{"id":173,"date":"2013-08-22T19:34:07","date_gmt":"2013-08-23T00:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/?p=173"},"modified":"2013-08-23T06:46:58","modified_gmt":"2013-08-23T11:46:58","slug":"whose-side-are-you-on-08-22-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/?p=173","title":{"rendered":"Whose Side are You on? &#8212; 08-22-2013"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Whose side are you on?<\/p>\n<p>August 22, 2013<\/p>\n<p>I really don&#8217;t have the desire to correct &#8220;stupid&#8221; anymore.\u00a0There was a\u00a0point in history where I would hear or read some re-re-re-(ad nauseam)-gurgitated\u00a0&#8220;truth&#8221; or &#8220;fact&#8221; and get fired up; ready to right the wrong! There are SO many now. You really shouldn\u2019t argue with drunks, zealots or stupid people. It is pointless unless you are just bored, need some entertainment and have a lot of time to kill.<\/p>\n<p>Folks don&#8217;t bother to check the facts or even consider that the information being presented is just smoke &amp; mirrors intended to distract. I talk about Red Herring and people start looking for bait and tackle in my hands. Too many generations have lined up to be cognitively neutered and stripped of any semblance of or compunction to exercise any level of critical thinking. All under the glorious flag of &#8220;progress&#8221;. Keep watching your favorite \u201cnews\u201d show and listening to that radio host!! Certainly they have your best interest in mind!! Certainly!<\/p>\n<p>How is all that &#8220;progress&#8221; going? The world should be perfect by now&#8230; right? Not so much. Forever, the politicos have told us, \u201cWe have regulated the bad guys!\u201d How is that going? \u201cWe have declared a war on drugs!\u201d How is that going? \u201cWe have been fighting poverty for decades!\u201d How is that going? \u201cWe have spent trillions on education!\u201d How is that going? BUT, you listen to that tasty BS gravy when the\u00a0next candidate promises\u00a0to make everything better than the last guy! By the way, how has that gone?<\/p>\n<p>Wow, what an opportunity we were given! A few hundred years ago, we had a nation that was vast, filled with natural resources and led by a common goal and Spirit. Those new Americans struggled, fought and built their Country. Soon, those qualities and efforts yielded the strongest nation in the world. Very soon after that we have a shell of a Union, inhabited by so many that don\u2019t know and don\u2019t care. My, how far we have come! If you care to look for an answer for the downfall, I suggest you ask a simple question, \u201cWhat changed?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It seems that right wing\u00a0folks forget that there are people out there who actually need help and are actually trying to do better for themselves, their families and their Country. Right wing folks don&#8217;t bat an eyelash when giving out huge bonuses to top level\u00a0employees that emboldened the bottom\u00a0line\u00a0by eliminating lots of hourly employees. Right wing folks tend to want to run the world according to what they think should happen and are fine as long as no one disagrees; then they send in the soldiers to die for something that really doesn&#8217;t matter, all in the name of honor, duty and service to their Country.<\/p>\n<p>It seems that left leaners are all squishy over protecting the endangered spotted dust mite (or something equally spotted and endangered) but have no desire to save an endangered country by saving the endangered logical\u00a0thinkers. No, they will gladly run them over with inane regulation, policy and then back the bus up for another pass over the body. Left leaners tend to want to &#8220;just even the playing field&#8221; by evening everyone&#8217;s bank account. Well, devalue the dollar, deposit a million &#8220;whatevers&#8221; of the new currency in each single person&#8217;s account in the country and in ten years some will have more than others. Left leaners want to make the government the almighty. Well, that is just wrong.<\/p>\n<p>You have to make choices. Every one of them matters!\u00a0It may be\u00a0something quite simple\u00a0such as which milk to buy and where to buy it. It may much more difficult such as whether or not to end a life at a clinic that champions women&#8217;s health. Just know that no matter how great, how small, how many or how few of these decisions you make or avoid making; there is a consequence. Those of you enjoying the spoils of whatever side is currently winning will most certainly wail\u00a0when your side comes up short on the power scale. Culture drives the hedonism that dictates the &#8220;get what you can, while you can&#8221; mentality. People getting the bonuses don&#8217;t care as long as there is another bonus. People getting entitled don&#8217;t care as long as they are still entitled. Those who hide their heads in the sand will feel so violated and victimized when their heads are snatched from the sand and they are enslaved by the new regime.<\/p>\n<p>Be happy you are winning. Your side is in power and they are making all the bad stuff go away and they are making your side comfortable!<\/p>\n<p>Be incensed that you are being ruled by those who don&#8217;t understand. Your side is in the minority so you must yell, scream, write letters, plot, scheme and whatever else it takes to get back on top!<\/p>\n<p>Be turned off by it all because it&#8217;s just too difficult to sort it all out. They are all idiots and corrupt and too stupid to change and you are just one insignificant person. Give up and turn Oprah on or flip the channel to Honey Boo Boo.<\/p>\n<p>Any of those is fine, because I fear it doesn&#8217;t really matter at this point what you do. I fear that particular ship of opportunity has sailed.<\/p>\n<p>What can come of this? Most assuredly, there will be another civil-type war on American soil. Rational thought is in such short supply now. When you add the constraint of time and the very real danger of war; there will be no stopping bloodshed. Many will die and many more will be scarred in some form or fashion. Some of the non-flesh scars will look like vehement segregation from those unlike themselves. Of course, there will be some segregation along color or ethnic lines, but I believe that the next civil war will create lasting divisions along cultural, religious and class lines. If you are smart perhaps you can begin to choose whose side you are on!<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; R. A. Grier<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whose side are you on? August 22, 2013 I really don&#8217;t have the desire to correct &#8220;stupid&#8221; anymore.\u00a0There was a\u00a0point in history where I would hear or read some re-re-re-(ad nauseam)-gurgitated\u00a0&#8220;truth&#8221; or &#8220;fact&#8221; and get fired up; ready to right the wrong! There are SO many now. You really shouldn\u2019t argue with drunks, zealots or &#8230; <a title=\"Whose Side are You on? &#8212; 08-22-2013\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/?p=173\" aria-label=\"Read more about Whose Side are You on? &#8212; 08-22-2013\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quod-erat-faciendum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions\/176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ragpages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}