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From the Other Side of the Edge….
General
Stupidity in Ferguson, and Elsewhere, ….Only Affirms Racism
By Joe Facinoli
Since the beginning of time, there has always been conflict between
people of different cultures, geographic territories, tribes, skin
color, and means in which they choose to honor whatever put them
here.
It is human nature, …and we are weak. Too weak,
sometimes, to even understand how stupid we are, in our basic, everyday
human behaviors.
Tall people always hate short people (and for obvious
reasons).
Short people really hate tall people (for perfectly understandable
reasons, …obviously).
Valley people don’t like Hill people, …and vice versa.
And City people just can’t stand those Country Bumpkin red-necks who
live outside of town, most likely in the mountains, or some other long
forsaken place (which red-necks think is heaven, and want no city folks
anywhere near it).
People with big noses, just can’t be of the same grade or human stature
as those with cute little button noses (who big nose people think look
hideous).
Fat people envy and often vehemently dislike skinny people, …and those
skin-flints think that fatsos simply must be lessor people than the
skinnies are, because, …really, …just look at them !!
Light skinned people don’t like Dark people, …can’t trust them, …must
be hiding something under that mysterious pigment.
And Dark skinned people detest those Light skinned folks, mostly
because the Lighties hated and abused them first, …but also because, …I
mean, who wants to walk around looking like a ghost, anyway?
Christians don’t like Jews, because they think those wretched Children
of Moses and David killed off their “Savior”, …and Jews don’t really
like anyone of other religions, and who can blame them, after fifty
centuries of abuse sent their way.
Oh, …and Muslims and Eastern Religions don’t count at all, because,
…well, …they’re not Christians or Jews, so what do they
matter?
Heard enough ?? Anything you’ve read so far
ring true, …or not ??
All Human Nature, …and regrettable human weakness.
So, …before this “Garden of Eden” which we are all travelers upon,
evaporates entirely under a mushroom cloud, or a continual hail of
bullets, or from devastating political threats and attacks (and
philosophical agendas) which can’t be taken back, ….maybe now is the
time to think about some basic changes.
The stupidity that took place in Ferguson, Missouri last week, is just
the latest example of how NOT to advance one’s cause, nor even to make
one’s point.
The lies, and distortions of truth and events, which have come down
nearly continuously since last summer’s shooting of an unarmed street
criminal there, and the blanket buying into all those convenient
falsehoods, have shown just how little has changed, since our
beginnings on this planet, …really.
After a relatively “peaceful” demonstration in that town, following the
long-called-for resignation of its police chief, …two police officers
were shot, as they stood watch outside the main Police
Station.
The difference in reaction between the injuries of the two cops, and
the shooting of Michael Brown, the beloved “teddy bear” native son (and
violent bully), …went far beyond the fact that the policemen’s wounds
were not fatal.
And that difference, …to all of the bigoted, prejudiced, xenophobic,
intolerant, and racially and religiously condescending denizens of this
world (and that is almost all of us, in one way of another), ….is
exactly the point, and our perpetual problem.
Shooting cops will not change the behavior of bad
cops. It only emboldens them.
Burning and looting of stores and businesses will not change the
racially intolerant ways and methods of bigoted businessmen and
women. It merely galvanizes them to hold on to their
shameful and mistaken ways.
It gives them Affirmation.
Wrong-headed and twisted as that may be, …it gives them justification,
for the stupidity of their beliefs.
Behaving in the same manner, or worse, as those who offend or abuse
you, …will accomplish nothing.
Doesn’t mean you have to sit by and take all this abuse, but it does
mean that all conversation about this abuse, and regarding any possible
changes to it, …will stop immediately.
When Stupid People, who justify doing stupid things to other people,
have the same stupid things done to them in return (or worse), it only
confirms their own original stupidity and thought process, and empowers
them to continue doing those same ol’ stupid things, for as long as
that pay back stupidity is reciprocated.
I know, …makes your head spin.
And it’s F.U.B.A.R. (This is a family
newspaper, …you’ll have to look that one up
yourself.) And the most tragic kind of
“Catch-22”.
But that’s where we are today, …in America, …and in the
world.
And we have been here for a very long time, and are going to be right
here, in this same place, for a very long time into the
future.
Maybe forever, ….so let’s learn to deal with it, and try something a
little different.
Like Common Sense. And
Kindness.
And Consideration. And putting oneself in another’s
place, to determine why they act the way they do, or do the stupid
things that they do.
And focusing on how to fix these behaviors, in a civilized manner, best
for ALL in this world.
Doing the “eye for an eye” thing, …only works when there’s just two
people left to fight about something. When
there’s others involved, or who will be affected, it usually only makes
matters worse.
This “Cowboy Justice” on the one side, and Government Intervention at
the slightest whim on the other, …both of which “say” they only want to
do what’s right, or to level the playing field, …become bigger problems
than the original sins, every single time they show up.
This all has to stop somewhere.
Racism has been here since the earth was a molten ball of
lava. And continued through dinosaurs and ice
ages, and was perpetuated by hundreds of so-called “civilizations”,
throughout time.
And it will continue through the eons of our future (assuming that
there will be one), for as long as people still look differently from
one another, speak differently, pray to different gods, act
differently, and wear their pants differently than what our personal
preference may be.
For as long as we are still stupid.
So what do we do ???
Easy: DEAL WITH IT !!!!!
Lowering yourself to a bigoted and stupid, race mongering person’s
level, or allowing yourself to remain, and wallow, in this kind of
stupidity, merely accomplishes the reverse of what you want, …and of
what the “civilized” world, needs from you.
And it continues the long tradition of hatred and conflict, which has
seen the deaths of (literally) Hundreds of Millions of people, …some
good, some stupid, many in between and uninvolved, …all of whom died
senselessly, over the millennia.
As well as our heritage of the needless suffering of Billions (yes,
that’s with a “B”), over that same time.
There’s really only ONE race, ….the Human Race.
Mankind as a whole.
All the rest, and all the others, along with all their sordid and
unnecessary details and trivialities, …are only part of the Big Test we
are all here to take.
And right now, ….we ain’t passin’.
We can solve all this by taking one question, one step, one person, …at
a time.
Start by looking in the mirror, …then try to tell yourself, that the
answer’s not in there.
Joe Facinoli
--Joe can be reached at: joefacinoli@gmail.com
Intelligent Response Encouraged !!
© Copyright 2015, Joe Facinoli
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