Anybody seen Chicken Litle lately? Apparently, there are those who do not like his attitude, his 'fear mongering' words, and need to shut him up and NOW. When asked why the emphasis on the now, why the sudden focus on one little voice among many competing voices, made great by others, there was a great deal of hemming and hawing, clearing of throats, swiping at noses, scratching of heads and caresses to jaws, picking at imaginary lint on clothing and finally a response of sorts: "Harumph! Not sure, actually." Standard hot air response.
The larger question is why we are having these spurts of attention and deep focus where once it was let go, chaff in the wind, a case of one person exercising right of free speech. When, suddenly, did free speech become such a hot topic, one which questioned and challenged the very core of American democracy.
Why do we now tiptoe round that topic, willing to shut people down via accusations of prejudice or unfair beliefs, troubling attitudes and whatever catchall phrase that works. Designated okay and not okay evaluations. Pick and choose, follow the crowds, put independent thought away in a corner of a dark closet and be safe, part of the trend. Do not stand out for then one risks becoming the nail which needs to be hammered down. Thinking for oneself, gathering the facts, discerning the dis and mis information, evaluating properly, employing that truth, those facts, and if one is honest, well - that is the clear way to follow.
Why. then has this simple formula become anathema, more difficult to understand and follow than the most complex chemical equation or some theory of geometry. Why, seemingly, has the courage of individuals become subservient to the stated, not necessarily so, needs and defines of society? Beats me! Society has taken on the traits of lemmings, or the herd of buffaloes who follow the chief right over the cliff or into the sea, to drown, to lay dead at the rocky bottom, broken by stones of ugliness and denial, the faint sounds of clapping from die hard claque members echoing.
We choose 'influencers ' to follow, chosen for their outrageousness or false wisdom, their fancy clothing or the weird causes they espouse, statements of patent falsity stated by pretty and/or handsome faces are the arbiters of the day. Why bother with the difficult and demanding tasks of gathering the facts, evaluating, and thinking for oneself when others can carry that burden for you.
One is then free to indulge in the fantastic opportunities right there before you. Wallow in the fake screams and laughter emanating from the funhouses and roller coasters of life lived for the moment, rather than establish one's own balance, much better suited for a just, strong, long-lasting society. One that bodes well for a future of promise and optimism, rather than a dystopian one, which now appears to be gaining ground on us.
Simply put, what we need is balance. We do not need a deranged chicken shrieking re the sky falling upon us. We do not need the doomsayers who hold with no hope, no optimism, only the gloom and doom befitting their skewed facts. Nor do we need those who wander blithely through life, deliberately ignorant of the challenges we must face and meet, while continuing to remain capable of fun times, of entertainment venues of sense, beauty, fun and thought, rather than resort to the extreme lengths of much of today's entertainment.
We need optimism mixed with reality. We need advanced thinking as well as a treasuring of past achievements and growth of understanding and wisdom. We need balance.
"...an even distribution ...enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady"..."putting something in a steady position so that it does not fall."
That balance will come only with hard work. It will come when terrorists realize that hate only causes their fight to fail, as it espouses not freedom, not goodness, but only the opposite -hatred, failure, tyranny. All that furthers more hatred and enmity, more deafness and blindness, less willingness to compromise and be sensible. Or realize the futility, even the wrongness of one's chosen cause. We share this earth together and together we stand tall and have an earth upon which to live, or we die as one in a maelstrom of our own stupidity and making.
Balance will come when we no longer fail to condemn those who condemn others to a life of bloodshed, of poverty and hopelessness. We will have balance when the yawning, obscene gap between the ranks of society is breached. With fairness and appropriateness, with the hard gained knowledge that to live in desperation is to encourage hate, more hate and yet more, culminating in wars at horrific cost.
When there is balance, there is fairness. There is hope. Where there is balance it will not be the 'martyr' who kills children in the name of one's God, as the hero, but the peacemaker, the luminary whose eyes are clear and bright, whose heart is pure, who sees the truth, hidden though it might be.
Balance will come when we do not play up an axis of evil - a three H Club, the club of murderers-Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi. A club which promises only destruction and chaos and despair, for individuals and for all humanity.
Balance will come when we stand up to cowards who denounce all who do not fit their rigid discriminatory ideas of who is worthy and who is not. Antisemitism will be more powerful than the absence of literary honesty. One causes life destroyed while the other can be remedied with confession and repair. In the skewed world of today those who condemn remain in the seats of power unless massive efforts are mounted against them.
We will have balance when free speech has a clear definition and boundaries. When there is understanding that implication that one is free to state whatever, unless one contemplates shouting fire! in a crowded building, for then 'free' speech is detrimental to all, even up to and including death, of soul and body. Only education will repair the misunderstandings re the limits of free speech, when some things are not okay to be spoken. As of yet, we have abysmally failed in that department. Longtime mantras of hate must be disproven and eliminated. That will take time and intense effort.
But can we truly, to the nth degree, define, find, establish and maintain that balance?
The question of the millennia.
The answer - still awaits us, offstage, in the wings someplace. However, if we continue to seek, that search itself will be beneficial. Maybe even usher in a world where cures for cancer, of the cancer which steals our children, will be found, rather than the next generation killing machine.
If only.
More kisses and hugs, sweet boy. You are sorely missed and always and forever loved.
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