bullying

Fear vs Freedom

/ doubledacres / 2 Comments

“Fear again. If you want to control someone, all you have to do is make them feel afraid.” Charles Eisenst

Fear: to be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening. Fear is the most controlling emotion that we have. It can make us do things we would never do normally.

The bully controls people with fear. Criminals use it to intimidate. Out of fear witnesses refuse to come forward to testify against them. Street gangs shake down business owners for protection money. If the owner refuses they begin breaking merchandise until out of fear the store owner meets their demands. Abusive spouses use fear to control their mates. In areas of high crime whole communities live in fear. Governments use fear to control its citizens. Hitler was a master at using fear. He used “Brown Shirts” to instill fear in the citizens. They are infamous for their operations outside of the law. The rest is history.

One can overcome their fear of the dark, of heights, of clowns etc. but when one fears for their life it is a much more difficult.

So what do we do? All of the above prey upon the weak. Courage and strength can be found in numbers. If all the victims of the bully were to unite and face off against the bully they could defeat him. Business owners could unite and organize to run the street gangs out of their area. Communities can organize and take to the streets and take their communities away from the criminals that caused them to live in fear. Citizens need to organize and join together to defeat the tyrannical government. The colonists did just that and the United States of America was created.

I am in no way advocating it will be easy. We have to find the courage to take action. Courage trumps fear. It takes a lot of courage but the ultimate reward is freedom. Nothing in life comes easy but it is better than living in fear.

If you are living in fear you need to weigh your options carefully. Do your homework and don’t go off half cocked. You have to decide if you have the courage to change things. Examine your resources. Devise a plan and stick to it. Once you put the wheels in motion you can’t turn back. You have to finish what you started.

Humanity RIP?

/ doubledacres / Leave a comment
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Sunset in Bonne Terre, MO

“You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals.  To that end, each of us must work for his own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.” – Marie Curie

Have we built a better world?  Does the present generation value human life as much as we did 50 years ago?   Have we become a society of instant gratification?  Last but not least, are we improving as individuals and what is considered improvement?

A better world?  If we look at it from a technological point I would say that we have somewhat built a better world.  When I was a kid growing up I had the pleasure to be a part of the party line.  You just haven’t lived unless you have partook of the party line.  When the phone rang you had to  count the rings so you knew if it was a call for you or not.  Ours at the time was three ringy dingies.  We have come a long way for sure technically speaking.  There have been a lot of advancements in technology.  Advance in humanity not so much.

“If you truly believe in the value of life, you care about all of the weakest and most vulnerable members of society.” – Joni Eareckson Tada

Value of Human Life?  First of all how do you put a value on a life?  I have to admit that I am quite perplexed by the way young people seem to not value life as much as my friends and I did when we were their age.  Now before you call me all those juicy names I am not saying that everyone in that generation is like that.  There are exceptions to every rule.  I can not figure out what happened.  Bad parenting?  Should they have been taught that there are winners and losers and life isn’t always so good to you and…………..and…………….and just maybe they should have been taught what respect is.  Bullying seems to be a bigger problem than ever.  We had our share of bullying however social media has given these folks a heartless. vengeful vehicle of mass bullying and there are those who have even died from the abuse of it.

“Why are young adults so self-centered and always seeking instant gratification?  Because older adults, often positions of power, paint them that way.” – Raymond Arroyo

Instant gratification?  During my years of childhood folks would actually save up and pay cash.  What a novel idea.  My oh my!  Wonder what would  happen to credit card companies today if John Q Public started doing that?   Sad thing is that we stand back and let credit card companies set them up for failure when they are young adults just starting college.  Then our government does nothing to reign these companies in and keep them from preying on them.  They borrow money at 2 to 3 percent then when they get behind they charge late fees and jack the interest rate up to 26 percent.  Where is the humanity in taking advantage of these folks to increase their profits?

I don’t know that we have improved as individuals.  It seems every year that compassion and humanity is pushed to the back burner replaced by greed and personal gratification.  Our own government seems to lack in humanity.  They are fueled by greed which leads to corruption.  At this very moment they are playing with individual’s lives through health care.  Every time they pass one they exempt themselves from it.  They play favorites to their campaign supporters at the expense of the people they are supposed to represent.  They always manage to place the bulk of financial burden for their programs on the backs of the middle class.  They have robbed social security and they didn’t put a dime into it.  At this very moment their are families in my area who are trying to recover from floods 15 months apart.  After they gave the go ahead to build levees that has made the flooding worse their only answer to the problem is a buy out of property.  How do you buyout places like Valley Mount Ranch and Krause Farms that have been in the family since the 30s?  They don’t deserve this.  How about some real humanitarian efforts to help these families out?

Sorry for the rant but it seems that humanity is the thing of the past and has been replaced by greed.  Thanks for reading my blog.  I know it was a little long and I apologize.  Be kind to one another, share the love and don’t squat with your spurs on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Happened? Who Are We

/ doubledacres / Leave a comment

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“How would your life be different if….You stopped making negative judgmental assumptions about people you encounter?  Let today be the day….You look for the good in everyone you meet and respect their journey.” – Steve Maraboli Life, the Truth,and Being Free 

I will be 63 years old this year.  I am a farrier and there are those days in which we have a lot of windshield time which leads to too much time to think.  Then it becomes a…………….thinking problem.  That is exactly what happened to me.

As I rolled down the highway listening to the whine of my tires on the highway and Don’t Stop Believing playing on the radio my mind began a journey back to the 70s.  Times were much different then I thought.  Life’s pace seemed slower, neighbors actually knew each other and families actually sat down around the table and ate and interacted with one another about the day’s events.

Yes there was bullying.  Pink bellies were a common occurrence in high school.  Young couples broke up and hearts were broken.  Children said hurtful things to one another. There were different groups of students that were brought together because of their similarities of life’s philosophies.

 

I personally don’t feel people were as vicious toward one another as they are in today’s society.  Social media was nonexistent.  I don’t know if people have too much stress in their lives or if we have just evolved to who we are.  What changed?

“Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness.  Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.” – George Sand

I feel like everyone’s  “kindness bucket” runneths low or is empty.  Students now days have disagreements and declare war on each other.  After school the war continues through the avenue social media.  These attacks sometimes are so brutal that the victim commits suicide.  All because people seem to have lost compassion, love and plain ole common sense a life was wasted.  Who and what have we become?  I don’t know if it is just me or maybe I am too paranoid.  Is it just me?  Do I expect too much out of people?  There is a possibility I do.

There also seems to be a degree of rudeness that I don’t remember in the 70s.  Maybe I have a bad memory.  It doesn’t seem that young people value a life like we did.

In closing I ask that you work on the kindness and rudeness.  If you have a neighbor you don’t know, go over and introduce yourself.  Control your rudeness.

Thank you for reading my blog.  I hope you enjoyed it.  Remember to be kind to one another and share the love.