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From the mind of critic: “When racists openly tout their views because zero fear exists, are we oblivious to the consequences? When a leader feels 100% confident in labeling whole groups of people as murderers, rapists and theives from shithole countries who all have aids so they should go back to their huts, do they feel like an unquestioned and infallible emporer, instead of a democratically elected president? When supporters disagree with the flagrant racism, but ignore it because they see the leader as a vehicle to push through a long dreamed radical agenda, are they closeted racists who gladly express disdain publicly, but express great joy privately that somebody is espousing what they truly think? Some see this as the downfall of the republic, while others see it as racists, bigots and supremacists taking a cue from General Custer, and making their last stand. What happened to Custer, he got brutally murdered because he wouldn’t or couldn’t admit a new day was dawning, and was willing to fight to the death to preserve old world beliefs. I’m not advocating murder, and I’m not saying all racists deserve to be brutually slain. However, when all of a sudden in the 21st century racists aren’t afraid to go out in the light of day, they feel threatened. Why do they feel threatened, because they know they’re losing their historical grip on the neck of humanity. A new day isn’t on the horizon, a new day is here now. The sooner we damit that, the sooner we’ll see racists for what they really are, historicsal relics that belong in a museum. We make racists afraid again, when we aren’t afraid to defend humanity again.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, how do we pay it? Is it pre-paid and pre-ordered, so the payment is in hand before it’s been fully manufactured? Is it available on C.O.D., where we don’t pay until it arrives? Do we know the cost. but believe it’s to expensive? Are we willing to pay whatever the cost is, because the end result is all that matters? Have elected officials convinced us the price is higher or lower than it actually is, tayloring the value around business and political aspirations? For freedom to be authentic not only does it have to cover all people, but it must be constantly tested. Sometimes it needs to be fought or bargained for, but it always reuiqres being earned. We earn freedom by standing up for rights of people, full stop. We earn it by taking care of the lesser of us, because we know it could be us. We earn it by paying a living wage and leveling the playing field, by not skewing all the economic and financial benefits to the gatekeepers and money changers. True freedom only exists if we’re all free. When we say somebody else’s freedom steals ours, we’re the ones bloocking freedom. When we say people hate freedom, we’re saying we hate true freedom. There will always be minorities in every population, religion and culture who use beliefs to further enhance darkness. The majority however, all have the same human needs. When we exhale freedom for others, we inhale it for ourselves, that’s how we stay vigilant.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If we’ve reached a point of true riches by valuing time more than money, but our time is dwindling away, are we immediately poor? Do the hopes and emotional stability we’ve cultivated by spending time and not wasting it, dissappear when time is severely limited? How do we spend time taking care of ourselves, if we barely have any time to spend? Anger, depression, hopelessness and worry can filter into our lives, bringing with it a darkness that coats everything we think. These dark thoughts only serve to tear us down, which makes us think more dark thoughts, and on and on the cycle goes. If we know this darkness is happening, and how it’s negatively affecting us, how do we bring in light and inhale beauty, if we only have time for acts of survival? Minute amounts of time here or there can bring us back to normal, but nowhere near affords us the ability to grow, which comes from introspection. The true sign of wealth, comes from valuing time over money. When time ebbs, we must do our damndest to carve what time we can. Not only will it make us sane, but it will block darkness from inhibiting our view of opportunities. Being thankful for what we have, is hardest when we’re low and can’t see the light, but it’s also the most important . Being conscious of our actions, gives us a head start toward joy, being grateful gives us the time we need.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If we’re always being watched by virtue of being plugged in, are we ignored if we’re unplugged? If we make controversial and over the top statements but are unplugged, are we still being watched because everybody else is plugged in? Does it matter whether we’re plugged in or not? The new century, the new age or the new generation, whatever the label, the meaning is the same. With all of us having extremely easy access to mini super computers these days, i.e. smartphones, we just have to assume we’re being watched everywhere we go. It is the new reality. We can either adapt, or evolve. We make it work for us, or actively fight against it, we could also do both simultaneously. We just have to ask what’s worth our time? What will improve our lives? Once we see that standing up for what’s right, instead of ignoring what’s wrong is how positive change is made, we’ll realize the NSA and other spy agencys’ illusion of power only has control over us, if we allow it to. control us. Being unplugged or plugged in isn’t a determinant for change, we are everytime weinhale beauty, and exhale positivity and gratitude.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If campaigning for office is nothing but a sales pitch, is voting like ordering from amazon? Do we look at reviews and research specs, insuring we’re an informed consumer? Do we look for the cheapest price, only wanting function? Do we look for the middle of the road price, wanting function but with some style? Do we not care about price, because style and status are the only things that matter? Do we forgo amazon alltogether, and settle on a third party site? Do we refuse to order, because our order will be changed or canceled, so what’s the point? Some of us are so fed up with the way things are, we figure why should we get involved if everything has already been decided. Voting might seem like a lost cause with the electoral college, and the popular vote not determining election outcomes. However, once we realize that putting energy into buying a TV yields a better quality product, like researching a candidate yields a better quailty elected official, we’ll see the system can be made better if we stop voting for people who say the government doesnt work, and start voting for people who say they’ll work to make it better. Do we want somebody to make this choice for us? Researching a product yields better quality, just like voting. The more we care, the better it gets, it’s that simple.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If keeping up with computer technology means relearning every 18 months, is life the same? If we finally get used to a program or device that we feel confident in our abilities, only to have it change, is the natural evolution of human society any different? What is the point of gaining knowledge, if something will soon come along to prove wrong what was previously known? Do we keep learning anyway, because it makes our life’s journey more purposeful? Do we stop learning, because what’s the point of anything if it constantly changes? Do we let ignorance take control, and ride out our journey amidst a sea of hedonistic lemming-ism? Does constantly updating our brains toolkit, ensure we can balance standing our ground, with positive growth? Whether its, the only constant in the world is change, expect the unexpected or roll with the punches, it all describes the same concept. We are animals, and as such will evolve or devolve depending on our environment, culture and beliefs. Knowledge might seem moot to people who know change is coming, but it will help us prepare. Part of finding our life’s balance is deciphering who we are, what our purpose is, what mark we want to leave and how we’re willing to adapt to make it happen. Knowledge might keep evolving, but the earlier we start absorbing, the less backstepping we’ll need to catchup. If the only constant in life is change but we refuse to change, we’re no longer constant, we’re obsolete.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If the American President commands fear and aquiescence because they speak from the bully pulpit, how can we ever be diplomatic? If our leader is seen as a bully no matter who holds the office, how can we ever be respected? Does the illusion of power which flows through all elites work overtime in America, because it must portray the illusion of democracy as well? Language is the ultimate double meaning concept, in that it means everything and nothing at the same time. We don’t have to use the term bully pulpit, surely we’ve had leaders that were less bullies and more diplomats than others, but it’s still in use. Is this because somewhere ingrained in our American psyche, we know we’re bullies and don’t care? Do we know not all of us are bullies but still use outdated traditions without questioning their meanings, because if we did they’d hold non-illusory power over our actions, instead of illusory power derived from our ignorance? The key to acheiving balance with language is admitting meaning, and to keep using it if we agree, stop if we don’t, and not obsess about it either way. Whether we agree with a phrase or not, it will only hold power over us if we allow it to or we ignore. We can have a bully pulpit or a unification pulpit, it’s up to us. We can make big changes if we aren’t afraid to make small ones.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “To make the group better, must we ignore the needs of the individual? To make ourselves better, must we ignore the needs of the group? Do needs and wants factor in the same way? Are they objective, subjective or a mix of both? Are we missing the point if we think it’s an either or dichotomy, instead of microcosms and macrocosms? Caring about the health and welfare of the group is vitally important, but so is the health and welfare of the individual. Either may sound more important on paper, but doesn’t work in real life because of humans’ power hungry nature, kind of like communism and capitalism. This is when we must find balance between what’s best for us, and what’s best for our community, nation and world. Once we realize balance is acheived when we do do for ourselves specifically so we can do for others, not in spite of them, we’ll see peaceful resolutions to generational problems can be found, when we view eachother as equally vital to the survival of the human species. Not sweating the small stuff and paying attention to the bigger picture only works, when we recognize it’s the small things that make up that bigger picture, and we can’t have one without the other.” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If we really hate something but don’t know anything about it, are we ignorant? If we know some things but not the whole picture, are we ignorant? If we espouse knowledge to evidence our hatred, but that knowledge is based on false claims and assumptions, are we ignorant of our ignorance? Does new knowledge scare us, or because of low self-esteem and low self-worth , are we afraid to admit a lack of knowledge? Are we afraid of the phrase, I don’t know? Some of us grow out of the teenage know-it-all phase, some don’t, and some of us are stuck in the middle. They say the more we know, the more we find out we don’t know. If we don’t allow this natural evolution to take place, where we absorb knowledge throughout our journey, negatiivity will grow, which will fester into hatred of anybody or anything that’s different, disagrees or challenges us. This happens specifically because we think we know everything, and the other person doesn’t. Hate groups always sprout amongst ignorance, as do despotic and facist governments. Are we ignorant of this in 2018, enough to defend child molestors, abandon moral beliefs and treat others like we would not like to be treated? What about in 2020, when it comes time to re-elect the ultimate physical example of that ignorance?” 🙂

From the mind of critic: “If a new year is suppossed to be a fresh start, is it because we forgot everything that happened last year? Do we fail to see the links from year to year, and are surprised when it’s a rerun that’s worse than the original? Do we obsess over the links, and use that evidence to prove this year will be worse? Does our self-sabotage swallow up the light we overlooked, blinding our soul to how good the new year might be? Fresh starts and clean slates, are created by our minds to lift us up, which can be helpful when clearing out last years clutter. While we don’t want to completely ignore the clutter, if we don’t atleast acknowledge it, we’ll never get rid of it, and it will block anything good from coming in. If we want a fresh start, and hope for a joyful, prosperous and fulfilling new year, we must be honest about mistakes made, and lessons that still need to be learned. Once this honesty cascades through us, we’ll see completely fresh starts might not be possible, but new beginings are; the difference being acknowledgement versus ignorance. Recognizing that difference is the first step toward a better us. Isn’t that how each new year should start? To evolve, we must start from somewhere.” 🙂