I have opinions. I share opinions. A LOT. I don't always qualify those opinions with the disclaimer "In my opinion", but I've noticed that opinion piece journalists don't do that either.
Conditions in America have changed. No longer is an average American allowed to have an opinion and they are certainly NOT allowed to make anyone else aware of it.
In a climate of free speech, if you don't like what people say or write, you can walk away or just not read their submissions. That is also a very basic right in a civilized and supposedly FREE country.
Sadly, I have learned that this is no longer the case. The ruling class in America is spinning a narrative and nothing else will be allowed. Social media has been a blessing and a curse. A blessing in the regard that it has allowed old friends to rediscover each other, and reconnect with lost family. It has been a curse in the regard that the longer they have existed, the more power they have learned they wield. With power, comes control, and when there are no checks on who is controlling things it can become dangerous. We have all deposited heavy balances of ourselves into social media platforms and quite frankly "we are hooked". Wrestling ourselves free is going to be difficult and painful. When we decide to break free we are going to wonder what to do with ourselves. We will eventually realize just how much of our lives we wasted tied to a keyboard and a monitor. We were stroking our feelings with friendships that we wanted to continue but we were losing ourselves in the process. We may be losing connections with those who are actually close to us while trying to maintain those long distance, far away connections. We might be ignoring what is actually our job....being a functioning participating member of the human race. Raise your hand if you are guilty..........here is mine.
Recently, I mean like yesterday I got a 24 hour lock out on my Facebook account for expressing my opinions. Those opinions weren't even some of my more outrageous or offensive ones. For me, they were actually pretty tame. Oddly enough, they locked me out but left those posts up. People could still read them so what have we accomplished here? If they had really troublesome they would have made them go away, but instead they decided to slap my hand for sticking it in the cookie jar. And now...."You haf been varned, comrade." But they did teach me something....they taught me that social media has now decided THEY are in charge of what I think and how I express it.
I AM NOT OKAY WITH THIS.........AT ALL
I'm not okay with it for me and I am certainly not okay with it for anyone else.
I found a way to let people know that this had happened and oddly enough with a few exceptions no one really gave 2 hoots. Talk about an eye opener! Because I know me and if this had happened to someone I cared about I would be indignant and because I am a "fixer" I would be trying to find a way to help them. Sooooo, I have been investing a lot of myself in a lot of things that do not invest in me. And I have a feeling that there are a lot of people and things that might actually want and need my presence.
I am not naive enough to think I can actually unplug to the degree I know I need to but I am really going to start making changes in my life. I still want to write because to write is to breathe. To turn lose of all those thoughts churning and bubbling is vital. Thoughts that have to leave my head in one way or another and for the sake of other people's sanity, I choose to not always release them verbally. Putting thoughts into words that are tangible is tricky. Spoken words are ether, they dissipate and are gone. They might be vaguely recalled but they can be denied. When you put words to print in whatever format, there is no denying them. You have to own them, and you own them for eternity.
So, if I have to own my words and be held accountable by them, this will never be me. I will write MY words, my thoughts and I will live and die by them.
Because
This
Just
Doesn't
Work
FOR ME.........and honestly it shouldn't work for you either.
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