Years ago these two cute little girls were the best of friends. They did not think about race or color, just that they really enjoyed each other’s company. Makes me wonder why it is so hard for adults to to the same. We need to work on Dr. King’s dream and make it become a reality.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities!
Voltaire ~
Most of us like to hear what we already believe is true! We gravitate toward that narrative and feed on our idea of truth. This was very evident in the atrocities at the Capital in Washington, DC; all done in the name of patriotism and based on absurdities and misinformation.
Sadly, the game of politics is often a game of misinformation. What starts out as a grain of truth gets twisted and spun into a cotton candy swirl of falsehoods. And we tend to cheer on the person or platform that says what we want to hear, even when sounds absurd and crazy.
PBS did a documentary on Alex Jones, far right radical talk show host who promoted things like the 9-11 attack was a government plot and the Sandy Hook massacre of children was all just a group of staged actors! You might think, how would anyone believe that; but, though he was banned from talk radio, he expanded his following on the internet and has millions who listen and believe what he says, as absurd as it may seem. Even Roger Stone and Donald Trump were on his show trying to get his followers to support Trump, which they did. Trump’s repetitive statements repeated over and over again are simply repeating what Jones said to his followers.
And it worked! Volatire words were played out in real time. as people who actually believed they were patriots, attempted to storm the capital to disrupt and take over the Senate proceedings that were being conducted at the time. What a sad day for America. What have we come to. Khrushchev was right when he said, “Communism doesn’t have to destroy America, it will be done from within by your own people.” Unless we get together and find common ground, this may well be our fate.
Twisted truth destroys
America’s foundation
Time for Trump to go
The following clip is a documentary from PBS . It disturbing in content, but very enlightening as to how all this could happen . It is well worth your time to view.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities!
Voltaire ~
I found the Voltaire quote on the blog website of my friend Ivor Stevens.
Open link night at d’Verse. It is easy to become jaded with all that happens in the world around us. I have revised this piece from a couple of years ago, to remind us that truth is light and love is truth and Love wins!
Birds fly into my window from time to time crashing into a sky of glass and an image of illusion.Stunned they fall to the ground or circle back to the trees, only to do it over again on another sunny day. Being territorial they are trying to attack the illusion of another bird intruding into their territory, and only hurt themselves in the process.
Seems we are seeing this play out today in DC, as our Lame-Duck President continually tries to incite followers to attack the illusion of an intruder stealing his space. Over and over he keeps hitting the glass sky and is now looking like that stunned bird that hit my window.
Protesters gather
Attacking an illusion
Stunned bird thinks he won
*********
This is a stunned finch that hit my window. You can see the twisted claw. He eventually was able to fly away.
I wrote this a few years ago for the d’Verse Poets Pub. I thought it would be good to reflect on as we exit 2020 and enter 2021. We have lost a multitude of people this year to Covid-19. Death has a way of bringing things into focus. It brings us face to face with our own mortality. The thoughts in this poem reflect on spirit within each of us.
Where dwells the spirit before life begins
Waiting to entwine with genes at man’s whims
Does it float in space riding red stardust
Or in ocean waves where the raindrops swim
*
Where dwells the spirit when I took my first
Breath of life // of heart and lungs merged thirst