I am generally thankful for what I consider to be a great life (recent sore back notwithstanding). I live in heaven with an angel and two very good dogs. Plus I gotta ton o’ good friends (at least two thousand pounds). Despite my natural inclination to grouse and complain about every little thing (from mosquitos to the price of gasoline), I am happy. Hard to believe, actually. An old grouch is happy. On Thanksgiving, no less!
But the explanation for that apparent contradiction of being grouchy most of the time is kinda obvious to me…I mean who LIKES mosquitos? Tell the truth about it! What I mean to say is that I do not like glossing over, making nice, looking through rose-coloured glasses or any other variation on NOT telling it like it is. And, if you tell the truth, it includes the good and the bad. To me, it is just that simple. Tell the truth! (it makes me happy)
And that’s what today’s topic is about: the truth. “Why bother? And, anyway, don’t we all have our own truth now?” No. There is a single truth. We may not see it but there is one. They also say that the truth shall set you free and I believe that fully. So we gotta try alla time to find it…..because the truth makes us happy.
But doesn’t that also mean that the opposite is also true….you are burdened by your lies (and the lies of others)? A lot of lies makes us unhappy…..jus’ sayin’…..
Even those who smile through every day and always look on the bright side of things, aren’t they just delusional at some level? I mean, wasn’t Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms just-plain-nuts in some serious ways?
Bobby McFerrin sang “Don’t worry, be happy.” And it kind of appeals to the simple in us but, well…the lyrics (according to Wiki):
- McFerrin is very optimistic in this song, but some of the problems listed in the verses will require more than a cheerful demeanor to overcome. The person he’s singing to has lost his bed, has no cash or girlfriend, and his rent is late. “Don’t worry” might not be the best advice for him.
- The phrase “Don’t Worry Be Happy” was used in some cases to criticize people with a rosy outlook on the world, as if they were oblivious to problems. The most notable use of the phrase in this context came from the rap group Public Enemy in their song “Fight The Power” when vocalist Chuck D declared: “Don’t Worry Be Happy was a number one jam
Damn, if I say it you can slap me right here.”
I bring this all up because TRUTH seems to be in rather short supply or has been compromised to a massive and growing extent in our modern lives. And, not coincidentally, we have a lot of unhappiness nowadays. And I find that odd. Why so much lying? Truth is supposed to make us happy…it at least sets us free…..”Let the sunshine in…..”
If that is so, and there is so little truth-telling, is that why we are all so unhappy?
Political Correctness, for instance, motivated by a desire to right some wrongs has gone too far in many cases. For many of us, PC’ness is now acting like a lie. And it is NOT making any of us happy, is it?
“How can righting a wrong go too far?” I dunno…but it has. And the first casualty seems to be humour (something closely associated with being happy). Ask Dave Chappelle or Bill Burr.
No, this blog is not about PC’ness or humour or any one case of truths being turned into lies……..it is about truth-telling in general and truth-telling is basically AWOL these days. It is about the close association of truth, reality, facts with happiness and well-being. It is about lies and the resulting despair and unhappiness that inevitably follows.
And lying is currently the new reality. Well, there is lying, spinning, obfuscation, dissembling, exaggerating, grifting, cheating, faking and extreme drama, there is selective telling, selective memory loss, omission and good ol’ classic denial. We have developed a lotta ways to deceive…..not so many ways to reveal the truth. We have a lotta ways to make ourselves unhappy…..
The truth shall set us free and make us happy.
So, back to the title: Am I thankful? Yes. But, to be honest, I have a sore back right now……
Our Off the Grid Home 
Hmmmm.
Deep into the rabbit hole I dive.
I am reading a book about the US Russia Cold War from 1948 – 1988.
“The War of Nerves” by Martin Sixsmith
Quite interesting.
The “truth” from the Russian point of view was very different than the “truth” from the American point of view.
And 33 years later we are staring down the nuclear barrel…… again.
The “truth” under Communism.
This interesting excerpt almost describes the Woke pc agenda to… a…. Tee.
The description is of how one survived in the communist system.
You had to have two “faces”.
The public face and the private face when you could let you guard down with very close family and friends.
It is a quote from a Czech who escaped in the 1968 and wrote a book called The Captive Mind about life under totalitarianism.
“The stage was the street, the office, the factory, meeting hall or even where you lived.
Acting becomes a highly developed craft that places a premium on mental alertness.
Every word must be considered before leaving ones lips.
A smile that appears at the wrong moment, a glance at the wrong time, one’s gestures, tone of voice or even a preference of shirt or tie can be interpreted as signs of one political tendencies.
We all became morally sick because we all got used to saying one thing and thinking another….
We all accepted the totalitarian system.
None of us was a victim of it because we all helped to create it and keep it running.”
Happy Thanksgiving brudda
Don’t forget.
If Sal cooks…….. you have to do the dishes.
🙂
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It’s insidious. It’s like a form of rot. Soul rot. It creeps up on ya…..it starts with something as incidental as coming across someone you don’t like but you make nice so as to not make a fuss. And, to be fair, no one wants a fuss. I get that. But a little bit of your honest face was covered. And it goes from there. In cities, it is naturally worse due to density and everyone wearing their job, school or their factory face. And, I suppose, it is the soul-sucking compromise we all make for ‘harmony’ as my Chinese friends call it. But it ain’t true. And it eats at ya. I guess that is OK in many ways but, when it comes to being ‘woke’ and preachy and prosecutorial, it gets worse. When it divides the people into camps, it gets even more worse. Then you get racism, sexism, and institutionalized hate……OK, I may be sounding a bit over-the-top but that is what we get when we lie – we get confusion, war, chaos and more. “What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive?”
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Here’s some “truth” for ya.
Our youth are performing worse and worse on international education scores.
Our teachers spend at least one day per month “kids free” on “professional development days”
The rest of the year kids are bombarded with gender equality, gay rights, same sex marriage, LGBTQx2, anti bullying, rainbow flag day, on and on and on .
How are schools affording this endless political indoctrination?
(even as bullying gets worse)
My commercial property taxes have doubled in 3 years from $16,200 to $32,700.
Part of my commercial property taxes are sewer, water, garbage, transit and…Provincial School Tax.
All of the other “utilities” other than the School tax have increased moderately.
Provincial School Tax.
2020 – $2,200
2021 – $ 8,400
2022 – $ 11,600
I don’t own the building we are renting. The tax increases are locked in as part of the rent.
I will be passing the tax increases on to my customers….
THATS the “truth”.
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It is hard to comment on any ONE trickle-down RESULT but, if I had to, it would start with greed and include a financial sector/govert. built-in expectation of inflation. There is a foundational principle in bank/govt/ Insurance that everything goes up in price at least 2 to 5 % every year. Their business model is built on it. That’s a fact. How that translates into a triple net rent increase is a wandering path of lots of greedy/catch-up players. I no one wanted/needed more then no one would increase the price of anything. But everyone does.
Do not get me started on teachers or the child-containment system that passes for education. Everyone believes in education and teaching but we designed it to suit factory shift work and teacher supply/cost. Look at the kids out here and you will see real education and really good kids who can fish, build, fix and do school work, read, write and do math all the while developing real interests – all in elementary years! One teacher, a lot of parents and even more community involvement….that’s an education!
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Teachers in Britain are being told they will have to teach kids “How to brush their teeth” in the next school year….
How to brush their teeth…
The nanny state has almost reached it’s zenith.
I think “proper bum wiping” lessons will be the penultimate teaching experience.
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I am pretty woke. Judging by the amount of people I offend, I would say 90% of the people I come into contact with are not. Also judging by the amount of homophobic abuse that a member of my family has encountered and the rate of suicide in the LGBTQI community, there is a good reason for the harmony days which, in the scheme of things, do not disrupt any of the serious business of working or teaching that goes on.
In truth, I really don’t like mosquitoes or mosquito born disease. I understand though that many creatures depend on them for nutrition. Would a national mosquito day make me like mosquitoes any more? Probably not, but maybe it might get me/others thinking about the issue a little differently.
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Well, like I said, or maybe should have, it is not about the issues that I am writing. We are all ‘woke’ enough here to care and accept others regardless of our differences (altho natural male desire, lust and boorish behaviour still gets a bad rap unless the guy is considered attractive….THEN it’s OK).
It is not about the issues. It is about telling the truth about things, all things. That does not mean you have to punch someone in the face. Turning a cheek is an option and should be practised as much as possible. But constantly having to edit and check everything you say is a new kind of persecution against that fine balance we call harmony.
We all need to be more tolerant of others and that includes the insensitive, politically incorrect and even the mild bigots who lust after babes. Let ’em be. And then, when enough is enough, we should stand up and speak a clear objection. That is it. No trials by media, no unproven allegations, no shunning, no persecution.
Again, it is not about the issue so much as NOT building up resentment or fear in yourself. It’s a disease that makes you ‘scold’. Speak up once. Stand up. And listen. And – you do NOT have to agree or even understand each other. You just have to be true to the little voice in your head. You know what they say: “Understanding is the booby prize.” Translation: you are going to get what you get whether you understand it or not.
I.e. “What is, is.”
And, anyway, take my blog (please)….do you think for one second that I have changed the mind of a single reader on a single subject? And NOT for lack of blabbing incessantly. Listen to all the revelations of Trump’s Dysfunction in the media and STILL 2/3 of Republicans would vote for him. The point: you can talk to Bubba till Kingdome Comes, he ain’t gonna change. So, I say: talk to Bubba. Tell him what’s on your mind. And then ‘let it be’. BUT YA GOTTA SAY IT TO BUBBA AT LEAST ONCE for your own sake. The truth shall keep you mentally well.
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A friend of mine recently pulled his daughter out of the public school system.
Seems the bullying at school and on the internet was unbelievable.
The worst offender?
A declared LGBTQ student (male now female) that has taken a particular hatred towards this 13 year old girl.
Parents pulled their daughter from the public school system a year ago.
The bullied student is now home schooling, getting all “A’s” and doing great..
She has cut off all facebook, twitter, new email address etc etc etc. because of the endless harassment from the LGBTQ student and friends.
And yet she still is getting the odd link to her face posted on other websites.
with words I wont repeat here posted next to her pic.
The RCMP were contacted and the LGBTQ students’ parent ( a school psychologist!) insists “her daughter would never do anything like that!”
The lunatics are running the asylum.
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You have hit a weak spot here my friend…
On a professional level, I am a lot of times NOT telling the truth
Either because we are in the middle of some business plan without knowing the real outcome
Or because we are planning a major game changer for the company, with possibly a lot of effect on a lot of people
Most of the time, we decide NOT to tell about our plans untill the very last minute, because we don’t want to scare people
Most of the time, I hate NOT being able to tell the truth
My point:
Isn’t most of the time exactly what is happening in economics or politics?
I think a lot of the times, the economists, politicians or military geniuses know quite well what will be the outcome or “fall out” of a situation
BUT they choose NOT to tell us in order not to cause panic or wrong interpretation
Is this a good thing…I don’t know to be honest
How many people can handle the ugly truth about themselves or what’s going to happen in the (near) future?
Do we want to know that Poetin is on the brink of pushing the nuclear button?
It is something I am struggling with every day in my professional life
And it is getting under my skin to be honest
The “GET OUT” thought is appealing a lot….as you well know
On a personal level, I do try to speak the truth
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There is a difference between blunt, cruel, mean truth and truth spoken with tact, understanding and forgiveness. The truth MUST come out, the style is what makes a leader. Remember, most people already KNOW the truth in some primal, in-their-heart way. When you speak it properly (especially if you have a plan) you are showing leadership. You are showing honesty. People follow that. People respect that.
When I worked in social services, it was a very tough job (drug addicts, violence and no money was the least of it). Burnout took most people out of the game. So, I had to fire at least two or three staff a year – they just couldn’t do it anymore. And these were folks who worked for very little, had families and lived in the city. I always fired them by giving them ‘work time’ to find another job they could handle with less stress. I even drove them to appointments for a new job. I told them they were hitting the wall and getting burned out but that I didn’t want that to ruin them. I would help them find a better job. And I did. After maybe as many as a dozen people fired – I was friends with all of them (save one who was dealing drugs and I fired him for that). That included doctors, social workers and a pharmacist. Every one of them friends today.
The truth (which they knew) set them free.
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The debate on your website is always interesting and respec9ful, Dave. I like that. I think it says a lot that people don’t feel they have to agree with you or each other.
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Thank you. That’s the goal.
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Did you hear the latest?
An aboriginal Professor of Astronomy in Newfoundland wants us all to acknowledge that “even the skies are indigenous”…..
A PhD of astronomy is spouting this politically correct diatribe.
(possibly trying to secure several more years of tenure?)
“Even the skies are indigenous….”
Which I’m sure will come to a shock to the billions of people on the planet that believe the skies are….non racial…
Google, astronomy, skies, indigenous.
The lunatics are running the asylum.
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The “learned” scholar has also opined that,
“Space Exploration is tantamount to colonization. There may be life on Mars we don’t know about that we will displace. We are using the same colonization behaviours done in North America over the past few centuries in North America. ”
An anti science scientist.
I believe they were once called “Luddites”.
Gotta luv it.
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Not everyone should have access to a podium. But now, with social media, they do. It simply means more stupid will be spoken. Hopefully, more smart will also be spoken. So far, Stupid seems to be winning.
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As amply illustrated by my post of even date, which has sullied your heretofore pristine and highbrow blog.
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Like most of Dave’s blogs, all of which I read, too esoteric for my reptilian brain.
Would I reveal too much of my philistine self to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving notwithstanding? I received a text from a friend in Vancouver wishing same this morning. I might be a tad more “happy” about it were my spouse not 7,000 miles from here on this day (and every day, for that matter), but at least here, off grid, there are some consolations. An example would be the pair of humpback whales that cruised by, 80 feet from my living room, an hour ago. And just the vista – of the ocean, a few islands and with the mainland mountains in the background – that is always there and never gets tiring to behold.
Perhaps I appreciate the whales and other wildlife here as kindred spirits. Like me, a complete philistine, I suspect they have not a clue what this “woke” concept is about. Sounds kinda’ silly to me. Equally, I am unsure of just what it is these days to be a “Karen”. Until she retired recently, an accounts payable clerk named Karen used to pay my monthly invoice to her employer. I saw nothing to dislike about her, but I gather that to be a Karen is to be somehow disagreeable. Can’t we just call her that, or a bitch? I suppose Karen is pc, bitch is not.
Then there’s this inane LGBTQ nonsense that has sprouted. I know that a BLT is some kind of sandwich. I think I might know what the LGBT part stands for. Not sure about the Q. Queer? Questioning? Queasy? Quixotic? In a Quandary. Don’t know and don’t much care.
So there, I have told some of my truth. I have revealed that, deep down, I am shallow. I’m okay with that. The whales have not judged me for it. They still approach my dock and let me admire them close up. However, it could be that a cougar that lives around here has decided that he or she does not like the cut of my jib and has eaten a female cat I have had for 6 years and all 5 of her offspring born last year (one from the year before remains), all in an effort to induce my return to the city.
Returning to the notion of Thanksgiving for a moment, I am not too sure of which day is officially it. Yesterday or today, I suppose. Last night I celebrated the occasion with a sumptuous repast of frozen shepherd’s pie. I splurged and bought “Bassili’s Best”. I suppose there was the option of cheaping out and buying “Bassili’s Bargain Basement”, but I went all out. In for a penny, in for a pound. No use being parsimonious (probably not pc to say niggardly nowadays) on such an auspicious occasion. I’ll have the other half tonight. Just a minute in the microwave (yes, Virginia, we have microwaves off-grid).
Anyway, I am still on the right side of the grass, and for that I am thankful.
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I am more than thankful for that. Gives me hope for mankind. Mind you, we may have to put some limits on your podium use in future, you understand. For the greater good and all that. Two straight night’s of Bassili’s Best! Show some restraint, man!
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Perhaps you should consider applying for a “quia timet” ( Latin for “because he fears”) injunction. It is an injunction to restrain wrongful acts which are threatened or imminent but have not yet commenced. Because you fear I might run amok and sully the landscape of your blog, a course of prudence might be a preemptive strike, keeping me on a short lead.
Should I violate said injunction (which is likely), you can bring a contempt application.
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Thank you for that proposal. I take it that you are drumming up some work? I coud use a good lawyer like you. There is a standard caveat that only a fool of a lawyer would defend him/herself. But, as you would be the plaintiff’s counsel waging holy war on yourself, that likely would not apply, would it? Who you gonna call to defend you? I am not so busy these days…jus’ sayin’…
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You know me, always touting for business.
I think the version of the caveat that I first learned was “He who serves as his own counsel has a fool for a lawyer and a jackass for a client.” Sometimes attributed to Abraham Lincoln.
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I did not intend my replies to appear as “anonymous”. Can’t solicit much business in that fashion.
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That is precisely why you would lawyer for me and I would lawyer for you. Then neither of us are fools. There is a small problem, tho. You would have to act for me pro bono because you are well-off and I am not. But, for that same reason, I would have to charge you through the nose…it is only fair. Natural Justice, if you will. Just think: you could win and lose the case and the funds all at the same time! Might set a precedent….hmmmmm, Michael Avenatti may be a bit of a precedent now that I think about it….
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You are right about winning and losing at the same time. The outcome of much litigation. When I was a young buck at the bar, I recall a distinguished senior litigator commenting: “You have to be rich or crazy to start a lawsuit.” Those words remain true. Time has served only to enhance their meaning. Those words go hand-in-hand with the legal lore, I believe I have stated here before: “Justice is open to every man, just like the Ritz Hotel.”
Accordingly, I’ll give a solicitor’s undertaking to behave here on your blog. That applies, a fortiori, to refraining from boasting about 2 straight night’s of Bassili’s Best. A bit shameless.
A lawyer’s undertaking is a sacred cow. The Law Society rules ordain that one must never undertake to do anything not completely within their control and an undertaking must always be carried out, no matter what.
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I accept your sincere undertaking, sacred as it is. However, I must point out that the male equivalent of a cow is a bull and we all know what they produce in the end.
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Yes, cows are too ladylike to do such a thing. They are refined. Bulls, on the other hand, well….
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Happy Thanksgiving. Happy to have a Costco chicken so I didn’t have to cook. – Margy
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Unless Costco has jacked up the price recently, Costco bbq chicken has been $7.99 in Courtenay. I always buy one when there. In Campbell River, prices are higher and higher still on the next island, where $9.99 was the price in recent months. Then $10.99. Then $12.99. In honour of Thanksgiving, the price when I was there on Friday was $14.99. As my daddy used to say, “I don’t like to be taken.” I was going to bite the bullet and pay $12.99. When I saw $14.99, I balked. I’ll avoid that store as much as possible in future. I’ll just shop in C. River. Can I afford $14.99? Sure. Do I like being taken? Nope.
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Fuel and wages.
Gas @ $2.40/liter
Truck driver and labour to unload and stock the shelves.
(IF you’re lucky enough to find someone).
$25/hour minimum.
$30/hr if they are reliable and can follow simple directions.
Hence the price escalation.
We need a crushing recession, long and cold.
Get all the lazy kids off the couch, out of Mom’s basement and back to work.
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What is/are Bassili’s Best?
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It’s the label name for products produced by Innovato Foods Corp., Edmonton, Alberta. I just got that from the box, which adds that it’s Canadian owned and operated for over 35 years. Makes me want to restrict my diet exclusively to Bassili’s best foods. I think I’ll check out their website at bassilisbest.com and see what else lies in store.
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