free speech – Odd Stuffing

Respect

Sitting during the National Anthem or Pledge of Allegiance has become the latest wave of politically correct, social justice inspired protest. Supposedly, it is being done to show solidarity with the black lives matter movement, alleged law enforcement brutalities and economic disparities. In reality, it just makes the people doing it look stupid.

Is the National Anthem or Pledge of Allegiance associated with oppression of any minority group or way of thinking in this country? Does the United States flag symbolize hate and oppression of people? I’m going to say HELL NO! It’s just the latest made up distraction designed to inject more controversy and segregation in our country during an election year.

Let’s look at the pledge:

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Somehow, somewhere, someone is translating this into hate. How exactly are they getting oppression out of “with liberty and justice for all”?

Then our National Anthem:

O! say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Written by a witness to the attack on our soil during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812, it is a celebration of our strength, stamina and persistence as a nation against the forces wanting to suppress it. Interpreting “the land of the free and the home of the brave” into an oppressive society is beyond comprehension.

Who is doing this? High profile and very highly paid athletes and now the college and high school students who are emulating them. And let’s not forget the fringe elected officials at the state and local levels. They too need to have their 15 minutes of fame so it looks like they might actually care about their communities.

First off, let’s take a look at our nation. It is called a melting pot for a reason. Our population is the descendants of immigrants from around the world. Members of every race, religion, and belief system have come to our shores looking for the better life afforded by the freedoms our Constitution and Bill of Rights guarantee. It continues, as it has since the beginning, as more come to share in the American dream.

Of course, that American dream came at a price. It was paid for with the blood of patriots, beginning with the Founding Fathers and continuing throughout our history with the men and women of our military forces. They have given their lives so that we can live free.

Among those rights is the right to free speech affirmed by the First Amendment.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Our First Amendment is unique in the world. The irony is of course that without it, the form of protest these individuals are engaging in would be unlawful and, in some nations to this day, severely punished.

So my reply to this latest group of social justice warriors, please do continue with your silent protests. It is your right and I shall defend your right to do so even if I disagree with your point of view. But don’t think it won’t come at a cost. It is also my right to reject you and those who support you. It is the right of your sponsors, employers, ad agencies and everyone who has to deal with you and your elitist views to cut their ties with you and let you dangle out there on your own.

Meanwhile, if you’d like to do something useful instead of sitting on your butt, how about spending a little bit of your eight digit salary trying to fix some of the issues you are complaining about? How about going into the communities yourself and mentoring at risk youth? How about giving a helping hand to those who don’t have and never will have the advantages you were able to obtain in “the land of the free and the home of the brave”. Maybe, just maybe, if you were to teach them what our National Anthem stands for, they too would help our nation achieve “liberty and justice for all.” Maybe if you showed a little respect, they would too.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #respect, #nationalanthem, #pledgeofallegiance, #constitution, #billofrights, #firstamendment, #mewe, #oddstuffing.com

Sticks & Stones

By now you’ve likely heard of the latest American college student fad – the “safe space”. A protected haven from the cruel outside world, it is a place where words that injure or harm cannot be spoken so feelings cannot be hurt.

What the hell has happened to our youth?!?

The epicenter of this sub-societal trend seems to be the students of the University of Missouri. The poster child for which is the now terminated Assistant Communications Professor Melissa Click who was seen assaulting a student journalist and yelling profanities at a police officer. As part of this saga, the University Police Department even encouraged students to report incidents where their feelings were hurt.

The most recent example comes from Georgia’s Emory University where 40 students reported feeling “afraid” and “in pain” due to a number of political messages written in chalk around the campus. The messages? Trump 2016.

The following quote seems to capture the essence of the situation there: “I’m supposed to feel comfortable and safe [here]. But this man is being supported by students on our campus and our administration shows that they, by their silence, support it as well. … I don’t deserve to feel afraid at my school.”

Afraid? Afraid of what??

When I was a child – many, many years ago, my parents taught me a simple saying: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. The lesson is ever so easy. No matter what the words, they cannot harm you.

Fast-forward to our college campuses today. What kind of a country have we become where our college students, the next generation of community, business and political leaders, need to be protected from words? These are supposedly intelligent young men and women who displayed enough intellect to be admitted to an institution of higher learning. What does this say about the colleges and universities themselves? Is setting up “safe spaces” where feelings won’t be hurt actually preparing them for… well, anything in the real world? What are the job prospects for a college graduate who – when they see or hear something that falls outside their narrow belief system – feels ‘hurt’, ‘afraid’ or ‘in pain’, and thinks protesting from a “safe space” is the preferred course of action? And when the HELL did we stop teaching kids about Sticks and Stones?

This nation’s Founding Fathers were so concerned with freedom and individual rights that the first set of Amendments to the United States Constitution is the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment states:

Notice it does NOT say – unless someone’s feelings could be hurt. I have no doubt the Founding Fathers understood granting everyone freedom of speech would be problematic. Inevitably, there will be times when views opposite to one’s own will be spoken. No other person is under any obligation to listen or even pay attention to them, but the person speaking does have the absolute right to speak.

This is why I have always felt the First Amendment is simultaneously the most difficult and the most important of rights. I may not like and I could even be disturbed by what someone else has to say. But if I do not defend that person’s right to speak it, who is to say my right to speak won’t be taken away next. Rights are funny that way. If not vigorously defended by everyone, for everyone, they can easily slip away.

An update: A recent report from University of Missouri indicates they are bracing for a 25% decrease in enrollments this year resulting in significant facility and staff layoffs. At the same time all other colleges and universities in Missouri are expecting record increases in applications.

Maybe there’s a chance for a few of our youth after all.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #sticksandstones, #safespace, #1stamendment, #constitution #billofrights

The Boss vs. The Leader

Sorry Springsteen fans, he isn’t The Boss I’m talking about. This is nonetheless a slight tangent from my usual post topics. A Facebook post I shared this past week brought to light a topic I have been thinking about for a while and I thought this would be a good opportunity to explore it further. Bear with me for a bit and I’ll bring it back around.

The boss is known by many titles: owner, manager, supervisor, crew chief, team lead and so on. Unless you work for yourself, it’s the person you work for. The leader on the other hand is the one who leads or commands others. Is there a distinction? I say there is. While a boss may be a leader, the leader doesn’t necessarily have to be the boss.

Workplace bosses may or may not be person we want to work for. They may just be the person who has been there the longest, had the right connections or was in the right place at the right time to get the job. Managing other workers or operations isn’t always the career path people want. Some get tossed into it with hopes they’ll be able to make it work. Some absolutely excel while others do not. Often times the only choice for unhappy employees is to go elsewhere.

If it sounds like I’m being hard on the boss, I am. It’s an extraordinarily difficult job and not everyone is cut out for it. It’s a lot more than policies, processes, procedures and catch phrases. I’ve always contended that managing mechanical, technical or other ‘things’ is easy, it’s the human part of the job that is difficult. Like many people, I’ve been on both sides of the equation and have seen the good, the bad and the very, very ugly.

Leaders on the other hand tend to be those we make a conscious decision to be with. In employment, we gravitate towards or stay with those we see as leaders with a vision we share. Leaders take the time to understand motivation and how it relates to individual and group success. They are fiercely protective of those they lead and are often more critical of their own abilities than of those around them.

Leadership skills, just like management skills, can be taught, trained, nurtured and grown. However just as wealth, stature, family or association does not equal success; education, training and experience don’t make one successful either. There is that something extra, that personal secret sauce an individual brings with them that determines the outcome.

Leadership is also very situational dependent. The individual contributor in one situation may be the leader in the next. Each of us has times we lead as well as times we follow. And not every situation demands a strong and dynamic leader to be successful. Standing in the produce section of your local market with a dory yelling THIS IS SPARTA!! isn’t going to get you extra discounts at checkout. There is also one of my favorite leadership quotes: “You know what they call a leader with no followers? Just a guy talking a walk.”

So why is this pertinent? This is an election year and a lot is riding on our vote. Our next President will shape national and foreign policy as well as determine the balance of the Supreme Court for at least the next generation to come. The results could very well gut the protections we now enjoy under the Bill of Rights. Elements of the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments could be dramatically reinterpreted or revoked in totality in the name of progress towards a self-serving political agenda.

Our votes will decide who sits in the President’s chair as well as many other critical matters on Election Day. We can choose the leader we want to follow, or the boss we have no choice but to follow.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #thebossvstheleader, #leadership, #2016elections, #billofrights, #bornintheusa

Free Speech Will Survive

This past week Facebook announced additional updates and enforcement of their terms of service for individuals offering firearms for sale on the social media platform as well as on its photo-sharing site Instagram. Post, threads and entire pages began disappearing around the country. Not only were individual’s sale posts targeted, but also legitimate retailers and firearms related information exchange groups, both private and public as well as the individuals who served as administrators on the offending pages.

Lesser reported on but also impacted were Curio & Relic collectors who possess Type 3 Federal Firearms Licenses (FFL’s) who are legally permitted to do non-dealer acquisitions in most places outside of California. Also caught up in recent sweeps have been the marijuana dispensaries that, while legal, licensed, taxed and regulated in their area, have also been given the boot.

The seemingly randomness of the enforcement, immediately and unceremoniously unpublishing some pages while leaving other competing pages intact, removing some posts but leaving others of nearly identical content, lead many to believe the cause was everything from algorithms run amuck, solo malcontents with an axe to grind, local activists & NIMBY’ers to a coordinated national gun control group attack. The result has been a lot of confusion, finger pointing and even some allies turning against each other.

Of course, the timing – as the presidential primaries are just getting under way, smack of politically motivated censorship aimed at disrupting opponent’s focus on the candidates and elections. Probably a coincidence, but who knows.

Regardless of how it was implemented, Facebook states the new policy arose from the company’s review of its rules following its recent efforts to encourage new forms of commerce on the site.

Believe it or not, this isn’t something new. Facebook announced restrictions on commercial activity back in 2014. See the press release here: http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/03/facebook-instagram-announce-new-educational-and-enforcement-measures-for-commercial-activity/

A couple of things to keep in mind here: We use Facebook’s social media platform for free. Unless you pay for ads for non-restricted products, there is no cost. And to Facebook, YOU are the product. They make BILLIONS of dollars a year selling access to us and information about our likes, habits and… well more information than we really want to admit they have about us.

The discouraging thing here is Facebook has become a staple in a lot of our lives. We use it to communicate and stay in touch with friends, family and other like-minded folks around town, the country and the world with just a few likes. Companies use it to communicate with customers. Government entities use it to inform the citizens they serve. Clubs, religious institutions, neighborhoods and information sharing groups use it to communicate with members. Its ubiquitous nature, being on our computers, tablets, and mobile phones lets us get news about what’s going on in Facebook faster and often more reliably than we can from traditional news outlets. It has connected more people than has ever been possible before. Because of this, we’ve become far too reliant on a single tool that is subject to the whim of someone who may or may not agree with our point of view.

While Facebook is free and open to all, we tend to forget this environment is owned and operated by a corporation; it is not a free, open space like the Internet itself, even though it may feel like it. While I expect there to be 1st Amendment challenges to these latest actions, the private product terms of use will most certainly prevail, even though Facebook seems to have broken some of it’s own rules enforcing it.

If you’re thinking what’s next, you’re not alone. Who’s to say Facebook won’t expand the definition of banned content to include religious practices, the promotion of civil rights, criticism of the government, or even criticism of Facebook policy.

Personally I find it sad Facebook has chosen this heavy-handed approach. One would think they could more effectively encourage legal behavior, even if they don’t especially like it – by facilitating the actions and ensuring it remains legal, instead of slamming the door on those who participate in it.

If nothing else, this latest action provides opportunity to a number of alternative social media platforms and sites such as MeWe, Gun District and many others who are vying for the customers, traffic and revenue Facebook is turning away.

Yes, I have voiced my dissatisfaction to Facebook about their new policy and enforcement practices and will continue to do so. Will Facebook give a tinker’s damn about anything I say, one user out of 1.59 billion? I seriously doubt it. But then again, I’m not the only one.

Legal, responsible commerce will survive. The free exchange of ideas and information will survive. Free speech will survive. It may just happen outside of Facebook.

Bob

p.s. Odd Stuffing content is also available at www.oddstuffing.com and on MeWe at https://mewe.com/join/odd_stuffing – just in case.

#oddstuffing #neverdoubt #facebookcensorship #2ndamendment #freespeech