Opus 2023-074: Circle Shoot

I was thinking of giving you a list of all the people I disagree with on politics and theology.  It would have two sections.  The first would be those I lump in the “Liberal” camp.  To be honest it would be hard to find anything I agree with them on.  I am not sure they even understand that you should not eat yellow snow.  It used to be you could assume about patriotism, child pornography, general integrity and things like that, but those have all been thrown out the window.

The second list would be those in the more traditional camp.  The problem here is that everyone who is left would be on the list because I have yet to find anyone that I don’t have disagreements with.  So sue me.  I personally think that is healthy.  I like to do my own thinking.  I think that courteous and respectful knock-down dragged out arguments are scintillating.  It also reminds me that we need to stop standing in a circle and shooting.  We need to stop attacking our own.  The enemy is not the guy who has a well known website and a lot of opinions.  The enemy is the guy who wants to destroy America.

It would help is we remembered that.

Maybe I should read this again to myself, out loud.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-030: Litmus Tests: Intro/Extro

I am starting to learn to evaluate people by whether they are introverts or extroverts.  There are so many times we hear “there are two types of people in the world”.  For this post the two types will be introverts and extroverts.  As is usual the case, don’t make two much of the division or expect it to answer questions about everything.  Like most divisions the two types are not always pure.  Often the two types are mixed in unusual ways.

References to these personality types confused me for a long time because I could function in either depending on the situation.  I can sit silent and listen for long periods of time and dread the need to open my mouth.  I can also stand up in front of a crowd and preach without any fear at all.  Part of my confusions was trying to define the conditions in a way that didn’t work.

I finally heard someone define them in a way that made sense.  Introverts lose energy by being with other people.  Extroverts gain energy.  That may not resonate with you but it works for me.  I tended to think of myself as shy or antisocial.  In a crowd I would avoid making eye contact.  I would ignore invitations to parties.  In reality I just didn’t want to invest the energy to be with other people.

This motivated me to develop what I think of as my intro/extro switch.  I mentally switch modes depending on the situation.  After a period of time it defaults to intro.  When I was teaching I would be intro all the way to the parking lot.  When I got out of the car I would flip the switch and become me outgoing.  At the end of the day I didn’t need to switch back.  It happened automatically on the way to the car.

Many people that we think are hostile are really just introverts.  This has been a big breakthrough for me.  Have you ever been sitting in a group and the person next to you seems to want to be somewhere else?  That is because he wants to be somewhere else.  It isn’t you.  It is just the way he is.  If you push a little he may open up and you can have a pleasant conversation.  Try it.

This train of thought is helping me to understand myself better and I hope will help me to relate better to those around me.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-004: Litmus Tests: Fireworks

Come the Great Divide I think I have found a litmus test to decide which parts of the country will live in freedom and which under the yoke of the Proregressives*:  The status of fireworks.

We got around to shooting off fireworks last night.  One of the lessons is that two years olds get bored with fireworks on short order.  Another is that five year olds would rather chase each other than watch explosions.  It is amazing what you can buy in Texas.

I was also amazed to find out that there were so many freedom haters.  Evidently the city of New Braunfels has made it illegal to sell, own or fire off any kind of fireworks.  There was at least one HOA represented at our launch which also banned them.  I thought this was Texas!  It just goes to show that a socialist camel nose will fit almost anywhere.

My proposal is that any civil entity that has banned fireworks be marked blue and placed in the Democratic Republic of Amerika column.  Places where it is still legal can be part of the Confederacy of Potential Utopias.  Places like New Braunfels can become city states in the old Greek model.  The right to secede will be easy.  All you need to do is pass an ordinance doing away with fireworks.  

We don’t need issues like guns, abortion or recycling trash cans.  All we need is enough love of freedom to shoot off fireworks.  I am not sure what the first step was, maybe requiring dog licences but the progression of liberty-sucking regulations is steady.

And while we are at it, we need a home-grown fireworks industry.

*(Liberals, educators, the media, socialists, communists, crony capitalists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, BLM, MSM, Deep State, etc.  Synonym for swamp dwellers)

homo unius libri