The stress of it all.  The underlying anxiety of the state of the world, of work, of life, of situations, of decision made or not made, of age, danger, dying.  We wake up after a night of beating ourselves up; our minds alive with thoughts not our own.  We don’t talk about it, but it shows in our eyes.

The lies, the tribulation, the possibilities lost, the unrequited potential, the apathy.  It all tears at our conscious, our soul.  We drink coffee in the morning, and during the day, or after work, we drink to calm our nerves as thoughts re-enter our minds, our day is replayed.  It never ends.

That person that we know, the one that says the little things that sticks with us.  That news item that we couldn’t resist watching, the Facebook post that irked us.  The phone.  The fucking phone.  Texting.  We are alone and never alone and we watch as the world barrels down a one-way street towards a brick wall.

And each day, each hour, each minute time winds down and our live are shorter.  We forget how short life is, how amazing it could be for us.  How incredible it is and how worthwhile.

Happiness is the one decision, is self-forgiveness and is not battery operated.

The idea of home is one that is important to all of us, and it comes at a price.  Home can be the house that we live in, the people we live with, or the country that we were born in; most likely it is all of the above.

Like most ideas, the reality of home often does not live up to our expectations, but then again, our expectations are often unrealistic.  To be home is to be secure, safe, and yourself.  Home ought to be where there are people that we care about, that we love, and the country that we call home ought to encompass our social and cultural beliefs while at the same time allowing for others theirs.

There are those that would break in our homes, and there are those in our families that we do not always get along with, and it is inevitable that there are those in our country that we passionately disagree with.

But, to have a home we must somehow rise above these realities.  We cannot let the issues and problems that goad us, define us.  We must open the doors and enter our homes with an open heart, ready to defend it if necessary, ready to argue a point and listen to someone we disagree with, and we must hope that the beliefs of some in our country, no matter how immoral, can be changed and they changed in to better people.

We must be happy to come home, and if we are not then it was never a home in the first place.

Everything will be OK.

Things will work out.

Have something good to eat, you have a few friends, and somewhere safe to sleep.  Help someone get those things.

Get up and enjoy some coffee.  Watch as the sun comes up and go outside, enjoy the heat.

Pet your pet.  Kiss your best friend.  Stretch your legs.  Look up. Put your phone down.

Don’t dismiss the things that are going on, but don’t let them devour you.

Have some cake.  Smile.  And say hello to strangers.

Plan for tomorrow

Remember, life is short.

It will be OK.

The state of the United States is not good, and this is not a normal time.  Most of us know the details.  Stress levels are high and “the line” is nearing us.

This is a time when most of us need to know two things.

When to act and what to do.

Experience often dictates the answer to the first question and necessity often dictates the second.  When in doubt, ask questions.  What do I do is often followed by what can I do.

Do what you can when you act, and do the best you can.  It is time for good people to do good things.

But glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity                   -Neil Peart/Rush

Yes, we all know the feeling of falling for the glittering prizes, and we all have made endless compromises.  But to do so for the sole sake of profit is is not to shatter the illusion of integrity, it is to show the true nature of our motivations.  The illusion is, then, that we had integrity in the first place.

To lie, to ourselves and others, about the integrity of our actions, is to compromise ourselves and those we lie to.  These are all ideas that we claim to share and believe in, but it is unfortunately a rarity to find those that live these ideas.

Talk is cheap, but morality is expensive and cannot be bought with a credit card or a smile.  We all make those compromises and sell a little of our integrity at times, but the secret is to acknowledge, buy back, and get on track again.

We have one life, and we have one chance.  Don’t let “glittering prizes and endless compromises” shatter the reality of integrity.

We are sometimes called elitists.  We are educated, we are curious, we are moved and motivated, we expect much from the world and more from ourselves; we are impatient with the lack of progress and intolerant of ignorance.  We have no time for stupidity and understand that respect is earned.

We refine our tastes in order to raise them from the sugar-salt-fat floor of our society’s “taste”.  We do not accept that humanity is limited by its ignorance, but only by its ignorant bliss. We understand that we are in the end apes that want comfort and power, and are curious but have lost our way and have been led astray.

We do not look down at the masses, but  we have licked our laziness and dismissed norms. We understand that the masses have the potential to raise themselves up out of the shallow pit of consumerism. We also understand that they have never done so and probably will not rise to the occasion this time, unless they are given the opportunity.

We have simply decided not to wait any longer.

Be firm, and be exact, but don’t be rude. Rely on truth and not persuasion. Rely on and expect inherent consistencies in yours and others arguments, and not an anger, emotion and rhetoric. Do not give in to fear or intimidation. If you lose a friend, they weren’t a friend in the first place.

At the end of the day, no one likes conflict, not face to face.  And so much of our conversation has reverted to online comments and retorts.  This is unfortunate.  Argumentation has been a cornerstone of civil progress and will save us from ourselves if used properly.  if we choose to use it properly.

Arguments are often defined as a yelling match, or simply agreeing to disagree (an unfortunate and misleading phrase at best).  It is not.  When an argument presents itself rudeness is not necessary, but sometimes courage is.  What bolsters courage is knowing your stance and the reasons you consider it to be the best, the most true.  This is important.

If someone is being rude, just tell them so and just ask them why.  You are not in an argument at this point.  Let them know.  If they simply rely upon rhetoric rather than logical processes, point this out.  If they don’t know what a logical process is, explain it.  If they are apathetic, ask them why they don’t care.  Use their ignorance against them, not yours.

There is no reason to use logic against someone who isn’t interested, but there is a reason to explain the process to someone who doesn’t understand it.

We have become, perhaps we have always been, a society that is nothing if not emotional and rhetorical but we can strive for more, and we must, when we are after that illusive concept Truth.

Logic is worth the trouble, and lies are worth the time to point them out.  It’s high-time that we stand up against those that don’t know and those that don’t care.

If you disagree with an argument, know precisely why you disagree with the argument. Usually it is in the reasoning. Point out flaws.

These days, opinions, misinformation, rhetoric and ideologies make things interestingly irritating, for sure, but they don’t change the way we come by Truth.  We cannot let lies, ideologies, and persuasive rhetoric overrun the basis of civilized societies.  Some may think that the basis of Truth is technology, but the technology and progress that we have achieved, and the achievements are amazing, have only been possible because people in the past have taken the time to fight and protect Truth and the method by which we come by it.  History will attest to this.  Disagreement is an open door to argument.

There is ample opportunity for disagreement and so there is ample opportunity to learn.  An argument often starts with a claim and then is followed by a response and so on.  This is the first thing that needs to change.  How?  Ask questions.

So, you disagree with someone and you have clarified and know what they are arguing.  First, ask for all of their reasons, and then concentrate on one reason at a time.  There are three things to concentrate on: the quality of the reason itself, if the reason supports the argument, and how well the reason relates to the argument.

Afterwards, take note of any flaws and and point them out.  There are many ways of doing this, but a particular favorite method of mine is to simply follow the implications of a particular flaw to its reasonable conclusion, which if it is wrong will contradict the argument’s given conclusion.

“When an opportunity presents itself wait for the argument or ask what it is. A statement by itself is not an argument.”

We all know the type, and we all have been in those situations when someone says something prefaced by “I don’t want to argue, but…”  We all know that there is an argument there somewhere, and sometimes we have a choice, but sometimes we don’t.  We can choose to leave it alone and let it pass, but more and more we have a duty to dig a little deeper.  Often “I don’t want to argue, but…” simply means “I want to continue believing that I am correct.”  It is these times that it is our duty to dig a little deeper.

We all make claims all of the time and when we do, we must have evidence to support those claims.  Claims demand evidence.  It is not enough to make claims warranted by “I heard that…”, or “I read somewhere…”.  If that is the case, just don’t make the claims.  But when someone else supports their claims with such vague reasoning, our duty is simple: it’s time to dig.

“Where exactly did you hear/read that?”

If they don’t know, then there is no argument, and make that clear.  Don’t let things slide

The next step is on you.  An argument is a set of claims, not just one.  Some of the claims must be the evidence and that evidence must lead to a clear statement, the basis of the argument; the conclusion.  Sometimes the conclusions are prefaced by hedges like “I’m just saying…”, or “I don’t know, but…”  Listen to the words and reply accordingly.

“So, you don’t necessarily believe what you are saying?”  or,

“You don’t know, but you believe that…”

Often lies, ideological, and rhetorical claims are hidden with vague uses of language and therefore it is important for us to be precise both in our expectations of others and our expectations of ourselves.

Good luck!

A bit of logic goes a long way in a world full of baseless claims and outright lies.  There is a way to decipher information from misinformation, a way to counter the attacks on truth.  This method is often looked over in favor of persuasion, passed by for blind rhetoric.  Logic is as old as the hills, but not quite so old as lying.

Even in times of pandemics, truth must be defended against those that would dismiss it as useless, or worse, as unimportant opinions.  There are plenty of opportunities for us all to defend the honor of truth and it is becoming our duty to do so.

We cannot let lies define who we are.  We cannot let ideologies lead us into the abyss.

When an opportunity presents itself wait for the argument or ask what it is.  A statement by itself is not an argument.

If you recognize the argument, ask for evidence.  Don’t be afraid to ask, and have evidence for your own arguments.  If you don’t have evidence, simply admit your ignorance.  It’s easy.

If you disagree with an argument, know precisely why you disagree with the argument.  Usually it is in the reasoning.  Point out flaws.

Be firm, and be exact, but don’t be rude.  Rely on truth and not persuasion.  Rely on and expect inherent consistencies in yours and others arguments, and not an anger, emotion and rhetoric.  Do not give in to fear or intimidation.  If you lose a friend, they weren’t a friend in the first place.

Most importantly, speak up against misinformation and lies in every situation.  It is more important than ever these days.