Criticism Witticism Culture

A  L  O  H  A !

Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain 

but it takes character and self-control to be 

understanding and forgiving.

                 Dale Carnegie

The pleasure of criticizing takes away from us 

the pleasure of being moved 

by some very fine things. 

                 Jean de La Bruyère

It is much more valuable to look 

for the strength in others. 

You can gain nothing by 

criticizing their imperfections.

                       Daisaku Ikeda

If we judge ourselves only 

by our aspirations and 

everyone else only 

by their conduct 

we shall soon reach a 

very false conclusion.

 Calvin Coolidge

𒋼

"Whatever is good, right, beautiful:

Think on THESE things."

The flavor of our whole culture now

is criticism, derision, winning.

Lincoln famously said, that he

defeats an enemy by making

that person a friend instead.

Today, we are too busy making

snap judgements about others

based on what "side" we perceive

them to be on. Then we trash

them, or invite them to trash

the "other side" together!

Even a minor mistake

by a person providing a 

service to us becomes occasion

for stinging reviews and

outraged posts on social media.

I care more about the "deficient"

worker, and what they may be 

going through in their day, instead. 

Silly me!

People are under enormous

pressure today and need a little

slack more than they need

complaints and judgement.

Patience is a virtue 

that pays dividends, for

you, for the other person,

for society!

I have tried to explore

what motivates BOTH sides 

of an argument, and been

vilified in rather extreme terms.

I assure you, I am NOT

the problem with society because

I try to understand the germ of

emotional truth in even the most detestable

point of view. We have lost our ability

to reason, to discuss and to care it seems.

At root, hatred

and xenophobia are aroused

by fear of change. Immediately

labeling someone racist,

instead of exposing them kindly to

other points of view,

is not noble or effective

in creating consensus.

We all experience how angry,

divisive, narrow and motivated 

"conservatives" can be. BUT

frankly, progressives

have "frightened the horses"

too long by focusing on the 

NEXT group or issue that 

needs rescue, while completely

ignoring the base of the party,

the mass of this country:

working class people in an

increasingly winner-takes-all

system that devalues their

skills and needs. Those people

respond to main street solutions,

NOT arguments over who is a racist,

Israel bashing, and lawsuits 

about cakes and bathrooms!

Add to the mix, skilled, ambitious

communicators - whole networks of them -

whose aim is to arouse

passion by playing psychologically on 

the fears of viewers,  gain eyeballs

for sponsors, and votes for their 

preferred party, under the guise of

balance. All while attacking

and undermining real news

organizations of ethics and

the journalistic skills to label

Facts clearly from Opinion.

Today EVERYTHING is opinion

based on gut emotion and

the full play of cultivated

bias and blind spots.

Everything today is 

a conspiracy panic;

Sign of a sick civic culture;

Shown also in the undeniable

rise of antisemitism,

fearmongering, "other-ing"

and the rise of mass violence

in public places.

All while distressing longtime allies

while downplaying real

geopolitical dangers behind

photo-ops with no  agreement

or progress. 

No wonder people are stressed!

Let's take a step back to sanity

for ourselves and for one another.

Let's look for good things to

notice, praise, and share.

Let's be clear-eyed and

pay attention to "Who

What Where" instead of

o the latest alarms and

clever hourly misdirection.

United We Stand.

Divided we are puny critics,

and warring tribes of fools.

I choose Stand! Join us.

𒐾

Thank YOU,

                                           cloudia