Daily Truth July 3, 2022

It's time to stop agreeing to things you don't agree with.

I kicked off the 4th of July weekend by attending the funeral of a 91 year old woman, who is the mother of my brother-law-in. I didn’t know Pauline well but always enjoyed seeing her at family events. She was a tiny woman with a not so tiny zest for life. My brother-in-law spoke at the funeral and told a story I did not know about her. She was born in September 1929, the month before Black Tuesday. The day in U.S. history attributed to the beginning of the Great Depression. He told a story of her attending a friend’s birthday party when she was 7 years old and eating a banana for the first time. She was so excited about the taste of this banana that she continued to eat several more of them, until she got sick. Her friend was apparently financially better off, as their family could afford bananas. A luxury during the time this generation was coming of age.

I have an unwavering respect and admiration for this generation. My grandfather had a similar upbringing - poor, lived on a farm in a single room cabin with dirt floors. His father, my great grandpa Oswood lost his entire head of cattle in the winter of 1937. A blizzard in North Dakota is no joke. He couldn’t reach his cattle for days, leaving them all to freeze to death; in-turn, leaving his family destitute and hungry. When my grandpa Ozzie was 15 years old, he left the farm and moved into town in order to complete his education; living in the back of a bar room, which he cleaned to cover his room and board. Like Pauline, my grandfather ate his first banana at age 10. Prior to that time, he had never even seen a banana.

I often wonder how our current generation would manage conditions like the ones I describe here. They would have to set aside their iPhones in exchange for a pack of seeds and a hoe if they wanted to eat. They’d have to forego holding signs or lambasting strangers on social media and work to create the world they want. It wouldn’t take long to figure out tearing things down is much, much simpler than actually building something from nothing. They’d have to set aside their gender pronouns and hurt feelings. Their safe spaces would disappear right before their eyes and they would wish they had parents who taught them the world doesn’t revolve around them and nobody owes them anything. They’d long for skills like conflict resolution, self sacrifice and resiliency. I have to be completely honest - at this point, I would be willing to suffer the ravages of hunger and deprivation right along with them if it meant we could once again be grateful.

It appears we have slid right past the depths of ingratitude, smack into the abyss of having to learn some hard lessons the hard way. It’s scary. As tough and well equipped for struggle as I am, the thought of spending the remainder of my life in a battle for freedom is crushing. I want to spend my time creating new things - things that make me and the world a better place. Being grateful for all I have and showing my daughter what it means to work hard and create an amazing life. I don’t have time for the nonsense being demanded of me now. We are being asked to fight for things generations ahead of us already fought for. Why can’t we take what they gave us with open hearts and do the same for the generations yet to come? Take what we’ve been given and make it better, not throw it away.

Instead of building upon the gifts given to us, we are stomping on them like a spoiled child stomping on the wrong gift given to him at Christmas. “We don’t want a toy train! We want a race car track!”

In less than one-hundred years, we have gone from the poor standing in soup lines to producing so much food that gluttony is our biggest health problem. With obesity effecting the poor more than any other population, my grandfather’s story blows the argument of healthy eating being too expensive out of the water now doesn’t it.

Instead of infectious disease wiping out populations, we are now wiping ourselves out with chronic disease. We removed ourselves so far from our food sources that we actually believe manufactured meat and industrialized crops owned by a software developer are better for our health and the environment.

Gone are the days of laboring for our children and hoping sickness, starvation or some unknown cause doesn’t take them from this earth. We now voluntarily kill them because having kids doesn’t align with our career paths. Or more mouths to feed is a burden on families and the system so we tell lies like it’s better they are never born and pretend it’s progress for women.

We are being asked to believe there are more than two genders and that miraculously, massive numbers of people were suddenly born in the wrong body. While humans have successfully evolved over 6 million years by procreation between two sexes, this is now antiquated thinking. We’re also supposed to believe being born in the wrong body is the case for teenage girls in liberal households more than any other demographic.

Instead of taking responsibility for our lives and earning self respect, we demand others respect us for absolutely no good reason at all. Bravery earned in battle has been replaced by bravery earned by bathroom choice. Dignity through acts of sacrifice and valor have vanished and protecting feelings has replaced protecting freedom of speech.

Well, I’m done. While I’ve never been one to agree to things I do not agree with, I’m done indulging the bullies. You should be too. If you want some normalcy back in your life, you have to stop agreeing to things you don’t agree to. We all went along with the nonsense under the guise of being polite. But, the time for politely agreeing to lies has passed. Our country and our freedom hinges upon it.

So let’s start by setting the woke record straight -

Being fat isn’t healthy and being fat isn’t a result of being poor. It is a result of lack of education, self discipline and hard work. Pretending obesity is acceptable is doing nothing to help those who actually need the help.

There are two genders. Period. I could care less how someone chooses to “identify,” who they have a relationship with or how they dress. But I will not deny reality to make them feel better. I will not be told how to address them/he/she/they and I certainly will not be forced to use the correct terminology du jour.

I will show respect to individuals who do respectable things. And I will not celebrate anyone or any group of people for an entire month. (For the record, I have destain for the concept of birthday months as well. You have a birth DAY not MONTH. You’re not that special - get over yourself.)

Women are women by definition of two x chromosomes and their design to carry children. Men do not carry children (I can’t believe I have to type this) and I’m not transphobic for pointing out the obvious.

Being a white male doesn’t make you evil and being a woman doesn’t automatically make you honest or virtuous. I will judge people on their character, not on the color of their skin nor the body in which they live. And yes, I will judge what I accept because that’s what a highly functioning society does. We judge the things we will tolerate and the things we won’t. I will not tolerate lies.

I was having a discussion this past week with an individual whose expertise in scientific matters I hold in high regard. He indicated there is sufficient evidence we are already in the early stages of a civil war. We don’t recognize it because when we think of civil war we think of Gettysburg and bayonets. But it’s important to remember, the civil war didn’t break out in a single day. It was a culmination of a country who had uncompromising differences in values as to the freedom for every man. It is easy to see the fundamental differences in values dividing us today. But, the division isn’t as great as we are being made to believe. The vast majority feel like I do when being asked to believe in what is collectively called this new “woke” agenda. But, most people are too afraid to stand up to it. Most of you are agreeing to things to which you don’t agree. You are staying quiet because you want to keep the peace when in actuality, your silence is creating more strife. All of you who read my work because I am willing to say what you are thinking, it’s time for you to speak up. I can’t do it alone.

When we agree to things we don’t agree to, inevitably we start to resent those forcing us to lie. I can feel that resentment building within me and we can all sense the resentment brewing at large. If we allow this to continue, it will lead to a violent collision of a magnitude none of us can possibly imagine. Don’t let it come to that.

If you are like me, it feels overwhelming. Each time you wake up to a new headline or story tearing us further apart, you want nothing more than to pretend it isn’t happening. I get it - I’m tired of it too. But hoping for a return to normal isn’t going to work. You have to stand up for what you believe in.

Get back to taking personal responsibility for your life. Be willing to do hard things and teach your children to do the same. My grandpa Ozzie was like a father to me because mine died when I was young and wasn’t a strong figure in my life while he was alive. My grandpa taught me to work hard and do things that scared me. He taught me to water ski by making me sit in the water and try until I finally got up. My first day of snow skiing, we shot right past the rope-tow where all the other kids were learning and loaded onto the chair lift straight to the top. He met me at the bottom and we cheered as we looked up at the huge mountain I had just conquered. When I bragged that I hadn’t fallen all day, he told me that just meant I had’t skied hard enough. He chastised me for wasting food when I discarded the crust of my bread but praised me for hard work and educational accomplishments. He helped me pay for my college education so long as I held a job to cover my living expenses. The suffering he endured spared me of needless suffering.

We are inflicting needless suffering upon ourselves and I refuse to participate. As I sit writing this article on my front porch on this July 4th weekend, I am filled with gratitude. The man who built this home back in 1912 was a Norwegian immigrant just like my ancestors. After building all of the steamboats that put this town on the map, he lost everything during the depression, along with this home. He later returned to this home he built, as a renter. Soldiers were housed in the attic here during WWII and now my family gets the privilege and duty of upholding all that is great about this country while living here. When I hung flags around the porch last night, I thanked him and all those whose suffering handed us this great country that we are now taking for granted. I will not participate in the ungracious attitude others are now choosing while forcing the rest of us to silently comply or else. By staying silent, you are a participant.

I am proud of my country. I am proud to be an American, it’s sins and all. I will stand up for what I believe in and do my part to teach my daughter and anyone else willing to listen, the invaluable lessons my grandpa Ozzie taught me.

I will not agree to things I do not agree with to spare someone’s feelings if it means I have to lie. I encourage you to do the same.