THIMK! Brexit, Mad Magazine and MEMES

THIMK!

I had a teacher once in high school who had this printed on the chalkboard all the time. I didn't really understand at the time, not being around for the THINK slogan from IBM in the 50s and not being a fan of MAD Magazine, or the subsequent THIMK Magazine. But it was still effective and I did always try to think before I spoke. Research a bit if I wasn't sure.

This post is about politics, sort of, so get out now if you're easily insulted. I say "sort of" because it's not about the candidates running for President in the US. It's not really even directly about Brexit.

But it IS about an epiphany of sorts. Okay maybe not an epiphany. A realization? A light bulb moment?

Social Media SUCKS! Not in every aspect of course, but in the political arena? Absolutely SUCKS!

I've always said that if you did your research, if you were thinking for yourself, if you knew the reasons WHY you backed a particular candidate, or supported a particular party, then I respect you. Whether or not we agree about anything, I respect you as someone who thinks. We can agree to disagree. We can have discussions. But if you believe something vehemently and have no idea why? No respect at all. If your support is based upon a collection of idiotic memes on social media and you can't give one reason why you believe what you do, other than spouting insults and getting mad and calling people morons, which is NOT a discussion by the way, then GO HAVE A SEAT.

But here's what happened to me for the past two mornings over coffee. As usual, I scroll through Facebook. Laughing at cats with brain freeze or Chewbacca Mom or looking at vacation and wedding photos of my friends. That usually includes gorgeous photos of Scotland as I follow a lot of Scotland photography pages.

I love Scotland. I've made no secret of it. Even my DNA test shows that I'm SO Scottish. I love visiting. I can't count the hours I poured over articles and tier levels for visas and all the requirements, which I can't seem to meet so I could move there. I'm also sort of obsessed with all things British. I don't know if anglophile covers all of the UK or not but I am one for sure. So naturally I do see things on Facebook from time to time about Free Scotland and Brexit.

Naturally I don't offer up an opinion because I am not educated on politics in the UK. And I don't live there. But I couldn't help but form at least precursory opinions on it. Was I rooting for an Independent Scotland? Yes. Because I don't know all of the implications and consequences. I only remembered what I learned in history classes.

So now, naturally, I tend to, being as uneducated on Brexit as I was on an Independent Scotland, root for a vote for the UK to leave the EU. Save your angry emails. I've already said I realize the extent to which I am in the dark. And my opinion doesn't matter one whit. I. Don't. Live. There.

I saw an article a friend liked and it was all about how the only smart thing for the UK to do is to vote to leave the EU. I read it. I "liked" the page it was shared from. I wondered a bit about the ins and outs and consequences and if they were worth it and wondered how I'd feel if I lived there. And I went on about my day.

This morning, however, I woke up to my feeds absolutely flooded, because I "liked" that one pro-leaving page, with memes and articles and graphs and charts and rhetoric about why anyone who votes to stay in the EU is an absolute brainless moron. You know I've just finished clicking on most of them and reading what appeared to be well thought out, reasonable reasons. Clever memes were abundant. Just like the US. Just as "absolute." Just as cut and dried. Just as persuasive.

Thing is, in the US, I AM educated on politics in general and specifically, I've made sure to educate myself on the candidates, such as they are. I've lived here my entire life so I know the history and the rhetoric and the "party-line" and everything that goes with it all. Well, to the best of my ability. I believe I have the ability to see the overall picture, not just through a knothole in the fence, but on a ladder, overlooking the fence. The bigger picture. And it takes me less than 2 seconds to see through the stupid memes and seemingly convincing numbers on graphs and charts.

I shake my head in disbelief at some of my "Facebook friends" and so-called educated people who not only fall for, but pass along the most ridiculous things on Facebook. They rant and call people names. They threaten to unfriend people. And it's so obvious they have no idea what they're on about and couldn't answer even the simplest of questions as to why they believe what they do. I think HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN? To seemingly educated, intelligent people?

Well, now I know.

I'm not all that. No one is going to mistake me for Einstein or Hawking. But I try to learn. Every day.

And a precursory look at the flood of "information" in my feeds this morning taught me something very important. Two things really. And may have helped me understand a little about HOW people get so easily sucked in. 1. People are lazy. 2. Uninformed people are easily manipulated.

Now I have no clue whether leaving the EU or remaining is best for the UK. My feeds suggest leaving is the ONLY WAY. But I know how skewed that is. And as I read the articles, I was basically convinced they were 100% right. Because I haven't done my research. Because I didn't check their sources. Because "it all sounded right." I did have alarm bells going off in my head though. I knew, deep down, that I couldn't be lazy and just believe whatever was in my feeds this morning.

What I want to know is WHERE ARE THE ALARMS in the heads of all these people in my feeds every day posting political memes about the election here in the US? Are they just too lazy to research? Are they just indoctrinated from childhood?  Conditioned by the media? Or are they more calculated, sitting back to see what "the majority" thinks - what bandwagon the hipsters and "cool" people hitch up to - before deciding what "side" they're going to be on. From what "pulpit" they will look down on the mass ignorance and at whom they should shout insults?

I'm now at the bottom of my pot of coffee so I'll bottom-line it quickly: EDUCATE YOURSELVES before opening your mouths. Know what you believe and WHY. Be someone who helps not hinders. Do not be someone who is so easily manipulated. No matter what you decide to stand for, STAND for it or "you'll fall for anything."

Be aware of The Third Wave.

THIMK!

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Going Green?

Not a nail polish post and probably not going to be a popular post AT ALL, but sometimes I just get fired up. Yes, I get fired up about things from time to time and sometimes they're silly things. Sometimes they're huge, Big Picture type things. Maybe this falls somewhere in the middle. Or maybe not. Maybe it IS a Big Picture kind of thing?

A friend just posted something on her Facebook wall that got me thinking. (Yeah, not always a good idea! LOL!) It may be totally made up, it may partially true or less likely, even 100% true. Don't know and that's not really the point.


Here it is: (possibly by George Stockman)

VERY LONG but definitely worth reading......Checking out at the grocery store recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. I apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days." The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations." She was right about one thing -- our generation didn't have the green thing in “Our” day. So what did we have back then…? After some reflection and soul-searching on "Our" day here's what I remembered we did have.... Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles repeatedly. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day. We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day. Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right. We didn't have the green thing back in our day. Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right. We didn't have the green thing back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?


And here was my knee-jerk response:


Back then, it was common sense and necessity. Now, what little "green" stuff there is just happens to be the politically correct, "in" thing. There seems to be a shortage of common sense and instead of people finding out what's what, what was, facts, details, you know, actual INFORMATION, they're used to just listening to whatever someone else tells them. Conditioning has never been easier. Or scarier. In and of itself, the "green" thing isn't scary, but what it (and this in particular) says about people certainly is. The other things people just take on blind faith certainly ARE. 


I know, it's not the most eloquent response. I am not a writer by trade. Nor am I necessarily the most politically-minded person. I do care about and pay attention to politics as much as I can stand without going off the deep end, though. And I do notice what goes on around me, for the most part. 


Sometimes I luck into a group of people who make me feel like the least intelligent person in the room, which oddly is not a feeling I dislike. I love learning and hearing new thoughts and ideas. Thankfully, I never feel too dumb to process them on my own and come to my own conclusions, though. I may not be the best or the brightest, but I certainly have no fears that I am easily manipulated. Not something I can say about a lot of people I meet.


Other times, I am convinced that the majority of people I come in contact with are just plain stupid and haven't had a thought of their own maybe ever.


When I read things like this, or watch something like Jaywalking, or most of the political pundits and talking-heads, it just crawls right up my spine and tries to explode my brain.


Okay, back to "pointless musings over a cup of coffee" and nail polish.