Hoist the Double Standard Again or Painting for dummies.

     So there has been a shooting where armed men in bulletproof vests fired at a group of Black Lives Matters protesters.  Now all the details aren't in yet and with cries of White Supremacists and a marvelous conspiracy theory running around that the shooters were actually undercover cops, I am actually going to wait to through in on the good/bad in this situation.  (One video purporting to be of BLM people there seems to say that the shooters were chased from the scene and attacked and then opened fire, but like I said actual facts are still coming in.
     What I am going to comment on are the ever so predictable "All BLM members are terrorists!" bs running around.  Because a small number of BLM protestors have made comments such as "Pigs in the blanket, burn em all up!"  and one BLM member may have shot an police officer, the White Logic(TM) seems to be that ALL BLM members are terrorists and out to kill cops.  Course, we shouldn't be surprised.  After all these are the same people that say all Muslims are terrorists because of the actions of a few so like I said predictable.  
     Now what's so durned knee slapping funny is these are the same people who say "Well you can't judge all gun owners for the actions of a small number of murderers"  or "You can't blame White people" when a white man goes into a church and shoots and kills a bunch of Black people.  It is a classic case of the old double standard.
     In the classic case of US vs THEM (Pick any us or any them, it will apply.  Trust me!) the double standard always flies high, especially when it is a volatile and controversial idea.  You will always find the US condemning the THEM for acts of not niceness while doing everything they can to make sure that all of their fellow US aren't painted with a broad brush as well.
   Fer example, Terrorism!  US loves to show all of the horrors committed by THEM, such as bombing innocents or gunning down whole groups of US.   By US standards, all of THEM are indeed terrorists of the worst sort because a small number of THEM have done bad things.  Now spin around and THEM accuses US of being terrorists because we fly armed drones into hospitals or homes or neighborhoods in the blind hope of possibly killing one THEM.  In the process, US kills hundreds and hundreds of THEM who's only crime was being in the place being bombed.  But US aren't terrorists, no no no!  US is waging a war on terror so US cannot possibly be terrorists.
    That is just one example.  There are many more out there.  Don't even get me started on politics where OUR party is all okay even the idiots, but THEIR party is completely corrupted and evil and out to destroy the country.  GAWDBLESSMERRICA!  OORAH!  
     Something in the human nature seems to force this blind, adversarial mindset where if people aren't part of your little group then they must be the bad guys.  Or even better, if some of a group (as long as it isn't your group of course) do something bad then all of said group must be bad too.  We can't seem to help it.  Bad wiring maybe?
     People say that all cops aren't bad because some cops commit horrible acts of violence against Blacks.  Then they turn around and say that all members of BLM are bad because some might be bad.  That is the highest I have ever seen the Double Standard flown and I have seen it flown pretty durned high.  So just remember, if you want to paint all of a group with broad strokes don't come whining back when someone else hits you with a spray painter.  Just saying.

Charity vanishes at home or Homeless, I don't see no stinking homeless.

Wow, look at that empty street!

How was that again?

     So here we are a few days after the horrific Paris attacks and, after a brief period where no one tried to blame the Refugees or Obama, things have returned to normal.  You got memes galore blaming Obama for the bombings, the crisis in the Middle East that caused the flood of Refugees to begin with and, of course, you have Conservative Politicians blustering about making completely useless claims that they would ban any refugees from entering their states.  (Newsflash for the dim minded, they can't but hey its all show and circuses anyways right?)

     So the two biggest trends I see in these memes are Homeless Children and Homeless Veterans.  Now I also see Homeless in general and some just using the Poor.  However, the main ones are Kids and Veterans.  Now I get the trends.  I mean nothing pulls at the old heartstrings more than hungry waifs and abused Vets, so when you are trying to fan the fires of hate, who better to use?  Hence, the dozens of memes I have seen working off those heart-wrenching images.

     Now, here is the part that I find absolutely pathetic and simultaneously hilarious at the same time.  I have to wonder, out of all the people posting "Well we should take care of the homeless kids and vets first" memes, how many of them actually give a flying backwards half gainer flip about the very people they are posting memes about?  Do they even notice them when they walk down the streets?  

     I have seen dozens of social experiment videos that pretty much prove the answer to that one is no.  One really great one had the filmers dress family members up as homeless and position them in plain view of another family as they walked down the streets "begging" for food or money.  Even though their faces were clearly visible, the "homeless" were completely ignored.  Here is the link to the social experiment video.

THEY'RE INVISIBLE!

     As for homeless Vets, our so-called leaders on both sides of the aisle have already proven that they are damned good at sending men and women to war, but really don't give a damn about them once they get home again so that little meme is a bit of a joke.  How many people even notice a man standing on the side of the road holding a sign saying "Homeless veteran, please help?"  

     So to all of you "We need to help the  homeless children and Vets out there, I just have one simple question.  What the hell have you done today to help?  Did you "round up your change" at your local grocery store to help the homeless?  Did you buy food and donate it to the local food banks or homeless shelters?  Did you volunteer your time to help out at those same institutions?  Did you stop and speak to a homeless family on the side of the road to see how you could help?  (Wow that's more than one question isn't it?)  The answer for the vast majority of you is probably no.

     There is a great series of books where they introduce the concept of the SEP or Somebody Else's Problem.  It is a comical way of rendering things nearly invisible by making people just not notice them.  The Homeless are basically SEPs, but not in a humorous way.  People ignore them because they think one of two things.  The first is that the people are obviously faking it so they can rake in huge amounts of cash and treasures begging on the streets.  The second is that people actually need help, but helping them is other people's responsibility.

     (As an aside, anyone who thinks you get rich panhandling has obviously never begged for food and money.  You should try it sometimes, you might make enough for a Big Mack.  No fries or soda, though.)

     So here is the deal and it is a simple one. Until you actually care about the homeless and do something to help them, you don't get to post stupid memes about turning away refugees and...well helping homeless Vets and Kids.  Until you spend a few hours in a soup kitchen serving food or hand out blankets to people who are freezing to death, you don't get to pass laws banning refugees from your states.  Until you are willing to give a handful of change to the guy on the street, you don't get to comment on "helping the homeless."  In simple words, put your actions where your mouth is.

End of Rant

Friend one and Friend two, Friend two and Friend one or No, sorry you are not being oppressed.

That's what he said...

 I have a friend. He isn't the sharpest pea in the haystack, but he is my friend. He loves to argue against equal rights and treatment under the law because “You cannot legislate morality.” He argues that men should be allowed to find equality and balance without the pesky intervention of laws and legislation. Now anyone with even the smallest understanding of humanity and history will know this isn't true and probably question said friend's sanity. God knows I often do. However, in a sense he is correct.

Wait wait, before you start hitting me with rocks, let me expand further. I have another friend who is actually extremely intelligent and wise that I disagree on with one or two issues. He feels also feels that people would just be better off if people were allowed to do their own things without interference from the Government. What these two friends have in common is that their views are pretty much a Utopian ideal. (Admittedly the second friend's idea of Utopia is a bit different from most, but that is one of the reasons I love him.)

In an overly simplified sense, both are right. In a Utopian world where everyone could be trusted to play nice and work towards the common good of everyone, their ideas might work. If man was not a greedy, selfish animal interested only in his personal well being, things might work out okay. (Funny side note here, Friend #1 keeps arguing we don't need laws because we are no longer the greedy selfish “robber barons” of a hundred years ago while blissfully ignoring the facts.) Unfortunately for the world, man is just as bad as he has ever been. How many 1000s of acres of Rain Forest will be destroyed this year? How much poison will be pumped into our air and water? People are still hell bent on destroying the world simply for their own advancement.

(Funny aside the second, Friend #1 argues that this is okay and that these people aren't being destructive robber barons because they “obey the law” while ignoring the fact that the laws are being written by the rich and powerful to further the interests of the rich and powerful while leaving everyone else to choke in poisons.)

Anyhoo, I have actually wandered away from the main subject of this rant. The idea of legislating morality. See in that mythical perfect world, no one would have to legislate morality because it would be inherent. But since the people in power want to stay in power and certainly don't want to share that power with anyone else, especially “them,” (The them being spoke of varies but the idea is constant.) they find or invent ways around sharing.

“We hold these truths to be self evident, that ALL men are created equal. That they are endowed by their creator with certain rights.” Okay slightly edited but you get the idea and the full text appears at the start. See that is a very simple statement. It should be all anyone needs to understand. ALL (Everyone regardless of race, color or religion) MEN (Well in this case mankind not just possessors of the Y Chromosome (Total aside here, WTF do I always try to spell Chromosome with an N instead of an M on the end?) are created equal and they all have the exact same rights. See nice and simple. No ambiguity, no confusion. Right?

See unfortunately, that is not the case. People of power interpreted that to mean all WHITE CHRISTIAN MEN (in this case the people with that Y Chromosome) had certain rights. Not Women, not Blacks, not Native Americans but WCMs and as a side note, not all groups of Christianity were included in that. For an easy reference, look at all the uproar when Roman Catholic JFK was elected POTUS.

My Friend (1 not 2) argues that special interest groups will always try to pass laws and legislation that give them special rights and privileges. In a sense he is right. What he ignores is that he is a member of the #1 Most Powerful special interest group in the country being that he is a White Male. He ignores the fact that his group has been making laws that benefit it for the entire life of the US and still is. He gets peeved off because now, other special interest groups are enacting laws that provide them equal treatment under the laws.

Throughout history, the moment the ruling force is challenged in any government, those in power and those with all the protections, start screaming that they are being oppressed and predicting that their freedoms will be destroyed in the near future. See, what they fail to understand is that just because other people are now being given the same rights and protections as the majority does in no way shape or form reduce the rights the majority has. It just means the majority isn't more special than everyone else. Sucks for the, but is great for everyone else. So suck it up, Buttercups because in a way, you are right. As far as you are concerned, it is only just going to get worse.

End of Rant