Written by I originally wrote this post for Labor Day weekend, but it has come and gone. I held my tongue and never published my thoughts, waiting to see what would unfold… Still today, we are looking at many schools that have not reopened. I cannot believe that we have abandoned so many children, and are failing at educating them properly. Some more fortunate children have parents who have time to teach them or send them to private or charter schools, and some states have resumed school, however, there are still many children lost in the fray. We need to step up and speak out against this abandonment.
The important things that we should be living for are the intrinsic values that will bring our future generations the best in their life, like a good education that teaches fundamentals not only of reading and math but also critical thinking. Not indoctrination but education. I want good school choices for our children at all levels, including universities. Schools that will teach all things, including critical thinking, civics, science, and not biased alternative history, anti-Americanism, and rioting skills.
Some schools have already become indoctrination tanks instead of safe learning spaces, but I’m still hopeful. I want my children’s children to have a safe world that can fulfill their needs and desires. I wish we weren’t bankrupting their future but instead developing good medicine using sound science. We need to benefit everyone’s life, not line someone else’s pocket or further unsound ulterior motives.
It all begins with good education and critical thinking skills, so our future society can make sound choices that will flourish the populace while protecting their liberties. Our founding fathers wrote many protections into our Constitution and I hope we all learn what the words mean, and cherish the soundness of them, so our future is protected. As a country, we need to grow, but we also need to maintain the basics necessary for our rights.
As a nation, we are filled with anxiety, between the virus repercussions, new vaccine rollout, and the continued unrest in certain cities. It’s a difficult task to find something good in our lives. I am a lucky one, because five out of seven days a week, my grandson comes to my house to visit. His bright smile and optimism give me so much hope as we play, cook, and take walks together. I wonder how others who don’t have that kind of joy in their lives are coping.
It saddens me to see so many people thrashing out instead of asking questions and listening to the variety of answers. I haven’t been very social on social media these days because of all the negativity and constant bashing of good people. When did we become this self-absorbed country, a place where we had to be a victim to be accepted? Everyone is either apologizing for deeds they’ve never done, playing a poor-me card, or trying to become a warrior for something greater than themselves, and most such causes don’t deserve their time.
Things like love, free thought, choices that encourage individualism, and spiritual growth as well as physical. These are the things that lead to happiness. Take away our freedoms and we have the dark box of oppression.
Some Americans are apathetic and afraid to speak. This should not be allowed to happen in our country, the world’s leader of free thought and liberty. There is a mass wave of censoring going on… The funny thing is some of those doing the censoring have no clue, they think they are promoting our rights yet think nothing of deleting our comments. Many would rather close you down rather than let another person express a thought opposite of their own. Folks, that’s censorship!
Everyone should be part of the conversation.
On social media, I was posting #stopcensorship because to me that is when troubles begin. We should all ask ourselves who are these people or groups censoring our posts, or doing the fact-checking…it’s so easy to reason that if a fact-checker says it’s not true then it’s not…but that is too easy. These days there are so many nefarious groups in guise, trying to win over our opinions. Do you feel safe letting some unknown group of people telling you what is real and true?
I don’t feel comfortable with that at all but prefer to make my own decisions based on what I have learned to be true. I want the same privilege for you, whether we agree or not. I hope the labeling of people stops and we can all go back to the old way of making decisions… Read many sources of information (and help stop censoring) and then use your critical skills to make your own decisions. That is true freedom.
I am wishing for the best. I think we can all agree that we each need to take responsibility for our own decision making. We are not puppets. As writers and readers, we understand the need to consult a variety of source information so we can draw our own conclusions. The politicians and activists like to muddy the water, but the truth found from the simple things in our lives, like writing, and our children, grandchildren, and family members and friends we hold dear in our hearts— they guide us to make thoughtful and free decisions based on our core values.
Wishing for the best… and saying prayers for our country, whether you agree with prayer or not, because I believe in something greater than myself. Let’s give all the children an education. Open schools!
