep us safe. We trust in people to care about others and do the right thing. We trust in people when we drive a car, that they won’t cross the median and kill us, or shoot at us, or put us in danger. We rely on that same trust with EVERYTHING in society. We are all bound together by common needs and interests, and once trust in much of the populace is gone, then everything falls apart. We depend on the greater good of humanity and workable systems of government and economics built on mutual trust and fairness. When others violate these relationships, faith in humanity dissolves.

Hence, writing about football or a new TV show or posting a local restaurant review just doesn’t seem all that important anymore. Sure, I’ll do it. But it all seems like sun bathing on a side of a steaming volcano.

Writing and reading and sharing isn’t a hobby. Facebook is not a wasteland or a time killer, though admittedly this page does take up my free time on some days. This isn’t an exercise of self-amusement, though I often laugh at the things I see. Much of the time I do try to look for things more meaningful–and lasting. I prefer to engage in serious topics that are interesting, which helps me to understand things better–or at least see more clearly. Others use Facebook as a platform for silliness, and I enjoy that sometimes, too. Nonetheless, I take the responsibilities of posting seriously. I demand the people I talk to and deal daily with at least make some attempt to be honest and credible and fact-check. Otherwise, I don’t want to know them or waste time. Those who willfully post FALSE information are getting blocked. No loss. I refuse to waste a precious second arguing with anyone so willfully ignorant. If you don’t have time to FACT CHECK your post, then I don’t have time to read it.

This brings up the big problem of MAGA people and exactly how to deal with them. And there are so many. I’ll bet many of you struggle with this, also. It’s taken me some time, but I’ve finally come to a very comfortable place. From now on, I’m done with MAGA people. Finished. Finito. By that, I mean engagement and conversation. My time is way too valuable to waste on a cultist. If you don’t like it, or should you feel offended by this, I don’t care. Skip my posts. Hit the unfriend button. Really, I don’t care.

I’ve come to the stark realization that if someone’s judgement is so warped after nearly ten years of this madness, given all the clear evidence, that person’s judgement is questionable about EVERYTHING. I’m drawing the line when people start ignoring child sex trafficking and defending the indefensible. Accordingly, I’ll skip over their posts. This is a surprisingly easy thing to do. Think of it as avoiding excrement on a sidewalk.

But there is always the danger of secondhand smoke. Of course, we must all engage with each other daily when living in a civil society. I’ll gladly interact with anyone when politics isn’t on the agenda. I’m sure plumbers and other craftsmen have come to my house who are Trump voters. I likely get served in bars and restaurants by MAGA types, but don’t know it. Many of my neighbors are MAGA Republicans. I’ll always try to keep things cordial. But I don’t care to know them, or be around them or engage with them. There are far too many interesting and exciting people elsewhere and books to read and shows to watch and music to enjoy without wasting time arguing with pedophile-defending crackpots.

For those reading here on my page, most trolls have been blocked.  I haven”t seen nor read a MAGA scumbag poster here on my page in at least five years. The smell of Pine-Sol expunges ignorance. But do keep in posting those comments, that drop straight into the trash file and never see the light of day.

Just to be clear, my new comfort zone isn’t rooted in surrounding myself only with people who think just like me. I have plenty of friends and associates who have VERY different viewpoints on things–including politics, economics, and religion. I even have friends who are Raider fans, which proves my extraordinary tolerance.
Here’s an announcement to anyone and everyone who follows my posts:

1. From this moment forward, you will be seeing LOTS of political posts, shared news items, and my commentary on current events. If you don’t like it, then too bad. Unfollow or block. You will not be missed.

2. I’ll be posting NFL analysis, as I have done each and every week during the season since 2012. That starts up in less than a month. Full write-ups on every game. Also, I’ll be involved in at least 20 contests this season and will post those picks, as well.

3. I’ll be creating some fun videos, with rants about current topics. Does anyone like videos? I”m thinking of doing a weekly Sunday night “news in review” if there’s interest. With a bottle of wine, or course.

4. I have much to write and say about Las Vegas and the dramatic changes this city is going through. That’s about to ramp up big. Look for a huge number of restaurant reviews, as I have tried at least a dozen new places in the last 3-4 months.

5. I’m still banning memes.

Thanks to so many of you who sent private messages and e-mails and even called and texted me these last few months asking if everything is okay. Fact is, everything is *not* okay. Not in the times we are living in and the dangers we face. But I’ll take a strong positive attitude and my boundless energy and try and create something good out of it, while also having as much fun as I can trying to make a small difference.

I encourage all my comrades in this noble fight and quest to do the same.

Thanks for reading.

— ND
__________