Enough is Enough: What Are You Going to Do?

The police are being told to stand down so that people the mainstream media call mostly peaceful protesters can riot and loot.

The mostly peaceful people cheer on the minority, actively encouraging, condoning, and providing cover for their actions. The mob has taken away your right to have a say. They boldly claim they are speaking for you, the people, as they set fire to the court house or pull down a statue.

They do not speak for me.

But what do we do? Normally I would say elect new people, go out and vote, get involved in your local party. While those things are still important, this is not a normal time.

The police we have entrusted to keep the peace have been handcuffed and are now being beaten savagely as we look on. We now have a choice, do we stand by and watch as these guardians of peace who have stood between us and the most depraved manifestations of our nature are systematically taken apart or do we pick up the responsibility abandoned by those elected officials entrusted with authority and restore peace and order?

It seems like an easy choice, but it is not as easy as you’d think. You will not be cheered for picking up responsibility, in fact by lifting this cross you will be attacked. You will suffer.

You will be called violent when someone punches you in the face. You will be called an extremist as you call for unity. You will be branded racist for loving your country. You will also be tempted.

Tempted to claim the power being used against you and wield it for good. But good fruit cannot grow from a poison tree. Both the suffering and the temptation seek one thing, to strip away your responsibility, because it is in this responsibility that you find meaning.

It is in this responsibility that you make yourself worthy of the suffering of life.

The streets have never been so crowded yet so empty. People shouting empty phrases into the air, conjuring demons out of brothers and making saints out of lies.

Calling people out does not reach their heart, it only causes them to utter false apologies in a misguided attempt to please a monster that feeds on outrage and misery. The apology, instead of satisfying the monster, only sends it into a frenzy as it justifies the outrage (inherent in any apology is an admission of guilt) and means the fruit of misery is ripe.

Our elected officials drop everything to meet the demands of the rioters but you peacefully gather at the capital in the thousands only to be shooed away with a pat on the head. I am just as guilty of this as anyone else. I post things online, I write my blog, I talk with friends and coworkers and we are all full of ideas of what ‘they’ should do. Then we go back to work, go home, and carry on with our lives.

We say things like, oh it’s Portland, if they would ever come to my town they would never get away with that. Then they come to your town, destroy your statues and loot your businesses. 

You then say, yeah but if they tried that at my house they would never get away with it. Then they show up at your house and burn the American flag on your front porch. You weakly say, well if they break into my house they would never get away with it. 

But it’s too late, they have already gotten away with it. Your house is on fire, the police are not coming, the fire department is not coming, and your neighbors are not coming. You are alone in your burning house and you wonder, why didn’t someone do something? 

All the while you never realized that you were someone, that you could have done something, but each time you were called you hesitated. As your community, your state, and your country burned, you turned on Call of Duty and ignored Duty’s Call. Each hesitation, each ignored call, etched onto your very being until hesitation became habit and inaction became your virtue. 

So what can you do? I’ll admit honestly I have no clear answer for that question because I do not know you. I am not going to lie to you like a politician and say I have all the answers for you and if you support me all your worries will go away. That is a question you are going to have to answer for yourself.

First recognize four things. 

One, work within your circle of influence. This means understanding what you are actually capable of doing. You probably can’t get elected governor, but you can vote. You can always extend your circle of influence and work up to getting elected governor, but chances are for the majority of us, that is outside of our current abilities.

Two, understand there is not going to be one magic solution. Simply changing the school system or the tax code will not fix everything. Lots of things need to be done, do not focus too heavily on any one thing or believe that if only X would happen then everything would be better.

Three we are currently in a culture war not a political disagreement or violent revolution. You cannot win the battle if your army is on the wrong field.

Four, you as an individual are needed right now. Not you as a member of a group (gun owner, male or female, or Trump supporter) but you as the unique individual with your own talents, interests and abilities.

Lastly if you know of any of these events, statue destruction, flooding of a school board meeting to read scripted ‘comments’ trying to cancel someone, or occupations, please bring it to the attention of the rest of the community. Then get up and go use your voice. Don’t get into shouting matches, physical fights or call people names but stand up tall with courage and honor.

PS. I am starting to organize people in my local community here in Oregon to do something I think is pretty cool. Looking to organize mostly young people to become the leaders we need but also looking to build a community. If you are interested, everyone is welcome, reach out to me on Facebook or in the comments of this blog, thanks!

MayAGA Day 2 – 5: Double Takes and Bravery

As I look at the MAGA hat on my kitchen counter I think to myself, will today be the day someone gets upset or will people even notice? I take a breath and steady myself as I pick it up and place it on my head.

The more I wear the hat the more I forget that I am actually wearing it. There is a part of me that says ‘Maybe you just don’t wear it this one time.’ I admit that voice is tempting but I must stick with this challenge to the end.

Largely my experience so far has been positive but I do experience moments where I am very conscious that I am wearing a MAGA hat and people have noticed.

Day 2

The second day wearing the MAGA hat was largely uneventful. I wore it to work and got stopped by a coworker. He took a look at the hat and asked if that was a MAGA hat. I said yes it is with a smile. He replied, right on, and we both returned to work.

Toward the end of the day I was finishing up some work when another coworker asked me a question. He wanted to know if anyone has complemented me on my hat yet.

I explained to him how people have said they liked it or have given me a positive response. To this reply he made a face. I did not understand the question and he was thinking how he could phrase it differently.

After a moment passed he said that I was a brave man for wearing this hat. That there are a lot of people who are afraid to do so out of fear for a number of things. I was stunned. I had dismissed the thought that wearing a Make America Great Again hat made me a brave person.

I understood it took a bit of courage but it was not as if I was running into a burning building or storming the beaches of Normandy, I was simply wearing a red hat with the slogan for the duly elected president of the United States.

When I first came up with this idea I ran into people who thought it was a bad idea. They said they would not wear a MAGA hat because they did not want to open themselves to the possibility of being attacked. I understood their concern and hesitation, I was also frustrated that they were so afraid, but it only made me want to do it even more.

While I do not think that wearing a MAGA hat should be considered an act of bravery (I do not think I am any braver than the next person) I can understand why people would think of it that way. There are people who want or have wanted to wear a MAGA hat but have felt the social pressure not to.

I hope that sharing my experience here shows that you do not have to give into that social pressure and we all realize we are not as divided as the media and Facebook would have us believe.

Grocery Shopping

I had gone to the grocery store on day one but this time I was going full out grocery shopping. I know it seems like a normal thing but I must admit I was a little hesitant. I was going to be in a big public space for an extended period of time with lots of people coming and going.

I took comfort in the idea that most people won’t notice, busy with their own lives. As I grabbed my cart and approached the produce section I saw a young man look at me, look away than turn and look back for a second longer.

 

He continued to shop with the girl he was with and I continued to select the items I needed. Every so often I noticed that people would look at me for a second longer than normal but would than go about shopping.

Normally when in public I make eye contact with the people around me and smile at them if we make eye contact. While in the store I noticed that I had stopped doing this and instead would look straight ahead. I paused to think about this for a second and understood this was my way of avoiding inviting people to talk to me.

It was that feeling you had in school when the teacher asked a question you did not know the answer to so you averted your eyes and hoped they would not call on you. I was surprised that I had found myself acting differently than I normally do and resolved to act as my normal self.

As I continued shopping I notice that young couple I had seen in the produce section again. The girl stepped up and said that she liked my hat. I said thank you and we both kept shopping. I never considered what to do if people would complement me on the hat and later realized that people who were commenting were probably open to a conversation.

I missed this chance but in the future I will stop and make conversation with someone who complements my hat, at the very least I will tell them why I am wearing it and what I intend to do.

I want to also say thank you to the people who have responded positively to my MAGA hat, it might not seem like much but that small act of kindness is a great balm against the division and outraged obsessed media.

Observations

This weekend I mostly worked around the house and spent time walking and running my dogs. I did go out to a few places briefly. I went to grab some lunch and could tell that the people working behind the counter did not like my hat but they did a great job providing excellent customer service.

To me it was proof that the spirit of we don’t have to agree but can be civil to each other still exists. I also entered a retail establishment where normally the employees greet you as you enter the store. They took one look at me and then ignored me.

I am not sure if they were surprised, upset or just busy as I just kept walking and soon after left. If that is the worst thing I experience that would be fine with me.

 

I have noticed that wearing a MAGA hat in the part of Oregon where I live draws attention to yourself. It is just not something that you see outside of the internet or on the news. It seems to open you up to conversation and to have people take a longer look at you.

I suspected this was the case and while the extra attention is a little strange at first it has all been positive so far. I am open to having more conversations with people and want to try and engage a little more with people who approach me.

I have also observed a couple changes in my personal behavior and thoughts. The first thing I noticed was that I now ask myself if I want to really go to some place with my MAGA hat on. There is a part of me that says ‘go, but don’t wear your hat.’ I then ask myself the question, would you go if you were not wearing a MAGA hat, and if the answer is yes than I go with my MAGA hat on.

Part of this experiment is to wear my MAGA hat while I do everything that I would normally do. To show that people who wear MAGA hats are regular people too. That they are your neighbors or the guy who holds the door open for you at the restaurant or the lady who is selecting fruit next to you at the grocery store.

I think this feeling will fade over time as I commit myself to this challenge. I have also noticed that normally I make eye contact with people in public and if they return the contact I would usually smile or say hello.

It was something I taught myself to do a long time ago because I thought that sometime we are all in such a hurry that we ignore everyone around us. That is was a simple and nice way to brighten someone’s day ever so slightly. Since taking on this challenge I started looking straight ahead and avoiding eye contact.

I understand this is my way of avoiding opening myself up to comment and attention. This is something that I will work on as the challenge goes forward. I do not want to change who I am simply because I am wearing a MAGA hat.

Overall I would say my experience has been positive so far. While I have felt a little strange at times and have noticed that when I go out I am drawing attention to myself. I hope the rest of the month goes this smoothly and will write another update in a few days.

Happy MayAGA and hope everyone is having a great month!