A Challenge To Set The Bar Higher

I think it would be beneficial for both Democratic and Republican voters draw a line they are unwilling to cross in support of their candidates, to determine a depth below which they will not sink. This would establish some small degree of commonality in a society that is more concerned about the sins of the other than the sins of self. Hell, maybe Republicans and Democrats could start a competition as to how high a standard they hold their politicians to, and when they attack the other, they would do so by saying “I hold my candidates to high moral and intellectual standards, while you are somewhat lax in accepting less than sterling qualities among those you choose to represent you.”

Heck, maybe then they could start doing that with their media, as well. They would then say things like “I have a counter argument to the false narrative you have shared from MSNBC, but I am ashamed to share it with you, because it comes from FOX, which is not very diligent in their search for the truth.”

Lastly, and this may be asking for too much, perhaps we can start to set the good example ourselves rather than pointing out the imperfections of those with whom we disagree. We can demonstrate the type of behavior we wish others to emulate, and personify the ideals we hold dear in the hope that our political opponents might appreciate our dedication to our beliefs. This wouldn’t mean that we’d have to keep silent about what we felt passionately, just that we would not let our ideas outpace our behavior. Maybe we could teach respect best by respecting others. Maybe, just maybe, our ideas could be spread best not by force but by showing others they are preferable to the alternatives.

Because right now everybody is making an excuse for their own bad behavior. And right now everybody is justifying violence as a response to violence. But maybe bad behavior is never justified. And maybe violence is never acceptable. And even if it is, perhaps the distinction should be made so damn clear that not even the worst perpetrators of bad deeds and violence would be under any illusion about who is the guilty party.

But who am I to critique the way things are being done when they're obviously working? 

Remembering Christ's Message On Memorial Day

William Lloyd Garrison

I know of no other way to address the evils and wrongs of our current society but as a Christian. This is not to say that this is the right way or the only way, but it is at the moment the only right way I can envision. It is the only perspective that gives me both the agency and the obligation to speak. And I feel I must speak.

I must speak because I have seen every holiday, religious or otherwise, become an excuse to glorify and justify war. I have seen November 11, which was once a day to mark the end of war, become a day to honor those who participated in war. I have seen the day where we used to celebrate our nation’s independence become a holiday to celebrate a military whose job it has become to take away independence from people living in faraway lands.

And I have seen Christmas, the day commemorating the birth of the Prince Of Peace, become a day in which we are expected to pause and give thanks to those who serve in the military far from the home and nation where they are loved and in whose name they are supposed to be fighting, whose freedoms they are supposed to be defending.

And so I provide you today with excerpts from the DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS ADOPTED BY PEACE CONVENTION Boston, 1838. Because I feel if my Christian holidays are going to be co-opted by the war machine, then it is not merely my right but my obligation as a Christian to provide Christian perspectives on Memorial Day. For there is one who gave his life for not only a nation but an entire world. My love, Christian love, transcends national boundaries. It transcends empires that are here to day and vanished tomorrow. My vision is not for some but for all, not for that which is transitory but for that which is eternal. Because nations rise and fall but God’s word endures forever.

From the document written by William Lloyd Garrison:

"We do not acknowledge allegiance to any human government. We recognize but one King and Lawgiver, one Judge and Ruler of mankind. Our country is the world, our countrymen are all mankind. We love the land of our nativity only as we love all other lands. The interests and rights of American citizens are not dearer to us than those of the whole human race. Hence we can allow no appeal to patriotism to revenge any national insult or injury…”

"We regard as unchristian and unlawful not only all wars, whether offensive or defensive, but all preparations for war; every naval ship, every arsenal, every fortification, we regard as unchristian and unlawful; the existence of any kind of standing army, all military chieftains, all monuments commemorative of victory over a fallen foe, all trophies won in battle, all celebrations in honor of military exploits, all appropriations for defense by arms; we regard as unchristian and unlawful every edict of government requiring of its subjects military service.

“We believe that the penal code of the old covenant—an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth—has been abrogated by Jesus Christ, and that under the new covenant the forgiveness instead of the punishment of enemies has been enjoined on all his disciples in all cases whatsoever. To extort money from enemies, cast them into prison, exile or execute them, is obviously not to forgive but to take retribution. "

"The history of mankind is crowded with evidences proving that physical coercion is not adapted to moral regeneration, and that the sinful dispositions of men can be subdued only by love; that evil can be exterminated only by good; that it is not safe to rely upon the strength of an arm to preserve us from harm; that there is great security in being gentle, long-suffering, and abundant in mercy; that it is only the meek who shall inherit the earth; for those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.”

“If, then, the time is predicted when swords shall be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, and men shall not learn the art of war any more, it follows that all who manufacture, sell, or wield these deadly weapons do thus array themselves against the peaceful dominion of the Son of God on earth.”

"Having thus stated our principles, we proceed to specify the measures we propose to adopt in carrying our object into effect. We expect to prevail through the Foolishness of Preaching. We shall endeavor to promulgate our views among all persons, to whatever nation, sect, or grade of society they may belong. Hence we shall organize public lectures, circulate tracts and publications, form societies, and petition every governing body. It will be our leading object to devise ways and means for effecting a radical change in the views, feelings, and practices of society respecting the sinfulness of war and the treatment of enemies."

"In entering upon the great work before us, we are not unmindful that in its prosecution we may be called to test our sincerity even as in a fiery ordeal. It may subject us to insult, outrage, suffering, yea, even death itself. We anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and calumny. Tumults may arise against us. The proud and pharisaical, the ambitious and tyrannical, principalities and powers, may combine to crush us. So they treated the Messiah whose example we are humbly striving to imitate. We shall not be afraid of their terror. Our confidence is in the Lord Almighty and not in man. Having withdrawn from human protection, what can sustain us but that faith which overcomes the world? We shall not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try us, but rejoice inasmuch as we are partakers of Christ's sufferings."

Look For Ways To Avoid Participating In What You Hate

So you say that capitalism is the problem. And when I say capitalism, I do not speak of those who wish to achieve success from their own labor but those who achieve success by exploiting the labor of others. The only real solution to that in my experience is to stop being a capitalist, stop rewarding those who are capitalists. This is not easy. In fact, it damn well may be impossible to escape the capitalist system entirely. But it is not impossible to find ways to withdrawal support from the system. And the more you practice it, the more alternatives you will find. You will find these alternatives not to be sacrifices but far superior ways of relating to the world than the purely financial relationship you now have with it. 

The more you follow a different path from the one capitalism has blazed, the more you stand out as a model for something different. The more joy you experience apart from the corporate capitalist model, the more attractive alternatives will appear to others who find themselves miserable and desperate in a model that offers no hope or joy, but only fear and desperation. A capitalist system offers many rewards--status, physical comfort, a sense of accomplishment, a sense of superiority--but it will never grant you joy or connection. If you are able to be happy without the so-called rewards that capitalism provides, if you are able to feel secure without living in a gated community, if you can feel you are successful and your life has meaning without driving an expensive vehicle, if you are able to find hope in the future without millions in investments to fall back on, you are giving lie to the dream that capitalism offers.

I have experienced it in my own life. When I’ve dared to walk outside the lines society has proscribed, I've reconnected to life in simple but amazing ways. And when I step outside the lines, I am often congratulated by others who don’t like the way things are and are looking for different ways of doing things. More than that, I start to build bonds of community with those who think likewise, so that together we are able to build further alternatives. Not only that, in walking a path outside the mainstream, I come across those whose examples humble me. I am inspired by the actions and commitment of ordinary everyday people. People whose efforts I would never even notice if I had not begun to stray from the path that has been well-paved for us.

In all my life, I have never felt myself to be a part of a larger community. A large part of the reason for that is because I’ve never really felt that I myself have had something to share with others. That is why it is necessary to work on oneself rather than find solutions in systems. Find ways in which you can live a life of meaning, and you will find ways to connect with others on meaningful levels. Find the strength and power and beauty in yourself and you will for the first time be able to fully appreciate the strength and power and beauty others around you exhibit every day. Once-ordinary people will begin to reveal their inner heroic nature to you. Life will begin to take on a nobler aspect. It will no longer be a game of survival but an inspired vocation. 

When you find yourself, you find community. When you find happiness, it cannot but spill out into the world at large. Because the greatest feeling in the world is love, and that is not a feeling we can keep to ourselves. Love is a feeling that reaches out to the entire world, but it comes from the inside of each of us. Oh, and you can't buy love. You can buy admiration, approval, envy, sycophancy, and obedience, but those aren't the same thing.

A cynic will tell you there is no such thing as love, that the rewards wealth brings are the closest thing you'll get in this life. A cynic is never happy. A cynic does not believe happiness is possible, and to prove it he will do whatever is necessary to prove himself right, believing that being right will make him feel better. It never does. 

Where does love fit into the capitalist model? It is the purchase of a piece of jewelry, the ability to reward loyalty, the need to acquire wealth so that we can attract people to admire us. This is not love, this is fear and attempts at manipulation. This is an unfulfilled desire for love playing out. Love is the recognition that we are part of the universe. It is allowing the joy others experience to heighten our own joy. The capitalist's need for acquisition and dominance has at its root the fear that we are ultimately detached and alone from the world and every living thing, that the world is essentially hostile to us. This feeling may spur accomplishment and success, but it will never bring happiness, contentment, joy. Joy can only be experienced accompanied by the sense that we are not at war but at peace with the world. 

There are two paths we can walk. We can work towards deeper connectivity with the world, or we can find our place within a system where we allow ourselves to be dominated and manipulated by some so that we can in turn dominate and manipulate others. We can be motivated by our fear that there is no such thing as love and that we must do whatever we can to provide for ourselves, or we can be motivated by the faith that we are part of this vast and beautiful universe and will find meaning and connectivity by being a part of it. Broken down to its essence, we can either choose fear or faith and joy. If you've ever permitted yourself to feel either fear or joy honestly, there really can be no doubt which is the decision to be made. 

Even In Election Years Honest Conversation Is Necessary

So you expect me to vote for Biden. I respect your opinion. Respect mine. Because real, honest dialog is necessary. Oh, I know, we don’t have time for that now, we have to get Trump out of office. I suggest to you that it has been our inability to engage in real honest conversation for the last few decades that has led to President Trump in the first place. All this knee-jerk reaction we engage in and which is exploited is the reason our country keeps getting crazier and crazier. I’m not going to be manipulated any more, so your only chance of pleading your case to me and others like me is through real, meaningful communication.

Since I am the one writing this and you are at this moment just an imaginary reader inside my head, I’ll go first.

First of all, I want to remind you that moral compromise is easier for some than it is for others. Some people have a very scrupulous conscience, others, not so much. The fact that I am less willing to act when there is no obvious moral path forward does not make me a better person than you, just someone who’s less likely to act. I see the virtue of inaction while you see the virtue in doing anything rather than doing nothing. I’m not always right in my approach, but I’m not always wrong, either. We live in a society where action is overrated.

I just want to make it clear to you what you are asking of me when you ask me to vote for Joe Biden. You are asking of me something that is very contradictory to who I believe myself to be and have always striven to be. I have always viewed myself as one who rejects herd mentality. When the crowd runs in one direction, I have always been one who rejects the urge to follow and instead observes the situation in search of understanding. I’ve never followed trends, never felt the need to get what everyone else is buying or watch what everyone else is watching. I’ve always felt like a necessary balance to group think. I still don’t own a smart phone.

Believe it or not, the push to vote for Biden has appealed to the herd instinct and not the intellect. Hardly unique to Biden of course, but it's an approach I instinctively rebel against. I do not see any real rational argument to be made for how Biden became the Democratic Party presumptive nominee in any legitimate fashion, nor have I heard any serious attempt to explain why Biden was the candidate with the best chance to beat Trump. The fact that we are where we are now is not a sufficient excuse for why we need to stop asking how we got here in the first place.

And that is the essence of my concern over supporting Joe Biden: it requires me to stop being an independent thinker and fall in line with something I find morally repellent and intellectually vacuous. It’s an approach I’ve spent my entire life opposing.

In asking me to throw my support behind Joe Biden, you are asking me to remain silent to the unreality that is the media construct. You are asking me to join a group think and a mindset that I find ugly and stupid.

You ask me to keep silent to the obvious voter rigging that consistently worked against any candidate I was even slightly interested in.

You ask me to keep silent regarding the obvious symptoms of dementia in Joe Biden.

You ask me to keep silent on a million dead Iraqis as a result of a war that Joe Biden supported.

You ask me to keep silent and support in perpetuity a corrupt system that has never offered us anything more than the occasional feel-good victory which in the end has only made things worse.

In short, you ask me to keep silent.

And not me only. You are asking Tara Reade to keep silent. You are asking for silence on any issue that might harm Joe Biden’s chances, and they are many and significant. You ask me to pretend there is no hypocrisy involved when anyone outside the cult can see it clearly. You ask me to join the cult and cut out of my life anyone who does not adhere to the cult’s rules and partake of the kool-aid.

You are asking me to surrender my individuality for the greater good, which in the end is merely the greater good of the cult, which in the end is merely the greater good of the cult’s high priests.

All I want to do is see things as I see them and not have to pretend reality is not as I witness it but as I am told it is. All I want is to be able to speak the truth as I see it, rather than subvert my opinions to the authority of the party.

I don’t think this is too much to ask for. I’m pretty sure even Trump supporters are not asked for such conformity of thought and speech. I am afraid I must do more than simply ask for the right to speak my truth, I must demand it. And not for myself only, I desire and demand that you too speak from your heart and not from a party's platform. This, to my mind, is the only useful way forward. 

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The Four Fallacies Surrounding Conspiracies Theories

At the opposite end of the spectrum from the aluminum foil hat wearing conspiracy theorists are those who believe without question everything authority tells them. Neither group is to be swayed by facts, logic or argument. They will be especially impervious to persuasion from anyone outside of the group they identify with.

The one believes because it fits their narrative of the world. The other is fearful of questioning official narratives because it might force them to change their comfortable way of life. 

Between the two extremes is a vast area that allows for questioning of authority while giving respect to those who have spent their lives pursuing their chosen areas of expertise. In the middle can be found the position that sometimes people with a desire for power conspire to advance certain narratives for their own benefit at the expense of society at large. Hardly a radical notion.

There are four different errors that people can make regarding conspiracy theories. The first is that all conspiracy theories are false. The second is, once becoming convinced that one conspiracy does exist, easily believing every conspiracy theory one comes across is true. The third is becoming so lost and confused by the myriad details that one abandons the search for truth altogether. The fourth is mistaking a theory for a conviction rather than a working hypothesis.

The media would have you make the first error: believing that there is no such thing as a conspiracy. If you disbelieve in conspiracy theories, that means everything the media tells you is truth and there is no reason to question anything they tell you. They do their best to smear anyone who says anything contrary to the official narrative as an unhinged nutjob incapable of grasping the obvious truth.

Much of the fringe-right media would have you commit the second error: being convinced that every conspiracy they feed you is gospel truth. Although they act as if they are combating the mainstream media by presenting alternative narratives, they are actually supporting the mainstream media by acting as the bad example. The mainstream media merely has to point to an Alex Jones to show how crazy conspiracists are. Thus Alex Jones is able to speak truth from time to time, because whatever truth he might utter will be dismissed as the rantings of a maniac. Which he more or less is. And of course, they use people like Alex Jones as a poster boy for those who intelligently question official narratives. Those who spread unsourced, easily disproven memes on social media are also doing the work of the mainstream media, though they believe in their hearts that they are doing their best to oppose it. In making themselves out to be brave proponents of the truth, they cast a poor light upon those who’ve invested many hours of their lives critically assembling pertinent facts.

The end goal is to have people fall into the third error: becoming so disheartened by the immense amount of information and disinformation available to you that you give up hope of finding out what is true and what is not. It’s impossible to hide the truth forever, but it is relatively easy to gather so many half-truths about it that you know longer recognize the real truth when you see it.

If I may indulge in a conspiracy theory for a moment, I would say there is a healthy disinformation campaign taking place on social media these days that seeks to muddy the waters behinds certain issues so much that people lose interest in ever finding the truth. There are those who seek to sow discord among conservatives and liberals and I'm not talking about Russia. I cannot provide evidence for all that I suggest, nevertheless I can supply you with enough facts of similar disinformation campaigns to show it is not only logical but likely that much worse than what I can prove is occurring though as yet unproven. A read of Trust Us, We’re Experts by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber will provide you with ample evidence of corporate manipulation of facts and the use of astroturfing (groups that seem to be grassroots but are actually well-funded marketing firms) to sway public opinion. A quick read-up on The Church Committee and Cointelpro will show you how our country’s intelligence agencies are every bit as active as corporations in trying to get you to believe the narratives that suit them best. From there it is not difficult to extrapolate that many of the people you may come across on the internet are not real people with real opinions but narrative control agents.

The fourth error is the one area in which we have the most control. We do not have all the resources, the reach, or the time necessary to take on official narratives pushed by the establishment media. We do not have the time to shoot down every crackpot theory advanced by the loony fringe types who will only answer your cogent arguments with vitriol and an unwillingness to be held to facts. We cannot clear the waters that trolls and astroturfers are intent on roiling. We can only fight the attempts at narrative control by continuing to question official narratives in critical ways. We do not have to accept any given conspiracy theory as either definitely real or definitely not. We merely need to question what is questionable and acknowledge what is undeniable. We don't have to change people's opinions, we just have to remind them how the pursuit of truth is best conducted. In short, we don't have to make anybody believe anything, we simply have to make people realize it is okay to think outside of the parameters set for them.

It’s called tolerance for ambiguity. It's called critical thinking. It’s called being a free thinker. It’s called intellectual humility. It’s being unafraid to say, “I’m not sure.”

Authority is important, but it is precisely because it is so crucial to have respected authorities in society that unscrupulous people will attempt to don the guise of authority. It is why people with power and ambition will forever seek to exert pressure on those with authority to change or soften their message. We must never place authority above question. Indeed, it is the very sign of legitimate authority that it would never ask that us to do so. It is has always been my experience that those with a passion for their field large enough for them to make it their life’s work are more than willing to discuss issues with you and help clarify that which seems unclear.

It is those who insist you accept their authority rather than their explanations who will try to shut down conversation on an issue. They will make the options very simple (though wrong), insisting that there are two extremes to choose from with no room for honest discussion. It’s called shutting down conversation and dissent.

It is quite possible to go through life without definitive positions on any given subject. In fact, I would say it is necessary. You must learn to respond to reality while seeing through more than one perspective, even knowing that if one is true, the other will be false. Because certainty can be dangerous, and it always wise to mitigate risk in a world where things are never very certain.

If you outright dismiss narratives that run contrary to the official version, you are helping foster an atmosphere where drawing outside the lines is frowned upon. If you too readily accept narratives outside the official ones, you are making those who intelligently dissent from official narratives look stupid. In either case, you are hindering society's ability to find its way closer to the truth. Do not choose either extreme, not because they are extreme but because they demand simplistic answers and are incapable of nuanced thinking.

The Perfect Candidate

A very good and trustworthy friend of mine, Christopher Steele, has sent to me the transcribed conversation of a meeting of the Democratic National Committee circa 2019. Names have been omitted in order to protect those present, but the conversation below (allegedly) occurred verbatim:

-All right people, we can't screw it up again this time. We need to find the perfect candidate and get the whole machinery of the party behind that candidate. We can't take any chances on losing to Trump a second time. People will start to wonder if we're really serious about winning. Thoughts?

-We’ll want a candidate who’s youthful to contrast with Trump’s old age.

-Yeah, someone who is pleasant to look at, to really contrast against Trump’s orange skin and cotton candy hair.

-Yeah, someone like Tulsi, right?

-Right. Someone LIKE Tulsi.

-A woman would be good.

-Oh yeah, we run a woman and we can instantly lock in the woman’s vote.

-How about a person of color?

-Ooh, that would be good too.

-Yeah. Either a woman OR a person of color.

-Now wait a moment. Listen to this idea I just thought of. What if, what if we were to run a woman…who was…a person of color?

-Oh my God that is a fantastic idea!!!

-All right let’s see who we might have who would fit that description.

-A woman of color who was youthful and attractive would be good, but it might also be good if we could find someone who was articulate. That would really show how silly Trump sounds whenever he talks if we could just get someone who was a good speaker.

-That would be good too. Add that to the list.

-Since we’re throwing around ideas right now, I think it would be good if we could go with someone without a lot of baggage.

-Well that kind of goes along with the youthful thing, but I like it. Baggage was a major problem in 2016.

-Yeah, if we have someone who’s been around for a while he’s bound to have a lot of baggage and a lot of skeletons in the closet the Trump people could dig up.

-Especially if it’s sexual assault.

-Oh God, no. We don’t want even a suspicion that our candidate would be involved in a sexual assault. We really want to show that we are the moral choice to go with here.

-How about the whole Iraq War thing. Should we exclude any candidate who backed that?

-Yeah, I think that’s a given. Trump DESTROYED Jeb Bush over just having a brother who got us into that fiasco. Just think of what he’d do to someone who was directly involved.

-Well, so far we’re looking for a candidate who’s an attractive younger woman of color who’s articulate, has no baggage—especially not sexual assault—and didn’t vote for the Iraq War. Does that sound right?

-That's our list for now.

-And a fine list it is, too. If we have a candidate that checks all those boxes, I don't see how we lose. Any last ideas?

-What about a candidate without noticeable cognitive issues?

-Well obviously we don’t want a candidate with noticeable cognitive issues! What a stupid thing to say, why did you even bring that up?

-I’m sorry, I haven’t contributed anything to the conversation yet and I just wanted to put my two cents in.

-Sometimes it’s better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. No obvious cognitive issues. For crying out loud, who would ever think to run a presidential candidate with obvious cognitive issues? All right, let’s get on with this, I have a meeting with a donor in an hour. Anything else?

-How about a veteran?

-Bloody brilliant! I like how you think. Just imagine President Bonespurs trying to act all tough with someone who’s served in the military.

-Just imagine Trump trying to debate with a youthful, attractive, veteran woman of color who has no baggage—

-Especially not sexual assault accusations.

-Especially not that.

-So a youthful attractive, female woman of color with no baggage—especially not sexual assault allegations—who’s articulate and served in the Iraq War but didn’t vote for it. Who can we get to represent our party in 2020 who's like that?

-Joe Biden?

-Sounds good.

-Sure.

-All right.

-Yep.

-Joe it is, then. Ladies and gentlemen, I can confidently say we have 2020 in the bag. Good work.

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What Will Our Future Be?

What will our future look like? Don’t scurry around looking for the opinions of experts. Our experts have failed us. You’re the expert now, what do you think?

More than that, what do you feel? What do you want? What do you want our future to be?

When someone asks you what the future will look like, you might get images of Mad Max or The Matrix, but those images have been implanted into the fear receptors in your brain. Even if you have thought those ideas on your own, you have never desired them to come to be.

What do you want the future to look like? For all of us, for humanity and for all the animals that are trapped on this planet with us? What do you want for your children and their children? What do you want people in the future to think of us?

You know how this works on a personal level. Everyone knows that if you eat right, if you brush and floss regularly, exercise, save money and work hard, your future will be much more pleasant than if you do not take care of yourself or plan.

But you are part of an ecosystem. Just as a healthy plant cannot thrive in an unhealthy environment, neither can you thrive in a poisoned ecosystem no matter how you tend to your own health. You will never truly be happy or healthy so long as you neglect the environment in which you live. How healthy will our future environment be?

You’re writing the script even as you read this. Your smallest decisions are determining the future that is coming. It is impossible to know whether your largest efforts will bear fruit, it is true. But it is also impossible to know that your smallest choices will not bear fruit you never would have believed possible. As with the choices you make for your personal wellbeing, it is the day-in, day-out routines you establish which will block by block build the future you desire.

It's easy to feel helpless. We’ve been trained to feel helpless, trained by those who feel helpless inside and try to feel powerful by making others feel miserable.

You can feel helpless if that is what you want, but feeling helpless feels horrible. It’s better to feel helpful, powerful, meaningful.

That’s a choice. It’s a habit. It’s an attitude. You just decide you’re going to look for ways to make the future like how you want it to be. You just find ways that you’re making the world worse and find alternatives. You find one tiny little thing that you were doing before, and decide you don’t have to do it. Think of one small bit of your own power you were giving to soulless institutions or bullies that insisted you had to do things the way they told you, and take it back.

Do it. Find some tiny scrap of change you can make, and then ask yourself if feeling powerful doesn’t feel better than feeling helpless. Embrace the glorious feeling of being able to do something that is good for the universe, and all of the sudden new ideas will occur to you. And each time you embrace such an idea it will make you feel good in a way you had long stopped believing was possible. Feel your power and you will soon realize that those who took it from you or told you you couldn’t have it weren’t your friends. Feel your power and you realize you will never let them take it from you again. There is nothing they can threaten you with, because they cannot threaten you with anything worse than that feeling of helplessness that had been eating away at your gut.

The future is in your hands. What will it look like?

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