Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

   According to myth, one of the reasons people speak in so many languages is to separate us for whatever reason. This separation has worked well at making it difficult to understand one another but it in no way stopped the process of breeding with those we cannot talk to or understand.

   So in a way language has held us apart for a long time and that use of language to further create a rift in our associations has been greatly increased by those that want to cause problems. One such example of this process is the Nazi treatment of Jews. Jews were likened to rats, lice and any and all things unwashed and subhuman. This propaganda campaign did such a good job that the removal of these lesser beings and taking them away and killing them did not cause a great deal of problems for those doing the killing. Our own government turned away ships full of Jewish people knowing full well that they would be forced to return to Europe and the fate that awaited them.

   That was 70 plus years ago and today we are supposed to be so much more civilized, and yet we have among us individuals that make a daily habit of separating us by the use of derogatory terms for those that we disagree with. The names have changed but the place on the steps of the staircase have not, those that we do not like are lower than our view of ourselves. And it has been that way forever. Just think back over all the efforts that have been made to bring us closer together on that staircase and you will know doubt remember many names that others were called because of the color of their skin or where they came from or how they dress or speak.

   Politically we have been listening to hate speech for nearly 8 years with individuals from both sides of the fence making some really hateful comments about others. One party is “tearing” our nation apart by calling upon everyone including the very wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes. The other side is ruining everything by attempting to dismantle infrastructure and is to take care of all citizens especially as they age and become more dependent on limited resources.

   Believing that individuals have the right to make decisions about their own bodies seems to be a problem for one group and yet that group demands the right to make decisions for themselves. We are being told to remove books from our schools that teach anything about slavery as this is counter to the racial superiority that our party prefers to teach.

   One group is called Woke, a great way to identify, categorize and separate in one word. The other group is called Patriots. Neither is well defined by the terms used. The Woke title seems to mean that being narrow minded and stuck on dogmatic teaching is not your thing. The term Patriot is attempting to claim a higher status as we are here to save the day, and yet the efforts that seem to be coming forward are all about turning us around and sending us back a couple of hundred years ago where only a very few had privilege. This would be an image of what is going on in many of the areas of the world ruled by radical leaders of today, North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia just to name a few. The question is where do we want to go, forward or down the rabbit hole.