Free Speech Stupid

In this neverending world of inane, endless discussion of postmodernist drivel, the troubling thing for Uncle Bubba is that those that are questioning the legitimacy of free-speech isn’t just young people; it’s also people of more mature age. People that have life experience, people that should’ve been taught about our rights in school. For the record, it was taught in school when Bubbie was there; he remembers and he wasn't even really paying attention most of the time. It troubles him because it’s a far greater indicator of an underlying problem in our society if people are still, 243 years beyond the formation of our country still not understanding these foundational precepts. There is no progress. As Uncle Bubba puts it, "It's stupid. It's like running uphill on an ice-covered road wearing plastic soled shoes! It's exhausting and in the end, you're no further along than when y'all started."

Who are these people; the intellectuals that think that it might be a good idea to limit speech? Are they the cantankerous ol' fogies we see in the grocery store lines that are fit to be tied with the bagger-person for not putting their vittles in the sack as they see fit? Are they the folks we've seen on the highway who have no regard for the law? They drive with no inclination for using turn signals, stopping completely stop signs, racing through yellow lights, driving slowly in the left lane, everybody's tailgating, the list goes on. Is it ignorance or complacency? Maybe both but it’s striking to see the mature age of the people that fail to understand the depths of chaos they cause when our societal standards are ignored.

"Maybe it's a lot of them crusty ol' farts," says Bubbie, "but stupidity knows no bounds. I don't think that you can put a face on it."

Well, you can if it's the face of California Democrat Congressman Ted Lieu. He says he would love to regulate speech. That's chilling coming from a person in authority.

Here’s some common science for you; for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. It’s Newton’s third law of physics; lil Bubbie learned that in high school. Here’s some common sense; for every statement you say, you may offend someone. There is no law or change of our constitutional rights that can change any of that. In Bubbie’s view, he can’t believe that he’s actually trying to say all this to people his age, but he's sure enough glad that he has the right to.

Love & Friendship - It's A Mess

Uncle Bubba cut on his TV Sunday morning and the pastor Keith Butler was in the middle of a sermon. He was telling an anecdote about when he was a youth and wanted to hang out with his friends. His father said, "those people are not your friends, they are just people you know. You won't know who your friends are until your down in hard times and someone sees you through it and stands by your side; that's your friend. And you might only meet one or two in your entire life." Wow, Uncle Bubba wished that he had a daddy that would have told him these types of foundational insights. 

Love has never been a difficult thing for Bubbie. He loves people. But he's often confused love and friendship. Even after living half a century he has struggled with this idea, that just because you love someone, that does not make them your friend. In fact, Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor. That's it. He didn't say we had to like our neighbor or skip over your mean neighbor to love your nice neighbor. He simply said to love your neighbor. Hoo-doggy, that's a tough one!

But in regard to friends, Jesus said the following, "You are My friends if you do what I command you." (John 15:14) There is a lot wrapped up in that statement but here's Uncle Bubba's take on it; first, even with Jesus, there are conditions for friendship, boundaries if you will. Secondly, friends make an effort to be friendly. Some dictionary terms of being friendly are kind, helpful, favorably disposed; inclined to approve, help, or support. So to be a friend we should be amicable and supportive. If people aren't treating Uncle Bubba that way, then they aren't his friend. It seems obvious but in real life practice, it's much more difficult to discern when emotions and such are involved.

These friendly qualities are generally easy for Uncle Bubba. Perhaps it's his personality and somewhat attributable to his early influences. He was a Boy Scout and their Law is to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. Forty years later he can rattle them off by heart and readily admits that they cross his mind frequently; especially when he runs up against someone that is cross or just plain mean.

"So there ya go," says Bubbie, "we're right back to the crux of my struggle. I've had to learn, at an older age and you know what they say about old dogs, that just because I love someone doesn't mean that they are my friend. But in my view, I'm gettin' to be OK with just people I know."

Grandparents Are Wolves

Sweet Pea was thumbing through a magazine when a strange sight caught her eye. It was an ad by GSKSource, which is a company that sells vaccines. To Sweet Pea and Uncle Bubba, it was a disturbing image that the company chose to use: two wolf people, obviously supposed to be grandma and grandpa, holding a human baby. As grandparents, it made them feel sad, disappointed and misrepresented.

This image was intended to scare family members of helpless babies. Young parents are supposed to be fearful of their parents holding their precious child and infecting them. Grandparents are supposed to be fearful of spreading their germs that cause "severe illness". So the answer is to vaccinate everyone? It would be laughable if it wasn't so scary. By the grace of God, we've been relying on our own, natural immune systems since the dawn of time, and thriving; instinctually knowing the communal exposure to your own family and surrounding environment strengthens our immunities; it makes us stronger. Want proof? Look at how much the human race has grown. 

No, this rush to inject manmade remedies to questionable threats doesn't pass the sniff test. In Bubbie's view, this suspiciously wreaks of propaganda. If one looks at what propaganda is, "...information that is not objective and is used primarily to influence an audience and further an agenda, often by presenting facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is presented (Wikipedia)." then a rational person should be able to reason that companies are using propaganda to make money. Why is it, in Bubbie's opinion so egregious? Because companies like GSK aren't just selling shoes, they are selling harmful toxins that people inject into their bodies. Wow! That's scary stuff. Not only that but they are employing their business practices with the approval of that federal agency that was set up to watch out for our health and medical safety, the CDC. What a racket. It brings to mind an interview heard recently of Eric Weinstein who coined the term "intellectual dark web". He said that scientists should be irreverent and that the biggest discoveries, the ones that really move the needle are made by irreverent scientists that are very disagreeable. This is quite a different approach from the scientists that work the company agenda and drink the kool-aid so to speak. Uncle Bubba coined a term for them: complientists.

In Bubbie's view, if it's all so good for us, then why the need for propaganda? Why not give us the objective facts and median statistics and we can decide for ourselves what is best for us and our families.