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Big Brother Tech

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What if big brother tech existed
during the most significant incidents of history?

like when the iron curtain crumbled
and the powers fell
or when our own towers fell

or when we took off from this world
and walked on another one
or speaking of great leaps-
when Chairman Mao was leading his peeps into prosperity
never mind the bleeding and shrieks and the parody
of the “Greater good”
or when Stalin was offering his prospering economy
and sending his favorite patrons
on all expense paid vacations

or when the founders of this great nation authored independence
and made the Declaration
that would change the course of humanity

what if we had this clamor for censoring
when Einstein was pontificating
about the matter of energy
or when we learned that we could fight smallpox with cowpox
what would they say about this new way of
slaying our sicknesses?

what would they say to the dissidents of Hitler
how would they portray the resistance?
just picture…
Dr. King standing in boldness up on those steps
and delivering his magnum opus
only to be tagged with a notice
of misinformation

or when the conductors were planning and abetting passengers on clandestine passages to freedom
from station to liberating station

what steps would they have taken
to silence Shakespeare
would they have shadow-banned Langston Hughes
what would they do with Mozart
what if our purveyors of prudence had painted over
our masterpieces

what then, of prose, and music, and art

this isn’t a first
after Copernicus dared to assert that
the Earth was not the center of the universe
Galileo spent the final 10 years of his life
on house arrest because the fact checkers in the cathedral
didn’t want “misinformation” to make its way
to the people

what would big brother tech have done
if truth Himself stood before them
on the public square

would they allow him the floor
or crown him with thorns

what would have happened if…

listen Winston –
War is peace
Freedom is slavery
Ignorance is strength
Trust us
we are infallible
and all-powerful
we are the ministers of wisdom
the monarchs of morality
we are the czars of correctness
the arbiters of ideology
yes, we just formed this ideology in the past 5 years but we’re absolutely sure it’s perfect
we know what’s best for you

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A final message from Biden/Harris – Communism

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Kamala Harris released an animated campaign video yesterday that starts with two men at the bottom of a mountain. One of them is able to reach a rope to start the climb. The other can’t reach it. If you vote for her (through Joe Biden), the ground below the 2nd man will rise up until he can reach the rope. The video ends with the two men sharing the same view of a sunset at the top of the mountain. Thus, the video purports, “equitable treatment means we all end up at the same place”.

Tomorrow, approximately half of the country is going to vote for a ticket that openly endorses this communistic ideal.

I’ve seen some argue semantics and say that she just means equal opportunity. More on that below, but listen – you can fit a thousand random people with custom hiking shoes, offer them all months of training, give them all the same backpack full of supplies, give them all the same motivational speech, and proclaim to them all the splendor of the view at the summit. They’re not all going to end up there. That’s not how humanity works.

Some will try, but just won’t have the strength or stamina to make it. Some won’t try, because others have told them that the odds are stacked too highly against them. Some will stop along the way to write poetry about the journey and become lost in their thoughts. Some will have eschewed the training for something they deemed more important. Some will say that climbing mountains just isn’t for them. They’re not an expert. They’ll say the reward can’t possibly justify the effort.

If Harris really meant equal opportunity, the video would have ended with the two men equally equipped in the foothills. But since it didn’t we should take a moment to think about what her tagline “There’s a big difference between equality and equity” really means.

Because what this kind of propaganda never shows is the human cost of forced outcomes. History has taught that communist governments never take the shape of benevolent social workers exalting exhausted climbers from below, but rather, they act as vengeful axe murderers wreaking havoc on those leading the way through the forested ascent. Despite its lofty intentions, Communism is not glory at the top – it’s bodies at the bottom.

This life isn’t about equity. It’s about sweetening our strengths and working on our weaknesses. It’s about finding fortitude in our faults and gratitude in our gifts. By doing so we will inevitably lift others around us
and that’s where the catch is –
only fellow climbers can offer a hand
that isn’t a hatchet.

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PoliticsSocial Commentary

Trump or Biden? The Future of Freedom in America

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I’m a single issue voter.

That issue isn’t the economy, healthcare, climate change, immigration, education, or gun control. It’s not even abortion.

I’m a registered non-partisan. I never liked the idea of identifying as a member of either party because I’m generally averse to any sort of group identity.

But I do have values. I value individual worth, the equal and full protection of inalienable rights, natural law, free speech, and freedom of worship.

I believe we need voices on both what we call the “left” and the “right”. We’ve got problems. We need creative problem solving, and we need people to fully analyze any proposed solutions before making widespread policy changes that could have unexpected but devastating effects.

We need compassion. We need conversation.
We need progress. We need preservation.

All of these are important.

Now, the far left and the far right – I view these with equal abhorrence. Both are morally bankrupt and supremely dangerous. They claim to be opposites, but the bloodstains they’ve left on human history are indistinguishable.
The corruption, the destruction, the death…
the real question is, which of these two is more of a threat to present day America?

Well, the far right is small in number, power, and influence. White supremacy is not taught in schools or propped up on cable news or pontificated on in our prevailing publications. The far left on the other hand has almost ubiquitous power and is increasing its numbers and influence by the day. By the hour.
on the front lines of the (culture) war
look at the weapons being wielded in all of our universities, our high schools, even our elementary schools, even more
look at how the big tech companies have formed battalions
with the mainstream media
you’ve seen the double standards
the silencing, the shadowbanning
the Orwelian finaggling of language
the skewing of search results
the censorship
the false narratives
the mass manipulation of reality
you’ve seen the madness of the mobs
the captains of corporations with their smoke grenades
flanked by Hollywood and SJWs and their woke brigades

now take all of this power
and add to it control of the White House
the legislature, and the Supreme Court after they pack it
according to the plan
after the last bastions of conservatism and liberalism are slaughtered
what’s left?
what’s right?

“But Joe Biden is not far left” you might say. That may be true in the same way a cocoon is not a moth. We all know what’s waiting to emerge. Even if he weren’t near the end of his career we all understand, he would of course capitulate to every one of their demands.

That brings us to the incumbent.
Do I think that Trump could speak more presidentially and use more unifying rhetoric? Yes. Do I think any of the people that have spent the past 4 years screaming about him would change their mind if he did so? No.

Do I think he’s narcissistic and gets the ultimate ego boost from being President? Yes. Do I think he wants to be a dictator and make everyone handmaids and slaves? No.

Do I see both sides making the argument that the other side wants to take away their rights? Yes. Do I see the powers that be in the mainstream press and big social media companies treating these arguments with equal discretion? No.

So, despite his moral missteps, misguided tweets, and off-putting mannerisms
the fact of the matter is
that Trump is the only one defending all of us in the exhausted middle
the only one defending America as we know it
maybe the vitriol that he elicits from all those that wish to control us should tell us something

it’s a dark place we’ve all been in
like you
I’m just trying to find the light in it
in this life
I just want the opportunity to thrive
I just want liberty
I just want the enlightenment to survive

the single issue that I’m voting on is freedom
because without it, none of the others matter
and when this is over
I just hope it still stands
I know, we may disagree
I just want to live in a country where we still can

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PoliticsSocial CommentaryVideo Poems

Free Stuff vs. Freedom

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I wrote this back when Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were climbing in the polls. They lost steam and COVID hit, so this went on the back burner. But I think the message is still relevant and always will be, because “free stuff vs freedom” is a fundamental human dichotomy.

To tackle it we have to deal in both reality and ideology. The reality is that people need help, and regardless of how they got into the circumstance of needing help, it’s our duty to help if we can. We should also continuously teach the value of work and the principles of self-sufficiency. Government dependence is a last resort to be avoided if at all possible. The drain it puts on the human spirit is far worse than the drain it puts on taxpayers. So much more meaning and growth await us through our endeavors of effort, independence, and responsibility.

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it’s that time again
when politicians are admonishing us
with all the promises of free stuff
“relieving” us of our burdens
meanwhile burdening us with the belief
that our debts are theirs to levy
as if the purchasing of votes with the assurance of unearned benefits hasn’t collapsed enough empires already
as if it hasn’t robbed countless millions of their earnings
and countless millions more of their dignity
as if it hasn’t continuously crushed what was once honorable independence
into despondent pieces of groveling acquiescence
history can’t even count the abuses
perhaps it’s counterintuitive
that when you relieve someone of responsibility
you’re really just relieving them of self-respect
keeping them reliant on checks
from a government that just wants to keep them in check

it’s how the handouts on the clockwork
the saddest day of a person’s life is when he or she sits down to
figure out how to not work
how to turn potential into procrastination
how to turn ambition into ambivalence
it’s a principle that’s as old as time, or at least as old as fish
and those who fish for them
what’s better than granting free fish of course
is fashioning a fisherman
what’s better than welfare
is well-being
what’s better than well-meaning
is empowering by the ethos of self-achieving
and self-care

we don’t start equal in assets or advantages
but work is where the great equalizer of circumstances is
therein lies the therapy for our troubles
the antidote for our anguish
the fortitude that forges our families

only in the crucibles of pursuit can we cook up character
and the sweat of our brow is the sweetest ingredient
never let them lead you into believing that
pandering under the pretense of philanthropy
isn’t actually advocating for the eradication of your freedom
don’t ever settle for mediocrity
no champion of sport or business or science or humanities has ever made it
by languishing in the belly of bureaucracy
no dormancy has ever bolstered performance, see
no idleness has ever triumphed
no stupor of soul has ever won a super bowl
no slothfulness has ever begotten thoughtfulness
I could go on but just
let me say this to close

what we earn is so much more valuable than what we think we are owed
those politicians
they’ll be long gone by the time entitlement takes its toll
don’t let them take your mind, your muscle, your spirit
don’t let them curtail your capacity
don’t let them demean you
never let them deceive you into believing that anything is free
what they’re taking will always be greater than what they’re giving
yeah you better believe – the government owes you life and liberty
but it does not owe you a living

thank goodness

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PoliticsSocial CommentaryVideo Poems

#Not My President-ial Debate

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a “hot mess inside a dumpster fire inside a train wreck”
bemoaned CNN after the latest election campaign debacle
they couldn’t believe the disrespect and incivility
so much misinformation
so much hate

#notmypresident-ial debate

but was it really so bizarre?

does the fabrication of facts, the talking over each other
and past each other, trying to miscast each other
really only happen on the national debate stage?
or did it all look eerily familiar to your facebook page?

are Donald Trump and Joe Biden
the only two characters in this comedy of caricatures?
are we appalled by our choices for this election
or are we appalled because our choices look like our reflection?

–

it’s like we’ve gathered to repair a beloved but battered
and broken-down house
one side’s got the hammers
the other’s got the nails
but we’re too busy arguing over which is better suited for the job
or pointing out that hammers were once used incorrectly
or that nails are appalling because they could possibly be stepped on
cable news steps in and says
“wait a minute – you know
those hammers, those nails
those could really do some damage
you could use them to impale…
each other”

The New York Times steps in and says you know…
that old house isn’t worth saving anyway

Twitter and YouTube step in
and show the people with the hammers more stories about the nastiness of nails
and shows those with the nails the ghastliness of hammers

and now both sides stammer
and doubt what they’re made for
and made of
they hesitate to not only to build
but to denounce the carnage that they’re capable of

and we just stand here face to face
with our blunt and pointy weapons
that were supposed to be tools
threatening each other’s destruction
neglecting the construction that we came here for
in the first place

–

we the people are an eagle
navigating the fragile flight of humanity
with a noble and distinguished head of freedom
and a body of inalienable rights

the problem is not which wing you’re on
it’s how far out there you are
the further we go from the body
is the further we get from empathy
and peace and equality
as the feathers get thinner we become more and more tribal
the solutions we see become more and more genocidal

the far left is no less dangerous than the far right
too much chaos is no better than too much order
too much night is no more bearable than too much day
if you cut off one wing
you veer straight into a mountain of tyranny
either way

for every Hitler there’s a Stalin
that’s why every picture from where freedom has fallen
looks exactly the same

I know we have different ideas about what this house should look like
but without an agreed upon foundation and people willing work on it
it’s just a mansion in our imagination
unattached to a body, the wings of an eagle are just hollow bones in a free fall
and the sky is just a hopeless hallucination
without compromise
we are broken birds
hapless hammers
and good for nothing nails

I know I’ve mixed my metaphors here
what I’m trying to make clear
is that all supposedly invincible
civilizations have fallen for a lot less
I hope this train wreck lights a dumpster fire under us
that scorches all the pre-programmed proclivities
that’ve been stuck in our underbrush
and we can finally see clearly enough
to find our way out
of this hot mess

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