Friday Fackbook Post- 9 November

     This has been an interesting week babysitters and one many of us are glad has come and gone.  It seems that politics, over the last…10 years give or take has seemed to bring out the ugly in Americans.  I mean the ugly was already there, it’s just we didn’t have platforms like we do today for others to see said ugly.  Like it or not, our nation has become divided.  And contrary to popular belief, we have always been divided.  Whether it was based on socioeconomic status, race, sex, kneeling vs standing, police conduct, political beliefs, religion…you name it, we (members of this nation) have used it to separate us.  The flavor of the week…red vs blue.  Republican vs Democrat, elephant vs donkey.  I have read comments and heard things said this week that just have me shaking my head asking, “What the _______ have we become?”  Have we slid down that slope so far that we cannot recover?  I don’t think so.   But I do believe that it will more than likely get worse, much worse before it remotely gets better.  Many within these borders have taken on a flavor of the leadership and guise poor behavior behind “telling it like it is” or “I’m tired of all this PC crap.”  There is nothing wrong with being honest, nothing wrong with telling it like it is, but it is wrong…let’s say unprofessional to do it out of spite or simply because you feel you can. 

     I find it also interesting that many don’t have a problem with other people making comments but would probably strangle their own for doing the same.  Allowing someone to go unchecked is a recipe for disaster and as we say in the military, “When you ignore the standards, you inadvertently create a new ones.”  So with bad behaviors, are overlooking behaviors and or making excuses for bad behavior when we choose to focus on other actions? Two days ago I posted a comment that was pretty straight forward. The President called a good question racist and then went on a testimonial about all he has done.  All the comments that were attached to the post all focused on everything but…the actual comment and his response.  Just because someone ask you a question that’s either uncomfortable of unpopular, doesn’t mean you should get a pass for your behavior.  And just because you approve of what someone is doing, doesn’t mean you can’t call them out on their behavior.  The two are not mutually supportive. If anything liking someone means you should be their harshest critique.  Those we respect and admire we expect…hell often demand more of.  Politics aside, we should strive to do better. Be better. Become better.

1. Is it ok to give those we like a “pass” on poor behavior?

2. What is wrong with calling out poor behavior of someone you like? And if nothing is wrong with it, how come people choose not to?

Friday Facebook Post-November 2nd

     So its Friday babysitters and it’s been a pretty interesting week.  Not just for me, but for many within the borders of this country.  I have tapered back my thought provoking posts because I am focusing most of my attention on my masters.  Between work, family, and mentoring, I don’t have a lot of time to poke the bear.  So what I have decided to do is at a minimum post once every Friday.  And that Friday post will be a thought provoking post which will be based off of things I may have seen on Facebook or stories within the news.  There will be a topic and at the end questions to ponder. So with that being said…let’s get to it.

     Throughout this week I have posted a few times brining up topics and asking questions.  The common theme/thread to all of these posts was morality and how we choose to view right versus wrong.  It is clear (and has been for a very, very long time) that we have an immigration issue in this country.  We are a nation that was founded on immigration so for some it’s hard to distance themselves and look at it logically and without emotion.  That coupled with just how polarized we are as a nation, it’s not making things easier; because what ends up happening is you will fall on one side or the other. You are left or right, red or blue, socialist liberal or racist conservative. Labels…nothing but labels.

     Our government officials have made a living/career of keeping us living in a state of fear as well as ignorance; blaming problems on the poor, drug users, Muslims, the Irish, Italians, Blacks, Chinese, Mexicans, and now immigrants.  It’s easy to control the masses when they don’t know what you know.  My fellow military members know this all too well.  We are taught from day one that knowledge is power.  Some leaders have made a living off of keeping the important information to themselves.  Telling their subordinates only what they wanted them to know.  Some do this for personal gain and some do it to protect.  I had a former boss tell me when we returned from Iraq that these very dangerous missions we would execute weekly, well I had the ability to tell him no, me and my platoon would not execute the missions.  He told me had I told him no, there would have been nothing he could have done to me or made me do it.  I was shocked.  I told him I would have done the missions anyway and he said I know which is why I never told you.  But it did make me think just what did I not know about things in the military?  Especially in the realm of following orders.

         So, exactly where does our morality fit into all of this?  That’s a good question. Another would be do we compromise our principals and beliefs and allow things to happen that MORALLY we know are wrong but do so under the guise of patriotism and love of country?  I caution that we be careful with allowing our morals to be swayed by those that would turn their attention to us if it suited them and their cause.  How many of you have actually talked to immigrants and asked them what motivated them to leave their country and come here?  How long do they plan on staying?  Hell, do they even want to stay in this country?  And just what jobs are these people taking from us Americans?  Where is all this free candy that immigrants are getting? I don’t mean Facebook, meme candy, I mean here is the policy and it states this is what they get.  In other words I want to hear it from the “lawyers,” not the “shit house lawyers” repeating what their mom’s boyfriend’s cousin once removed said because he heard some guy say it in line and the corner store.

     Morally we have an obligation to do the right thing even when it’s not popular.  I think we also must ensure that we are fully informed before we allow others to make decisions for us that are not in our best interest and violate our personal moral codes.  Folks have got to educate themselves and stop blindly following those who know but don’t want you to know.  Folks need to be mindful of what you say or post because like it or not, it does influence others and if you are wrong, then you now have two people who are wrong.  And then it spreads like a virus and before you know it you have hundreds of people angry about an issue which truly isn’t an issue.  We must demand more of those in office and call them out when they are inciting fear and hatred.  Words are powerful. Words can teach a child to love and words can teach a child to hate.

     Is ending the birthrights given to those who are born in this country to immigrants is this the solution to our immigration issue?  Ok, say tomorrow we wake up and it’s done, what will our lives look like? The birthrights issue really doesn’t affect the average American and I will wager nothing will change.  Taxes won’t go down, the economy won’t start booming.  Life will continue as it has.  Only difference is children born here of immigrant parents will still be immigrants too.  Immigrants will still desire to come here.  And without the immigration policy fixed…many will still come illegally.  Here is a thought, imagine if you will, they actually fixed the immigration issue that has been broken for the better part of 30 years and 6 Presidents.  Imagine if they created a process where they could apply for a work visa and be able to work legally in the country in 30 days or less.  It’s hard to fathom that in a country such as ours, where a college kid could create Facebook and become a millionaire, but 300 professional lawyers/politicians for 30 plus years we haven’t been able to figure out how to create a streamlined visa process and immigration process.

Questions to ponder over your morning coffee or at the water cooler:

1. Who within the government benefits (financially) from the immigration policy as it stands today?

2. How many politicians benefit from being able to use the immigration issue every election?