Antisocial media
In which I resolve to post nothing more than cat and dog pictures on the F___B___
Below is my response, after some reflection, to comments from my friends on a post I made sharing my outrage at the new travel restrictions and punishments the Trudeau government decreed earlier this week.
I have set up my FB friends in lists so that I almost exclusively post to a select group of people who have the same outlook as me on this situation. Any time I open up a post that isn’t a cat or dog photo to a wider audience, I almost always, and nearly immediately, regret it. There seem to be a few people from my past who only come out of the woodwork to troll my posts; they do not interact with me in other ways. It’s also true that I rarely make more broadly visible posts, so the opportunities for them to interact with me are limited, and I rarely comment or react to theirs — in fact I rarely see them in my feed.
And so this morning I am contemplating two courses of action:
Stop posting and delete my account all together
Continue boldly stating my opinion and let nature take its course
I’ll continue mulling that over and will likely not actually do anything until the next time I’m overcome with outrage and press “post” before my senses take hold of me. In the meantime, I’m sharing it below because I have managed to summarize what I see as the root of the issue. I’ve added a cat photo as a reward at the end.
This subject is so complex that I don't think anyone has a complete understanding of it. I believe that our individual rights and freedoms are so vitally important -- both to individuals and to society as a whole -- that anyone who would override them shoulders an incredible burden of proof. They must show compelling and incontrovertible evidence that the violation of individual rights and freedoms is necessary and that there's no other way to achieve the desired goal. And then they must do so minimally, treading very lightly. So that's where I'm coming from. If your opinion differs on that point, we are unlikely to agree on what follows. Regardless of whether you personally would agree to give up certain freedoms does not change the fact of the Charter. Suggesting it's reasonable to ask/demand/tell others to give up their rights and freedoms because you would willingly do so ... that makes me scratch my head.
I have not seen any compelling justification from the Ontario, Quebec or Canadian governments. The more I look for it the more concerned I am. I see illogical decrees, hypocritical leaders, inequal application of the rules, abusive police action, intimidation and threats, shifting goalposts, and a desire to rule by fear and panic with zero transparency on how they arrive at their decisions and on who is making the decisions. No accountability. The mainstream media is complicit in generating fear and in not demanding accountability.
I am only somewhat familiar with what's going on elsewhere because I am more concerned with the people making rules that affect me directly, though I try to keep an eye on what's going elsewhere. I went along with the rules at the beginning, and as someone who lives in a more rural setting, working and schooling from home, and with very little need to go out, I am mostly living my life within the limits of what the government has told us to do. But I disagree and I protest. Their reasons and evidence for imposing what I see as incredibly detrimental restrictions, imo, is severely lacking. What I also see lacking is an effort to find other solutions to mitigate the risk of severe illness or death and to manage our health care system. I also see leaders turning a blind eye to the collateral devastation they are causing, as if the ends justify any and all means.
Here is a video from Ivor Cummins.
[Edit Feb 4, 2022: The fact that this video is unavailable — i.e., censored by the platform it was uploaded to — speaks volumes about the state of our “free speech”]
Do not make snide comments about getting a degree on YT. I have no tolerance for that. You don't need a degree and expertise in a field to grasp that this situation is complex and requires more nuanced interventions than locking people up at the airport. I disagree with Cummins twice in the video calling people stupid; I don't think people are stupid, not even those who disagree with me. If you think strict lockdowns and preventing travel are (or were) the solutions to the situation we're in, watch the video. At worst, you'll have wasted 20 minutes of your life. Maybe you'll have some questions, maybe you'll learn something. Maybe you'll shrug and say it doesn't matter.
On that note, I apologize for the long post and wish you a wonderful rest of the day. The sun is out. I plan to go out and get some of it on my face.
And I did. After wrestling with transferring my photos from phone to computer. Upon returning home, I found a wonderfully supportive comment on my post. I’ll leave you with the final words: “Keep disagreeing. Keep protesting. Keep protecting the Charter.”
Right on!
I always find it painful to witness the "attack-tic" behaviour of others - especially when it is directed towards me and others that I love. Their narcissistic personalities seem to allow them no other option than to shut down or cut down those who master critical thinking. It's as though you having abilities to analyze a situation is too much of a contrast to them totally lacking these skills. Their reflective processes are lazy, dis-functional or absent - attacking you is their only defence. That way they can pretend they are also able to think.
These people are to be ignored, despised or pitied, at best.