So much has happened in the last few days…Why do “they” want to push us toward war? Our government is shoving us all into the jaws of war. Is it so they can keep their power? Now that we have started making political arrests, “the powers that be” need to stay in power forever. They know that if they are unseated, they themselves may be indicted. The rules of the game are changing. It is inconceivable to me, and yet, all the groundwork has been being laid for most of my life.

Have any of you ever watched the interminable film “Dinner with Andre”? Forty years ago, it was in the script. The people were asleep. They did not notice what was happening, and if it was called to their attention, they got mad.

Last Saturday, I was a guest at a University of Virginia football game here in Charlottesville, VA. It was such a lovely fall day! The clouds scudded overhead, giving occasional shade. The temperature was warm but not hot. Sitting in the sun became momentarily hot until the little air conditioning breeze lifted my light poncho and cooled me off. It was a perfect day to watch athletic young men testing their abilities against another team of equally athletic youths.

However, the most noticeable thing about the game was not the game. It was the constant barrage of information flashed before us on a huge video screen. Sometimes it was historic photos of players, or sometimes an ad for something. Some times it was about the Susan G. Komen Cancer Institute,(part of the Medical/Pharmaceutical/Industrial complex) and sometimes, it was a small section of the audience on camera. They laughed and waved frantically.

All the while, a belt of electronic light shone bright and distracting as it informed us; “NOISE” or “MAKE MORE NOISE” or sometimes advertised something. This was just another distraction. It was relentless: sound, color, music, cheerleaders, contests, and more. Is this to mollify the current young people? Is their attention span so short that they cannot concentrate for more than a few seconds on any one thing?

These people would all say they are “educated”. They would deny that they were asleep since they were cheering and swaying to Old Lang Syne whenever their team scored. True, they were awake to the game. But at the same time, they were so oblivious to the state of the world. Rockets were landing on civilians. People were being shot and abducted. War was being declared in Israel. And that is merely the latest war. War has been raging in The Ukraine for over a year and a half.

And at the same time, people are pouring over our border to the south. No one seems to care much about that except the mayor of New York, who is suddenly in favor of building a wall. Ha ha! It is funny how things change when we are face to face with it, rather than just reading about it.

What I don’t understand is: Why don’t people relate to what is happening? Why do they believe it doesn’t have an effect on them? As long as their TV show is on demand, as advertised, as long as the games or races or whatever spectator sport they are interested in goes on without a hitch, they are content. They do not question. They do not question anything.

If the news says there are many different genders, or a biological man wins in a woman’s sports event, they do not question it. And if the news tells them that Orange Man is bad, they believe it. If the news tells them that the doddering old man in the White House is aware of events in the world, they believe that, too. And when we find ourselves at war, what will they say then? “How could this have happened?” Or “Why didn’t anyone warn us?”

But we have been warned. Over and over and over for decades. We have been warned by authors, movie makers, and politicians. We have been warned by people who care about what is happening and have platforms in alternative space. They are not on Mainstream news because what they have been and still are saying goes against the grain of the “liberal press.”

Being a liberal used to be a good thing. It meant you were kind, charitable, and empathic. NOW, it means you don’t know what a woman is. It means you don’t care about strong borders. It means you have a fairy tale belief in just who is crossing into our country. It means you believe our elections are fair. It means you do not believe that absentee voting could be manipulated and the voting machines are impregnable. It means you don’t mind killing a baby born after 9 months in the womb.

LOOK! I have always been “pro-choice,” but the “liberal view” has become so toxic I cannot continue to speak for choice. What has happened to common sense? Why does everything have to be all or nothing? I am pro-second amendment, too. But, I believe that the gun lobby has gone too far.

I understand the reasoning behind this. It’s the same as smoking. Big companies saw what happened to the cigarette manufacturers. They allowed a few inroads on their smoking campaign. They were trying to be sensible. However the anti-smokers took more and more away from their business. It escalated into statewide bans on smoking if the fanatics can have their way. In today’s world, smoking is considered wrong, low class, dangerous to others, and soon to be outlawed completely.

So the idea is NEVER to give an inch.

I get it.

IS IT IMPOSSIBLE for people to simply use their heads? Why not try that? Moderation. That works very well.

We learned during covid how easily people give up their power when they are afraid. Fear is a great motivator. How can we make people see that what they need to be afraid of is control by a central power? It seems so obvious. But, just like during covid, people are afraid of speaking up. They do not want to go against the “crowd”. Even if they clearly see that there is a problem that must be addressed, they ignore it and pay attention to the “hype”. Covid had at least a 95% survival rate. And yet people voluntarily gave up their lives out of fear of catching it. They were afraid of each other.

Will you LOOK UP? Will you STAND UP? We, as a people, are under attack. Pay attention.

Be Brave.

Copyright©. 2023 Bonnie B. Matheson