Consider it a Whinge in Book Five: Working Through the Maze 2018

Why not do more whining, I’m not getting notes anyway, lol.

It could be said that my largest problem is how much of my life is lived on-line. But all things considered… that is how things are here, for now. When winter Holidays and the like enter, everyone shutters their door and spends it with family. At least that is what I’m seeing in my community.

So… on-line.

Where everyone is just a piss poor human.

My cousin and his political ilk are spreading Trump Falsehoods with a passion and volume that you’d think they were getting paid for it. After all, immediately this morning, his messages were filled with “Democrats want to shut down government and stop pay for soldiers because they would rather support rapist Mexican immigrants than patriotic American soldiers.” No, you mentally challenged racist foolish fucktard. Donald Trump wants to shut down the government and stop pay for soldiers because he is throwing a tantrum that, after demanding 5 billion dollars of tax payer money (for something a majority of Americans don’t want), the Democrats said he could have 1.5 billion dollars. Imagine that from a LOGICAL perspective! More than 50% of voters are saying, “Don’t waste money on this.” Democrats say, “How about we give you 1.5 billion dollars of tax payer money?” and Donald Trump says, “No. I want 5 billion. GIMME WHAT I WANT OR I’m shutting the government down!” and yet his fucking idiotic supporters take that exchange and turn it into “Democrats are shutting the government down because they love illegals so much.” Fucking… fucking idiotic bullshit.

Of course defended by a Trump Bro Stoner whose facebook looks like a shrine to “Slackers Hating Mexicans for Being Lazy”. I bring up (1) Statements made by the President himself; (2) Legal Documents Filed in Public; (3) Establish through historical, factual, legal, and policy arguments why a 5 Billion Dollar Wall will not “offer the American people never before had security.” The defense statement to that? “Looks like you’ve got too much CNN, bro!” Just… gah. Fuck fuckity fuck fuck to this being Our World now. PEOPLE… do your research. Think for yourselves. I will mean this until my dying day: I support Patriotic Americans, Republicans and Conservatives that want to protect Family, the Economy, and this Country. I cannot and will not accept ANY Republican who says that breaking the law, hurting the country, or destroying democracy IN THE NAME OF POWER is acceptable. Conservatives? Sure. Trumpists? Never. The current GOP needs to figure out who they are in that regard pretty damned quick.

Doctor Who. Like (apparently) every god damned Sci Fi fandom in existence now, there are factions fighting factions defending factions fighting factions. I mean, and I can’t believe this, there are STILL fans of Dr. Who that say it’s a “Man’s Show” and girls need to sod off. DUDE! Do an ounce of fucking homework. Ever heard of Verity Lambert, the FEMALE PRODUCER OF THE FIRST DOCTOR WHO SERIES?! For fuck sake. But then you have the people who jump in with, “Anyone who didn’t like this season of Dr. Who is a misogynist and hater!” And it’s like… okay, that’s too far the other way, darlings. Not EVERY Whovian has to love EVERY season. But then you have the people that jump in saying, “I don’t know why they’re intentionally making the show so bad. Maybe they’re trying to kill it. This is how The Doctor dies!” And it’s like… get over yourself, wanker. After Tom Baker left the role, everyone was pissing their pants bemoaning that Dr. Who could never continue without Tom Baker. The Doctor Dies by replacing Tom Baker… well, if that were sodding well true, David Tennant would never have watched Peter Davison in the role, nor would he have had the opportunity to be the 10th Doctor, an iteration many have said is the New Series Tom Baker! So, kindly, everyone… shut up! It is all well and good to say, “I don’t prefer these stories” (or companions or doctor or whatever). And someone shouldn’t be attacked for sharing that opinion. It is all well and good to say, “This is my favorite season ever!” and they shouldn’t be attacked for sharing that opinion. What is just stupid to the point of madness is the ever leaping extremes.

But then… and correct me if I’m wrong… we seem to be in that world more and more lately. Just… a constant world of extremes where nothing is analyzed or understood, just emotionally reacted to and shouted about.

That isn’t me doing a “Sensitive Snowflakes Killed My Ability To Use The N Word” argument. That is my Why have emotions replaced thought; opinions replaced fact; and Tribalism replaced Critical Thinking?” I cannot BELIEVE I have to go back to this but I’ll state again:
I campaigned against Barack Obama. I saw him as an inexperienced ideologue who lacked the political fortitude to lead this country in times of struggle. I was proven wrong AND right. He was not perfect nor was he a savior. I became infuriated by all the literal praise given to Obama. He is not, was not, a Divine Creature Sent to Save Us. What are we seeing now? The toxic GOP response. Obama is to Democrats as Trump has become to Republicans. I literally struggled for a long time on here about who to support. Hillary Clinton was a Democratic RINO who embodied the “Power over Values” concerns that I think have poisoned our government. Meanwhile, Donald Trump was an unashamed criminal narcissist who embodied the “Me First, Me Only” concerns that I think have poisoned our economic system.

I’ll stop that discussion there because it goes on forever but… here’s the thing. You’ll notice that I didn’t say “I feel this way about X Candidate, so I’ll do whatever I can to make sure Y Candidate gets in.” But it feels like with everything in life that is where we are! That we have ONE opinion “Star Wars is a Luke Skywalker story” and violently attack any opinion otherwise “Last Jedi was an abortion of a film. Fuck Rian Johnson and rape his kids, he ruined Star Wars!”

It’s just… guys… emote less, think more. Not that I’m invalidating your emotions but here’s the most IMPORTANT thing you can hear when it comes to your emotional output… you have the right to feel whatever way you’re feeling. You don’t have the right to use that as an excuse for shitty behavior. You can be genuinely disappointed in Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. You can’t use that disappointment as an excuse to Twitter Troll and Threaten Megan Fox. You can be honestly furious that your government has pulled out of the most important climate change legislation in the world. You can’t use that fury as an excuse to set fires, destroy buildings, and kill people. In short THERE ARE STEPS IN THE MIDDLE.

You hated Last Jedi? Write a coherent, intelligent review and spam it to IMDB, Metacritic, Rotten Tomatoes, whoever… then move on.
You think Dr. Who sucks now? Write a coherent, intelligent review and spam it to IMDB, Metacritic, Rotten Tomatoes, whoever… then move on.
In fact… for MOST entertainment… I’d give that same advice.

In politics? Here’s a simple way of looking at it: If you care… PARTICIPATE! All these wankers bitching, moaning, and being assholes on line or (worse!) sending threatening mail and/or pipe bombs. Fuck you, you lazy ass. If you want to validate your emotions… find a campaign group you can volunteer with… find a special interest you’re passionate about.

You want to fight the government on Climate Change? Find a group looking for volunteers or support. Consider running in an election yourself. Find a local politician that feels the way that you do, and work with them to write, support, and pass legislation.

You want to fight the government on Gerry Mandering? Find a group looking to make a difference on that issue and (1) publicly demand that your state uses a Bipartisan 3rd Party for Redistricting; (2) work with local political groups and the press; (3) or find an attorney that will sue your state and make it a Supreme Court Issue.

I guess… at the end of the day… I’m just really fucking sick and tired of people just… completely disengaging their brains. It is good to have strong emotions. Emotions are valuable and wonderful things. But emotion without action is self-harming. Emotion, when used as an excuse, is futile and harmful to others.

If you see a problem… think of a solution, find people who would disagree with you, and converse about the issue. Other people may know more than you. Or at least other people may know DIFFERENT things than you. But the problem is… make sure the discussion is on facts.

Healthy Discussion from my Past Prosebox Use
Me: This situation sucks. I think this is what is going on and it makes me mad. I want to do a certain action because of that anger.
Friend: The situation does suck because of what it is causing. But have you considered that, instead of what you think is going on, perhaps this other reasonable possibility is going on instead?
Me: Huh. That is true, I guess. I mean, I’m still made and want to do something; but what you’ve said is a good point. I’ll think on that.

Unhealthy Discussion from my Past Prosebox Use
Me: This situation sucks. I’ve covered this problem from many different angles and I’m not sure which decision is best. Should I X? Y? or Z?
Friend: The situation is easy, YOU suck. You should Option F and shut the fuck up.
Me: That…uh… was neither helpful nor reasonable.
Friend: GIANT. PUSSY. If you just manned up a bit, you wouldn’t keep acting like such a little girl!

So I suppose that means another element should be brought into things.
(1) Intelligence, not just emotion
(2) Empathy, not just judgment
(3) Understanding, not just hearing
(4) Conversing, not just talking

Even though… I’d probably call this whole entry a meandering rant, lol