Perception vs Reality

(Source)

Had a message from Chicago Dave yesterday, wondering where my Gettysburg post was. I had to apologize and confess that there would be no Gettysburg post this year. With The WSO and her lasses in town, time for blogging has been at a premium and historical posts, if done right, take a lot of time.

I thought about rerunning an old post, I've done a couple, but decided not to, for reasons you'll read in a moment. (This Gettysburg post from four years ago remains a favorite, go check it out if you wish.)

Now I did "battle month" for June, lots of famous battles in that month, I covered a few, one I skipped, intentionally. Some of you may have wondered, that as I am married to a lovely Korean lady, why I made no mention of the anniversary (on the 25th of June) of the North Korean invasion of the South. Well, simple really.

After the meetings between Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae In, then between Mr. Kim and President Trump, I have high hopes for peace on the peninsula. Not posting about that old (and technically ongoing) conflict is me rather holding my breath (metaphorically speaking) hoping not to jinx the prospects for peace. (Modern man though I be, the primitive in me still looks for portents and is a rather superstitious old geezer.)

So Sarge, what the Hell does that have to do with Gettysburg?

Well, before I get into that, let me tell you a story.

It was back in 2007, I still watched and semi-believed the news media. I started hearing rumbles of a down turn in the economy, I looked around, didn't see it, didn't understand where these predictions were coming from. But people started conserving their disposable income.

"Let's skip dinner out tonight, the news says we're in for hard times. Best to keep that cash around, just in case."

The Missus Herself actually said that one day on a trip to meet up with friends for dinner. I thought the idea was preposterous. I was employed, making good money, everyone I knew was also employed and doing fairly well.

My thought was that if everyone believed the news, then people would not spend as much money as they had before. Which would mean people who's livelihood depended on other people buying stuff would no doubt sell less stuff. Which means they might have to let a few employees go. Some places might actually go out of business.

Hey, hard times are coming, better save your dough. People not spending means fewer jobs, and bingo, self-fulfilling prophecy.

That was my take on things. The media lied to us, we bought it, we screwed ourselves by listening to them. So I stopped listening.

In church on Sunday our pastor was concerned about things he'd heard or seen on the "cable news stations" (as he put it). Strife and maybe even forthcoming civil war.

Excuse me, where?

Yes, there are things happening in some cities. If the media didn't cover them, they wouldn't happen. It's all made up nonsense generated by people who want to control every aspect of your life. They don't trust us anymore because we, the people, elected the wrong person to office.

And that pesky Constitution? Those who "know better" think they should run things without having to listen to the words written by a bunch of "dead white guys" over 200 years ago. Dear Lord the world is going to end because another person who actually is willing to uphold their oath of office might actually get on the Supreme Court.

Far better to let someone be guided by their "feelings" as opposed to what is actually the law. A body of laws which has worked rather well so far. We only get into trouble when we attempt to tweak, or baldly misinterpret, what is written in the Constitution of the United States.

Civil War is not, I repeat, not imminent. The media wants it because we don't trust them anymore, they and their paymasters, want to be in charge without benefit of legality and without we pesky citizens bothering them with the law and our actual rights (among which is most certainly not a right not to be "offended").

So rather than post about an older time when brother murdered brother for the sake of a few politicians' need to wield power over others, I will speak of no Civil War, nor its battles. At least not now, not during a celebration of our independence from a far off King and his so-called, "nobles." We in this nation should look at each other and not see the differences, but rather see the similarities.

There are those who would see a wedge driven between certain groups in this nation, for their own sordid political reasons. They don't want to play by the rules, so they will try and sell us their own perception of reality. Don't buy into it.

Because that's all it takes for evil to triumph.

May you enjoy this, our Independence Day. Celebrate liberty and freedom, 'tis a rare thing indeed.