i speak with hundreds of people every month and the vast majority are struggling. beyond trying to make ends meet with rising costs and stagnant wages, they are looking to the social fabric of our nation with disquieting results. we have a racist in the white house, police continue to practice genocide on mostly young, mostly black, men. quasi-police forces are putting children in overcrowded cages and families are being torn asunder to appease racist tendencies enmeshed with isolationism. we are actively supporting both the state of israel and saudi arabia and their ongoing genocide against their perceived foes, mostly young, mostly oppressed, and wholly innocent neighbors. not only our own government, but the proxies of our most elite class are creating mayhem around the globe, seemingly praying for and perpetrating policies designed to hasten armageddon, yet we know not how to combat this influx of hate and deceit.
many are trying to understand how the other side an be so completely oblivious to the fatal fallacies in their arguments. i can not speak for them. we do, however need to hold one another to some standards. a dear friend taught me something she read about recently. we need to ask ourselves before each statement, is this true? is this necessary? is this kind? those who can answer yes to at least two of the three need to be heard. we are all smart enough to weed out the small number of statements that can only fulfill one or two of these requirements. in time we will just ignore those who do not abide be these parameters out of the public sphere. in my run for congress (to represent the people of northeast wisconsin in the u.s.house of representatives) i pledge to do everything in my power to pass comprehensive changes in the fcc regulatory scheme. the airwaves and digital communications must be made to adhere to these parameters. this is reflected in my admonition to stop making stupid people famous. those who have nothing but spite and hate, deceitful lies and unsupported innuendo in their quiver need to be shut out of public discourse.
the shift that takes place when we hold ourselves to this important standard only becomes clear when we internalize the messages behind this sort of gate-keeping. when we imagine a flow chart, there can be horrible, often veiled threats to our own humanity in the endless babble that currently takes place. asking ourselves, "is it true" sifts and winnows the lies. imagine a "news" and entertainment source such as fox "news" would cutting their programming by over half to eliminate their lies. both sides cannot be used as a ruse to allow lies to be given the weight of truth, no matter how entertaining it can be to watch ignorant people try to prop up their fictions. removing the lies from our president's speeches and tweets would eliminate over 80% of his "ideas". at that point, we could probably debate the merits of his fuzzy, convoluted logic and his exploitation of fear and hate embeded in the other 20%. lies often distract us from important truths. in our own lives, not giving voice to lies might change not only what we say, but how we think. to truly respect and sanctify one another, we need to first honor ourselves by adhering to a strict standard of being truthful. those we try to communicate with will understand that we value them as well, that is why we are putting in the effort to research and learn, making sure to speak truth.
the question "is it necessary?" has even more sweeping effects. think of all the utterly useless information the average person needs to wade through to arrive at a single shred of useful information. by paring away at unnecessary information, extraneous data, stories that are of no use and epic dramas having no bearing on our lives, how we can be more effective. our stature amongst others will be catapulted to a different realm. others, seeing the importance of what we say, will be more inclined to listen, take us more seriously and internalize the fact that we indeed care for them enough to filter out unnecessary statements.
finally, asking "is it kind?" works to prevent us from debasing others, dehumanizing them, desecrating their spirit, humiliating or shaming them. again this has massive ramifications in how we are perceived and whether or not and how well and completely people will take in ideas we have to offer. in these troubled times, it can only help to be more authentically compassionate with one another. following these simple guidelines, we will all have better communication, more meaningful interactions and much deeper experiences with one another. please join with my friend and i, our friends and family and millions of others, perhaps all six plus billion of us, to express necessary truth kindly.
ubuntu.
many are trying to understand how the other side an be so completely oblivious to the fatal fallacies in their arguments. i can not speak for them. we do, however need to hold one another to some standards. a dear friend taught me something she read about recently. we need to ask ourselves before each statement, is this true? is this necessary? is this kind? those who can answer yes to at least two of the three need to be heard. we are all smart enough to weed out the small number of statements that can only fulfill one or two of these requirements. in time we will just ignore those who do not abide be these parameters out of the public sphere. in my run for congress (to represent the people of northeast wisconsin in the u.s.house of representatives) i pledge to do everything in my power to pass comprehensive changes in the fcc regulatory scheme. the airwaves and digital communications must be made to adhere to these parameters. this is reflected in my admonition to stop making stupid people famous. those who have nothing but spite and hate, deceitful lies and unsupported innuendo in their quiver need to be shut out of public discourse.
the shift that takes place when we hold ourselves to this important standard only becomes clear when we internalize the messages behind this sort of gate-keeping. when we imagine a flow chart, there can be horrible, often veiled threats to our own humanity in the endless babble that currently takes place. asking ourselves, "is it true" sifts and winnows the lies. imagine a "news" and entertainment source such as fox "news" would cutting their programming by over half to eliminate their lies. both sides cannot be used as a ruse to allow lies to be given the weight of truth, no matter how entertaining it can be to watch ignorant people try to prop up their fictions. removing the lies from our president's speeches and tweets would eliminate over 80% of his "ideas". at that point, we could probably debate the merits of his fuzzy, convoluted logic and his exploitation of fear and hate embeded in the other 20%. lies often distract us from important truths. in our own lives, not giving voice to lies might change not only what we say, but how we think. to truly respect and sanctify one another, we need to first honor ourselves by adhering to a strict standard of being truthful. those we try to communicate with will understand that we value them as well, that is why we are putting in the effort to research and learn, making sure to speak truth.
the question "is it necessary?" has even more sweeping effects. think of all the utterly useless information the average person needs to wade through to arrive at a single shred of useful information. by paring away at unnecessary information, extraneous data, stories that are of no use and epic dramas having no bearing on our lives, how we can be more effective. our stature amongst others will be catapulted to a different realm. others, seeing the importance of what we say, will be more inclined to listen, take us more seriously and internalize the fact that we indeed care for them enough to filter out unnecessary statements.
finally, asking "is it kind?" works to prevent us from debasing others, dehumanizing them, desecrating their spirit, humiliating or shaming them. again this has massive ramifications in how we are perceived and whether or not and how well and completely people will take in ideas we have to offer. in these troubled times, it can only help to be more authentically compassionate with one another. following these simple guidelines, we will all have better communication, more meaningful interactions and much deeper experiences with one another. please join with my friend and i, our friends and family and millions of others, perhaps all six plus billion of us, to express necessary truth kindly.
ubuntu.
