What does it look like when people who have very different political and religious views get together for a night?
Well, if you're as fortunate in your long term friendships as I am, then it looks a lot like this :-)
(Space Cowboy)
In all there's somewhere around forty of us who have been gathered up and gathering together for the past twenty plus years. Generally at least once a year the majority of us show up to celebrate a particular event, and then a revolving crew of 15-20 every few months.
(A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one)
And this didn't even change much in 2020. If anything, we fit in a couple more to give us the much needed social contact at the time.
I'll never forget one of those in particular, where a few of the worriers among us still came, they just brought their own chairs food and beer, then sat at a distance in their masks. And while we may have good naturedly ribbed them, no one really batted an eye at that... or at those of us giving out bear hugs and breathing straight into each other's faces XD
(Take Two)
The other night I commented that our get togethers are like stepping out of place and time. Leaving all of the bs at home and truly relaxing and enjoying the company of those who are a chosen extension of family.
And we prove that it is absolutely still possible to agree to disagree! Possible to recognize that while we don't agree on everything, there is always common ground, and a lot more of it than people seem to realize. I'm serious guys, it really shouldn't have to be this idea of "us against them".
(No Diggity)
Pro vax, anti vax, pro life, pro abortion, pro gun, anti gun, pro mask, anti mask, All Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter, pro Trump, anti Trump, Vegan, Meat Lover, Support Ukraine, Support Russia... Support an end to wars-- ALL of this is just humans having different feelings and points of view- with different facts to back them up.
(Learning to Fly)
Nothing new and nothing will ever change. Which is why it So important to stop listening to those who would tell us that these differences are irreconcilable.
When I say my group is diverse, I mean there are representatives of All of these opposing viewpoints, yet not even at the height of covid did we let that come between us. And I have to believe that there other groups like this out there. And regardless I Know that there can be! That all it takes is recognizing that no one is perfect, that no one is exempt from misinformation, that no one has all of the answers. To let go of ego and pride a little in favor of peace and love.
(Alice in Chains)
And most importantly it takes recognizing when we're being manipulated by those who benefit from the chaos. Because we certainly don't, we benefit from reasonable conversations that result in peaceful coexistence.
Start rebuilding the bridges that were blown up by those who would see us fail and fall. Make it a world we All want to live in :)
🎶Come on people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try and love one another right now🎶
Yes!
i think one of their biggest victories (and by "they", I mean, of course, the group of serpents trying to steer us) is convincing us of this us vs. them bs. Hate of the outgroup, rather than love of the in-group, again, is sadly what drives so much of the world today.
It's heartening to see there are still people out there who can get together in spite of not sharing absolutely every political opinion (and not only).
In 2021, I started studying Russian and met this woman, about 10 years older than me, who insisted on disinfecting herself every 20 mins and wearing a mask always. Quickly wrote her off as brainwashed sheep, and let the scorning begin. Yet circumstance dictated that we developed a friendship of sorts, and today, I think she's one of the kindest, most luminous people I know. I get why she did those things now, and what I particularly appreciated was that albeit being triple jabbed, she stuck by me when restrictions were at their hardest. We wanted to get together, couldn't go get coffee or whatever, unless you'd...you know. She didn't care it was the middle of winter, she was like it's alright we go for a walk then. We must've taken more walks over the past winter than I've done with others in years. And that meant something.
I'm glad you have these people. Especially since you've all got pretty awesome taste in music :D
Speaking of music, I try to keep these Pink Floyd lyrics close to heart, always:
Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
Starting at the end I had to say- every person your age who can think critically and is not following the crowd that I've spoken to has the same taste in music :) When my daughter met her boyfriend, one of the things that initially attracted her was his well developed musical taste. They enjoy the company of our friends more than people their own age half the time, so it isn't unusual for them to show up to a gathering
(My kids-Ethan & Zoe, the boyfriend Markus & my hubs Howie at our friend's place)
Also, it's funny you mention Floyd because I am currently watching a recent interview with Joe Rogan and Roger Waters- Roger is a self-educated, thoughtful intelligent man, this is one of my favorite Rogan interviews of all time.
That's awesome about your friend. There's a woman like that in our gatherings, she's a school teacher and did all the things, but also defended the rights of people to Not do them. We could share our perspectives with each other without feeling judged, which helped both of us gain a deeper understanding and respect of the opposite point of view. I think that one of the biggest reasons people have developed this sense of "we must be enemies" is because they believe those of different views are judging or going to judge them. Perhaps they have been judged by friends and family, perhaps just people online, or they just heard this in the msm and so the assumption is "Anyone who agreed with the mandates" or "disagreed with them" thinks I'm selfish or a sheep etc. and so they approach it angrily and defensively which inspires those exact reactions, therefore confirming their fears.
Communication is key. Which is why all of the banning is so terrible and intended for exactly this. Because we can find all of the banned material- it wasn't truly banned, just not allowed on certain platforms- therefore those with a mind to disagree with the MSM are exposed to a ton of information that those with a mind to agree never even see as they wouldn't go seeking out platforms like bitly etc.
Where are you from? You said you couldn't get a coffee the past winter? All of that was dropped here in NY by spring of 2021 except some places in the big city, pretty sure only Cali and cities like Chicago dragged it out a little longer. I wouldn't be surprised if there was one more wave of it though.
First off, what a lovely family you have <3 It's wonderful that your daughter and her boyfriend get along so well with everyone. I'm the same, always drew towards older people, since they're the only ones who actually seem willing to think.
Oh God, I loved that interview!! It brought tears to my eyes. I mean, I like a lot of Rogan interviews, but this was the only one that had me stopping in the street every 5 mins or so to write down some name or some book or whatever to research. What Roger says about his mother, and reading, and learning as much as you can, that really struck a chord.
It's funny how there were a lot of people like that on the anti side, perfectly willing to support another's right to vaccinate or wear a mask or whatever. Not so many on the pro side, though, which makes them all the more valuable.
What always got me was how so many people were willing to blindly accept that these people, many of whom they'd known for years, were turned overnight into "bad people" who wanted to hurt you. I don't think that about any of my friends. If I did, well, we wouldn't be friends, for a start. I don't get why you wouldn't rather assume that people are reasonable -- talking to them then, and even arguing against them, would be immensely more valuable.
True. But I don't know how much they'd have been willing to believe. The way I see it is, the information was out there. I saw it, a lot of people I know or met during that time saw it. Maybe you could've seen it, too, just chose not to. I have another friend, I was telling her recently about Pfizer admitting the vaccine wasn't even tested. And she was shocked. She goes "but I've had 3 shots". So outraged, as if anyone has a duty to keep you informed. Unfortunately not, not in this world, at least.
I'm from Romania, though currently moving around Europe a bunch (wanted to before the pandemic, now finally can). It fluctuated. I think over the summer of 2021, they'd lifted most of it, but reintroduced it when the "cases spiked" in autumn. Kept it until around spring 2022.
Wouldn't put it past them, but I so, so hope your wrong.
Could you bullshit your way through, where you are? In Ro, at least, you could like sneak into shopping malls, or get into cafes and restaurants if you were ballsy enough. Everyone turned a blind eye sort of thing, though only in the later months, obviously.
I think I’ll be impressed if there was any given person that any other given person completely agreed with everything on over a long period of time 😆
Looks like fun times 🙃
Absolutely! Which is why it is so unnatural for so many people to be this angry with each other for different perspectives. And I wish it was just the "news" making it appear that way, sadly I know enough individuals in real life who have bought into it and quit speaking to friends and family.
Always 😁
It's almost like when you interact with people in real life it's much more humanizing than when you just hide behind a computer screen and yell at everyone that doesn't believe what you believe eh?
Undoubtedly. But unfortunately I know so many people who have thrown away years of friendship because they couldn't see past a difference of political opinion. For example, my aunt's closest friend of forty years stopped talking to her when she found out she voted for Trump. As if my aunt just suddenly changed who she was into a racist bigot? Couldn't possibly be because she had an entirely different perspective on who Trump is based on a different news outlet? Of course both of their so-called news is crap, but despite my aunt's hatred for Hillary, she knew her friend wasn't a villain and that she was obviously seeing a different picture being painted. Kudos to her for being rational lol
Some people have bought so hard into the corporate owned media that they've lost all perspective. I've heard one story after another like the one above, siblings who aren't talking to each other, even parents and children, let alone friendships crumbling. Always because either one or both of them seem to believe that their media is infallible, entirely accurate and basically their bible. Left and right wing news are the new religions with different gods like trump and Biden, fauci and Malone, with different doctrines... complete with child sacrifice. It's very disturbing.
But it's also kinda interesting lol. We are definitely living through a fascinating time of major shifting, and it hasn't even hit its peak. I sometimes get wrapped up in the moment, but I also take a large step back and look at it from a place outside the turmoil. That's what makes it easy for me not to get so wrapped up in what I currently believe, not to think that because I can't stand the mask it means anyone who embraces it is my enemy...I mean really, how silly is that fight from an eternal perspective? Ha!
My favorite thing I saw on the news lately... I walk by and the news is on and they're talking about the historic draught affecting the mississippi river and how the water levels are so low and they're blaming it on climate change... when they're also telling us the "climate change" is melting the polar ice caps and raising sea levels and we're all going to drown on the coast... I've tried telling me mom repeatedly that isn't about news or information anymore... it's about selling you into the hysteria that you have to keep watching to be aware of and prepared for all of this hypothetical bad shit that's happening and that anyone that doesn't waste their life away agreeing with the same programming that you do is somehow a bad person and the enemy. Fuck it all honestly. I can just go full on Walden and build a cabin and society can keep rotting away... I spent years of my life trying to go around and wake people up and getting kicked off social media platforms for being a conspiracy theorist and all that bullshit until I just said fuck it let them sort themselves out. It is what it is. Much love to you and anyone else with enough critical thinking skills to figure shit out for themselves and not be spoon fed their opinions and talking points by emotional manipulation and fearmongering masquerading as the 24 hour news cycle.
While I never actually got banned, I got some things taken down and some warnings, as well as some passionately angry people telling me I was spreading misinformation, so in terms of FB & those places I came to the same conclusion of letting them sort themselves.
George Carlin has an excellent bit on matters of the earth, and how arrogant we are thinking we can do any real damage ha. "Save the earth"...yeah, Gaia's gonna be just fine, we're the ones that probably won't be lol
I hear you completely on the Walden pond idea, it's what I envision for our eventual home. Somewhere surrounded by woods, enough lawn for a big garden and maybe some chickens, fruit trees and a couple beehives,away from people, preferably with a running stream but a pond will do :)
Well it is October I suppose, might as well enjoy the arguing with the external world song. Honestly though life is just much more manageable when focusing on changing the internal and finding peace in our own lives. Be the change and all that I suppose.