The 3 R's

I spend way too much time on Facebook.  Way. Too. Much. Time.  I am not sure when it started that Facebook became a routine rather than a sometime distraction, but I have decided that if it is my intention to write a blog that is one part love letter to humanity, one part 4th step work, and 8 parts social observation and commentary;  Facebook is the greatest research tool I could have asked for.

There is a lot of political commentary on Facebook and it is very clear by which shares we all chose to re-share or like where our politics may lean.  For example, it is highly unlikely you will ever see me re-post anything from George W. Bush's page (we aren't friends in real life, let alone on Facebook and I didn't want to follow him when he was the President).  And very similarly, I am sure that when I re-post things from Rachel Maddow or Ready For Hillary, a good portion of my friends roll their eyes.  Some may even get mad.  I used to get mad about certain political posts.  The drug-testing welfare recipients posts have sent me over the edge;  and any post which describes another human being as an "illegal", can still ruffle my feathers.  But for the most part, I have chosen to stop paying attention to either side because I have realized that being a raging lunatic, on one side or the other, in most of these debates, is entirely the problem.

I have also realized that most people don't even really think their thoughts all of the way through.  Frankly, people don't think much of anything all of the way through.  They look at one or two sides of something, but never the entire implication of their thought.  They were indoctrinated by their parents or families or spouses and none of us have really probably ever sat down and thought most of the things we believe all of the way through; all of the way around.  Nor have we bothered to come up with any answers to the problems.  We get as far as saying something is either wrong or right, very self-righteously I might add, and then leave the "how to fix it" to someone else. Even the fixes some people have usually only serve to to be fixes for half of the problem.  For example, building better walls to keep people out of the country only serves to keep people out of the country.  It does nothing to help the people who are coming here because they are living in violent, untenable, situations that you and I could not survive for a nanosecond.  But I guess that's not our problem as long as they aren't here.

The other thing related to politics I see a lot of on Facebook are posts about "rights".  We are crack-whores about our rights.  We have the right to bear arms, the right to marry, the right to an abortion.  We have a 24-hour news cycle with the right to say what ever we want, truth optional. We have the right to believe in any God or Goddess we choose.  Or none at all.  We are rights-mongers.  Seriously.  We may not know anything else about how this country works, but we sure as Hell know what our rights are.  Unfortunately, what I see less of on Facebook and in this country are the other R's that come with rights.  You probably didn't even know that your rights came with blood-brothers. Because they are the forgotten siblings.  The other kids that pale in the shadow of the strong and perfect child that everyone likes and fawns over.  Yet, they are perhaps epically more important than your rights: Responsibility and Reason.

We forget in our zeal to declare our rights that with any given "right" comes the responsibility to manage that right in a reasonable way. For example, as a women in the state of California, I have the right to make reproductive choices.  I have the right to seek out an abortion.  And with that right comes the responsibility to try and avoid having to consider that as an option.  To only exercise that right if and when it is, for me, the only reasonable option.  It does not give me the right to carelessly behave however I want, or to disregard my responsibilities which, if I am sexually active, are to prevent unwanted pregnancy to the best of my ability. Another example would be the right to bear arms.  You have the right to bear arms in a reasonable and responsible way.  So, just because you can own a gun, and in your community carry it openly, is it reasonable and/or responsible to go to your local Target fully armed?  Are you expecting a revolution at Target or are you just trying to shove your "rights" down other people's throats? Interestingly, most of us have the "right" to vote, the single most important aspect of the democracy which gives us the rest of our rights and yet I have never seen anyone walk around with their voter's registration form tattooed on their body.  I guess that right isn't as titillating....voting isn't sexy or controversial.

I learn a lot from Facebook.  About this country and the people in it.  We are a young country and it would seem that the populace of the country is a reflection of that youth.  Not necessarily in age, but in demeanor.  Our behavior is juvenile when it comes to our politics and our rights.  We are uninformed but passionate.  Licensed to drive but unsafe.  We know everything despite limited education and experience.  And we react without thinking.  A lot. But like young people we have a lot of potential.  We have the amazing opportunity to not make the same mistakes our parents did.  We have the ability to do things differently, to pay attention to what worked and didn't work in the past.  To come into our own as reasonable, responsible adults.  To grow up.  We have the ability in this country to grow up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTjMqda19wk