The Evil of Extreme Diversity

            The word diversity gets thrown around a lot today. Diversity makes us stronger, we need to focus on diversity, and diversity is our highest ideal are just a few phrases you’ll hear from politicians, Hollywood stars, and reporters. So what does it mean? The definition of Diversity is a range of different things or variety. On the surface it seems like a good thing, you would not want to eat the same thing every day, you want to enjoy a diversity of food. When you hear diversity today, it is usually in the context of people.

            A diversity of people can be a good thing when used correctly. When you have people from different backgrounds, with different skills and ideas than you can often come up with better more innovative solutions to problems. This kind of diversity is a benefit. Yet when you take diversity to an extreme you not only lose this benefit but you cause more harm than good. Lately the word diversity has been used as a club to bash any company, group, or organization that does not fit the vision of those on the left. They want a diversity of people, but not based on ideas, instead based on group identity.

            Basing diversity on group identity is textbook racism. Those ‘champions of diversity’ believe that any organization should reflect the population it operates in. So if the population is made up of 50% men and 50% women the organization should reflect that. Any organization that does not reflect this expectation is sexist (racist, homophobic, etc) and is oppressing those who are underrepresented. In short they want people to be put into positions not based on their ability but because of some group identity characteristic. They are saying the people of this group identity are not able to get the position through their own merit, but instead are being oppressed and need help. The same ‘champions of diversity’ will also shout down and shut down people who have different points of view. They seem to only favor diversity of gender or skin color but not the diversity of ideas.

            This racism of low expectations is being used by the left to gain votes (your life is shitty and hard not because of personal responsibility but because you are being oppressed, vote for me and I’ll make it better), attack those on the right or anyone who criticizes them (see he is racist he only has 2 out of 100 people who work for him that are black when black people make up 10% of the population) and to force people into censoring themselves (what are you a racist bigot? Don’t you want diversity?) It is not when you look exclusively at someone’s race or gender (etc) and force organizations to take people based on these criteria that you get diversity, it is when you look past what is on the surface to the ideas and experiences people have that you get true diversity.

What am I doing?

I am new to blogging. I mostly blog because I enjoy writing and feel like I have something to say. Of course I want what I write to be read but we don’t have to agree on what I write. I started my blog years ago but have just recently restarted posting to it. I hope that I can provide entertaining and thought provoking posts to people who read my blog. Eventually I hope to make money as a writer but currently I write because I enjoy it. It give me an outlet to express my thoughts and ideas in a clear and thought out way. Sometimes I stumble while speaking publicly but, with most everything, I will get better the more I practice. I also want to get better at writing. I think my writing skill is better than average and I have had a paid writing gig before but I want to get better.

            One thing I know I need to work on is getting my thoughts in order before I write. Most the time for these posts I just sit down and write until I am done or I run out of time. If I want what I write to be read than I need to focus on getting my thoughts together in a clear and cohesive manner. This will make it easier to read and follow my writing and (hopefully) grant me a larger audience. At some point I hope people will share what I write with others because they enjoy it and think their friends will too.

            I am open to suggestions on topics to write about but currently my favorite topics include politics, creative writing, and satire. I really enjoy writing that makes me laugh as I write it. As more and more people read what I write I hope they give me feedback on what they like and don’t like. This does not mean I will change my opinions to fit whatever other people want me to write, it just means that I will try to write more of those types of posts.

            I currently have a fantasy story in the works I’m calling Wizards and Warriors and plan to release it per chapter/ section. I am not going to give anything away but it should be a very interesting story. I will also be working on my writing skills through free writes and whatever practice/class I can find online. I will still be writing political stuff as it comes up but we all need a break from that from time to time. Feel free to let me know what you think, share my writing and leave comments.

 

Thanks,

Cody Benson

My Reply to Senator Merkley Regarding Neil Gorsuch

“Even before President Donald Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to serve on the Supreme Court in January, I knew that I would oppose his appointment.” Meaning it did not really matter who he picked I was going to oppose him because it is Donald Trump. Having already made up your mind, you set about to oppose whoever was picked, not because you truly believe they were a bad pick for the Supreme Court, but because you hate Republican’s and President Trump so much. You then go on to say “[A]s every day goes by, it becomes clearer and clearer that a very dark shadow hangs over this President and this administration.” You just state that as if it were fact without any evidence. You try to back it up by saying he is under investigation for “potential collusion with Russia to influence and undermine our election.” It is true that the FBI is looking into it but they have not found anything yet, nor have they concluded the investigation. I remember that people in the United States are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law by a jury of their peers.

            You then go on to say Gorsuch views are out of the “judicial mainstream.” What is that supposed to mean? It seems to mean that he does not want to use the judicial system to push a mainstream agenda. Most people see that as a good thing. He is also an originalist (someone who believes that the Constitution and the law should be interpreted as perceived at the time of enactment) and a textualist (someone who things laws should be interpreted literally, not however he feels like they should be interpreted).

            You poison the well by saying things like “infamous Hobby Lobby decision” “Embraced the disturbing philosophy”. These are meant to give boring legal decisions a scary overtone. Hobby Lobby was about a company’s freedom to provide or not provide specific contraception’s. Hobby Lobby did not want “prevent women from accessing contraception through their insurance plans.” Instead they did not believe, from a religious perspective, in certain kinds of contraception’s. It is this kind of over simplification that you use to make mountains out of mole hills. You go on to call other decisions of his “both offensive and far outside the mainstream.” While I can see both sides to these cases and a choice one way or the other would be a hard one to make, just because you think he made the wrong choice does not make him the evil terrible person you claim him to be. He has said and shown time and again that he will follow the law as written.

            You end your hit piece by saying “the Founders made clear that our government was for “We the People.”” That is just flat out wrong. Our government is not for We the People, our government is We the People, a very important distinction that you seem to forget. Gorsuch is not for big corporations or special interests, he is for the original interpretation of the Constitution in the context of the time it was written and the literal textual meaning of the law, not what he personally believes is right or wrong or if he is on the right or wrong side of history. You are right in saying our We the People government is at stake, but not from Neil Gorsuch, but from lying ideologues who believe they and their party know better than We the People and seek to force their perceived vision of the anointed onto us dirty unwashed masses. You know people like you.

The original piece by Senator Jeff Merkley

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/58e2c2fee4b09deecf0e193f

Breaking News: Trump Reveals Russian Connection and Fascism with One Order

          Since his election, rumors have been circulated among the media, intellectuals on college campus, and Hollywood elites, also known as people with the right ideas. They make connections from the Trump campaign and Russia and how they conspired to rig the election so Putin could put his man in the white house. It is as clear as day for anyone to see the connection, but the alt-right and the Nazi’s all want proof of this. They should just believe what they are told, because it is for the good of the world to do so. Also if they don’t we are going to punch them.

            Included in these truths that cannot be questioned is the fact that Trump wants to be a dictator in a very fascist way. NoFact news even has evidence to prove all of this is true. The proof will shock you and could have been missed if not for the dedication to truth and integrity of our hardworking, honest, upstanding reporters. They are great reporters and work tirelessly to bring you the truth on all things about Cheeto-and-Chief, President Twitter himself. No biased reporting or fluff pieces, just hard facts and truth. We are truthful and the Fuhrer Toupee is a lying, hate spewing, racist, sexist, homophobe, Islamaphobe, Xenophobe, Transphobe, who steals candy from babies and punches grandma’s at nursing homes, while driving a Hummer that only gets 2 miles per gallon of whale oil, which he gets from all the whales he kills.

            The proof of all this was revealed last night, while at a restaurant in the DC area, one of our reporters spotted Neo-Hitler Trump as he sat down to eat dinner. The reporter got close enough to hear what was being said and recorded the whole thing. Words like Caesar and Russian were thrown around a lot by the Not My President as he was talking with a man in a white shirt and black tie. When confronted later the man insisted he was just a waiter, but with a name like Peter, it was quite clear he is a Russian operative. The most shocking of all things was when this Russian operative brought out a plate full of lettuce, croutons, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and black pepper. Some sort of secret communication no doubt between Putin and President Tiny Hands. Then the operative asked a question, which the reply was “Russian”. The operative, understanding the code word handed Fuhrer Cheeto-Tiny Hands a small bottle of pink thick liquid. He poured it all over the plate, a clearly secret answer to the operative who walked away.

            NoFact Fact checkers have been hard at work decoding this exchange. So far Caesar seems to mean, I will be Fuhrer and Russian means Putin. The fact that he poured the liquid over the plate means that his dream of being Fuhrer of America is mixed together with Putin. A clear and obvious sign of collusion between Putin and He Who Shall Not Be My President to put President Toupee in as Fuhrer of America to work for Putin. Anyone who can see anything else is just an ignorant uneducated idiot who should never be listened too because they are just in a cult dedicated to Lord Cheeto himself. With this evidence, the President should stop destroying the country and step down as president and Bernie Sanders should be put into the office, because he is the most honest, caring, trustworthy person ever (and he is socialist and everyone knows socialism is the best government ever).

Posting opinions and self-censorship

I have thinking about posting opinions publicly on Facebook or wherever a lot lately. The fact that I keep returning to this idea means that it is something that bothers me. A bit of background about myself. I was very shy as a kid and a teenager. So much so that I remember having a hard time ordering food at a fast food restaurant because I would get anxious to talk to the cashier. What if I didn’t know the answer to the question they asked, what if I order the food wrong and they get upset? It seems silly now to think about that but those questions actually went through my mind. As I grew older and was forced to talk to people for my job at Target or to get the things I wanted I became more and more comfortable with myself. I spent a lot of time reading books on how to talk to girls (as a young man that was pretty much on my mind all the time) and experience doing interviews at Target I learned a few things.

One that most people are just as self-absorbed as I was, meaning that the minor interaction that I built up in my mind as a huge deal, would not be remembered 5 minutes after the interaction happened. Two that people were just as worried about how other people saw them as I was. Three, life goes on, even if you make a fool of yourself, you learn from your mistakes and become better (so what if a girl shoots you down, there are 5 more girls right over there, every no is just one step closer to a yes. I am now married to the most amazing woman ever so it really does work).

So how does this tie in with posting or saying opinions publicly? The same anxiousness I felt as a teenager ordering food from a cashier is the same anxiousness I feel when posting things on Facebook. What if my friends don’t like my point of view and laugh at me about it? What if they retort what I am saying and I don’t have an answer for them and I look foolish? Very real concerns in our current social and political climate.

Listening to Professor Jordan Peterson, he said something to the effect of (talking about how to combat social justice/political correctness in the college classroom) you can either stand up and say what you think is true or stay silent and let it corrupt your soul (read soul as consciousness). He also followed it up with you better have your arguments in order and believe what you are saying and stand behind what you say, because that is how you will educate yourself (not an exact quote but here is a link to the video I was watching https://youtu.be/pa8po_9anHU). It is okay to stand up and say what you believe is true, someone will come along and tell you that you are wrong and if you are wrong or can’t think of an argument to refute them go and think about it. Maybe you are wrong, or maybe you just don’t know enough yet.

My opinion on posting publicly has changed a little bit since the last time I wrote about it. I think that not saying your opinion when you want to is a form of self-censorship. It is easier to go along to get along and to keep your mouth shut. Yet self-censorship is just as bad as external censorship. Both force you to keep something bottled up inside until it comes out in a different way (violence, passive aggression, addiction or any number of ways). Why should we be afraid to say what we think just because people will call us names and socially shame us (or at least attempt to)? Biologically we have a drive to not upset the group because in our past being exiled from the group would mean less chance for survival. You can even see a modern parallel to that today with people being fired because they think differently from the group or post something on Twitter that someone finds offensive. I can understand the reason for wanting to keep the calm and live a life in peace. Yet I keep thinking, at some point I will be in the crosshairs and want someone to stand up for me but if I don’t stand up for others there will be no one left to stand with me.

I am not saying you need to post nothing but political stuff on Facebook. In fact that can get a bit annoying at times. Instead I am saying you should feel free to express your point of view, who knows, your point of view may be right. You’ll never know though until you express it and have to stand behind that point of view. Instead, what I am saying is don’t be afraid to say what you are thinking. If someone posts something and you disagree or think they are wrong and want to say something, than say something. Don’t be afraid of your freedom of speech, censorship is what social justice warriors want, they don’t care if it is self-imposed or they have to physically impose it (and they have and will). So get your ideas in order, learn to express them intelligently, and be ready to stand behind them.

Nazi: Punching them, looking for them, and identifying them

The term Nazi appeared in Germany in the early 20^th century and meant someone who was a member of the national socialist workers party. The word quickly grew into one that brought dread to those that heard it as Hitler rolled across Europe. After WWII the word took on even a more horrific meaning when it came fully into the light what Hitler and the Nazi’s had done. Since then Nazi has been used to disparage people who show fascist tendencies or anti-Semitic views. Lately in America the term Nazi has been used to describe the other party’s candidate, usually the winning candidate. Currently the mainstream media, protesters, college students and Democratic politicians have been calling Donald Trump a fascist and his followers Nazi’s.

            Richard Spencer was punched in the head by an Antifa (Antifascist) protester. Richard Spencer is a white nationalist. He believes in a white ethno state but has not come out and said he wants violence against people of other races. Instead he just wants them separated, basically think segregation. That’s enough attention to that guy, the real story here is what happened afterward. People came out and said it is okay to punch a Nazi. They would use excuses like Holocaust happen if you don’t punch Nazi’s or people on believe Nazi stuff because they did not have that punched out of them as a kid.

What makes this terrible is since the National Socialist Workers Party does not exist anymore how do you determine who is a Nazi and who isn’t. This line of thinking can lead you to look at someone’s actions to see if they are a Nazi. But what are Nazi actions? Is having a different opinion then you a Nazi action? Or is beating someone up who had a different opinion than you a Nazi action? This line of reasoning, which a lot of people in my home state subscribe to either as okay to do or okay to ignore, can lead people to just think that those who disagree with them politically are Nazi’s. Since they are Nazi’s they are okay to punch.

            In the end you cannot just know who is a Nazi. In truth very few people are Nazi’s or subscribe to Nazi ideas. Do not punch people unless you are being physically assaulted or are about to be physically assaulted. You cannot punch people just because you disagree with them and think they are Nazi’s.

Living in a Dog Rescue

“You have how many puppies at your house?”

“Six, plus 6 adult dogs”

“Oh, I’d love to be around that many dogs/puppies all the time.”

 

I have had this conversation several times. Like everything in life, it is true and untrue. First some background. My wife started her own dog rescue (Puplandia Dog Rescue, look it up and like it on Facebook). I fully supported her in this, at the time we owned 5 dogs and she was already doing volunteer work for another rescue. It quickly took off and before we knew it we had lots of dogs at our house. We were asked to foster a litter of puppies for another rescue while my wife pulled a litter of puppies out of a kill shelter. I think we had a total of 11 puppies and 8 adult dogs in the house. (Don’t worry that is not the most we have had in our house at one time. And our house is pretty small).

            When I have a conversation like the one above I just laugh (in my head) at the people who I am talking to. They only see how cute and lovable the puppy is and experience how much fun it is to cuddle and play with them. While you get that 100 times over by having the puppies at your house, you also have to clean up after them. Most people have had a puppy before, either as a kid or an adult, so they understand that it is some work to care for them. What they don’t see is that late night or early morning bark-fest one hour before you have to get up and go to work. Yes if you run a dog rescue you still have to have a regular job, got to pay the bills somehow. They don’t smell the poop filling the house after a meal. Six puppies can poop a lot and pee everywhere. They don’t just poop on the pads either, in fact they more often than not just tear them up and poop where they used to be.

            Having a litter of puppies at your house also means you are never board. They are always exploring and finding new and interesting things. Puppies don’t let you be depressed. They are always happy to see you and their sweet faces and wagging tails will bring a smile to your face. Yes it is hard work to have puppies in your home but knowing they are safe, full, happy and healthy and you go to bed exhausted only to get up in a few hours and do it all over again, you feel a sense of joy. It is hard to care for these puppies and pick up their poop and then when they are old enough find them amazing homes, but you know that all your work meant something. That you made things a little bit better, not only for the puppy you rescued but the family who adopts them and for yourself. So while I laugh (in my head) at people who say they would love to have a litter of puppies at their house, it is not because I think less of them but because I know it is true, just not in the way they think.

 

Puppies are amazing, but please do not breed your dogs, rescue. There are a lot of dogs who are euthanized every day, we don’t need to breed our dogs. If you want there are pregnant dogs in shelters that need help, but please get your pets spayed or neutered.