Is it just me, or are we living in an increasingly strange and divided world?
Where personal freedom has taken a sharp decline and greater power and sway have transferred to areas (and people) that don’t seem to be making any logical sense?
Where it seems like:
- Up is down and down is up
- Right is wrong and wrong is right
- Common sense is increasingly uncommon
- Rational debate or discussion has been thrown to the curb, and
- The lunatics have seemingly in fact – taken over the asylum.
People say things that we know are wrong with such regularity, that it gets us questioning not only them, but sometimes even ourselves?
How is it that not everyone is seeing this craziness for what it is? Can this even be real?
I keep thinking I’ll wake up from this weird nightmare… and yet it persists.
It leaves me feeling angry, depressed, even sometimes nihilistic.
If you feel ANY of which I have described, you are most certainly not alone.
And yet…I know it can feel that way.
Why is That?
Believe me…I’m no rocket surgeon!
While this might be oversimplifying things, I think it comes down to (at least) 2 things:
- Manufactured False Consensus
- Compliance
Let me quickly unpack that.
Manufactured False Consensus: occurs when (formerly) trusted news sources, or those in positions of authority, continually amplify a particular perspective or narrative, while simultaneously throttling a competing perspective, or even reality.
By only hearing one side continually, and never hearing the other, one is left to deductively conclude that the amplified perspective ‘must’ be true.
Repetition makes a fact seem more true, regardless of whether it is or not.
When this ‘illusion of truth’ is pushed enough, it appears as though ‘everyone’ believes it to be true because there are no apparent dissenters questioning things.
And if ‘everyone’ believes it is true, (or we perceive that everyone believes it to be true), our brains take a shortcut (to help us digest all that is coming at us in this information saturated world), and comes to the conclusion…it must be true.
Right?
And the lie becomes accepted.
Compliance: I think this concept is best described in a video I saw from Academy of Ideas titled “Why Are People So Obedient? – Compliance and Tyranny”, where they state the following:
In the privacy of our minds, many of us disagree with the ideologies, political agendas, in the government mandates of our day…. yet in public, we comply.
We do what we’re told, say what is politically correct, and justify our hypocrisy by telling ourselves that we are powerless to change society, and so we might as well blend in with the crowd.
But are we really powerless?
Some would like us to believe that…but it is simply not true.
The truth, I believe, is that there are many more people that think a lot more closely to you… but because of:
- the power of “go along to get along”,
- manufactured false consensus, and
- not knowing what to do,
they are self-censoring themselves… creating an illusion, that they don’t exist.
Many are afraid to speak up, for fear of negative consequences, like the potential of being socially ostracized, losing a favoured job or position, being branded a ‘conspiracy theorist’, ‘racist’ or any of the other ‘ists’ that are part of the ridiculously overdone playbook.
So what can I do about it?
Let me start by providing some perspective, which might sound a little out-there, so stick with me for a sec.
There are people that fought for the Freedom we enjoy in Canada. Young men went off to war. They sat in fox holes in the middle of winter in a foreign land, while having bombs dropped around them, and bullets whizzing above their heads. Watched friends get blown up, maimed and killed… all the while not knowing if literally today – was their last day on this earth.
To change the course of your FREEDOM, (while serving in the military I believe is one of the single most honourable things on could possibly do), to get things going, you can start by taking much much simpler action.
You don’t need to organize a million person march, or spend every nickel you have to spread freedom throughout the country.
Then what?
Peaceful Non-Compliance
To start…do not acquiesce. Do not bend the knee.
To be clear, I’m not advocating any kind of violent, or aggressive behaviour…
To the contrary…simply, calmly, rationally, state your disagreement (backed up up with facts, stats, and reason).
What does that look like?
Well, when sitting around the water cooler at work, or at a hockey game for your kids… and a fellow employee, or acquaintance, says something you don’t agree with, you have two potential courses of action.
- Take the admittedly easier, safer, socially acceptable position of shaking your head in agreement…”yeah…you’re right”. Or…
- Knowing what the person just said is inherently wrong, or not in alignment with your views …You could step up and simply and calmly say, you know what, I see it differently. I think….X…and then back it up with rational reasons why.
If you take Action 1, what is the result?
Nothing really changes. You maintain your socially acceptable position, and go about your life, and repeat that same behaviour each time you are in that situation.
If you take Action 2, what is the result?
You may get branded some aforementioned derogatory name. I don’t think so, if your approach was calm and rational, but who knows? If so, that says quite a bit more about who you associate with, than it does about you.
Perhaps instead, they agree with you. Remember, most people who are regurgitating talking points don’t fully believe it themselves. They sense something is off, but haven’t come across anyone that substantiates what they feel. They need someone to say out loud what they feel as well.
Alternatively, you might cause someone to actually “think” about their position. Crazy right?
Are you being adversarial or combative by simply not going along with something you don’t believe?
I think if you freak out and light your hair on fire, while calling someone a nut-job woke idiot, you don’t accomplish what you want.
But, like I said, if you speak calmly, state your opinion, back it up with why you feel that way…there is nothing adversarial or combative with that and it will serve you better.
It takes some courage admittedly, as it may make you a little uncomfortable, but nothing close to the foxhole experience I outlined above.
Quick Story
When March 2020 came around, I immediately thought something doesn’t feel right. Thankfully I followed my gut on that one.
I had a certain suspicion and have maintained that suspicion.
I do want to add however, that if someone, anyone, could have provided me evidence contrary to what I believed, I would have listened, and likely changed my position. Notta.
Toward the end of 2022 or so, I was chatting with a guy at the gym. He told me something that kinda shocked me at the time.
He said through all that time, he never wore a mask….ever. I thought to myself, how is that possible? I mean, I didn’t believe in them, but where I live you couldn’t go anywhere without one. He simply stuck to his guns and refused.
He admitted it wasn’t always comfortable, but he calmly acted like a reasonable person, and did what he did.
Did he hide sit at home and have groceries delivered to his house for years?
No. He said he’d sit in a food court, having a maskless meal with his girlfriend, and simply wouldn’t acknowledge security, who literally watched him sit there and eat his food. He did that everywhere.
I thought: son of a bitch. I’m believing the truth, but this guy is actually living the truth. I wish I would have stood up more.
Let me circle back to my point from earlier. I’m not suggesting to do anything that is not peaceful. I think there are those that would love us to not act peacefully so they can take actions against us. Don’t fall for that.
I’m just sharing with you a story to make a point.
How does this all tie into FREEDOM 4 EVER?
Freedom 4 Ever is interested in shining a light on the truth and doing its part to preserve and restore Canadian FREEDOMS .
I’m trying to keep everything here non-political, non-religious, even though you may discover where I sit on things.
We believe in:
- Freedom, not Socialism
- Prosperity, not Poverty
- Creation, not Destruction
- Freedom of Speech, Expression, Press, Religion as long as it does not infringe upon the rights of others; and
- Human Rights
We feel that is of paramount importance that those who feel like they are alone in the fight against tyranny and government overreach, and that you are in fact in the majority.
We believe it is going to take some courage to stand up to those that wish to have control over us.
Courage is Contagious
It’s easier to summon the courage when you know you are not alone.
That is why we sell apparel and stickers with messages that let others know that you care about your freedom and the freedom of your children subsequent generations.
How to say something, without even saying anything
When you wear one of our shirts, or place a sticker on your vehicle, you let others know that they have your support. The more people that see that they are not alone, the more people can find the courage to speak the truth rather than being relegated to silence.
Our hope is that wearing clothes with positive messages that support freedom, opens the doors to conversations, which allows for the growing of a movement of standing up for that freedom.
We are more alike, than we are different. That is our collective strength.
Perhaps you’ve realized that those that seek to have control over us and trying to distract you through division. If they can get you to believe that we are simply too different from each other because of our skin color, political affiliation, sexuality, social status, religious beliefs etc. then you will be less inclined to notice your Freedom being taken from you.
Rather than focusing on our differences, we need to focus on what is much more plentiful…the similarities of how we as Canadians really all just want the same things:
- To feel secure in our homes and communities.
- To be loved.
- To see our kids achieve great things and be happy.
- To be able to enjoy peace.
- To be able to work hard and get ahead.
- To give and experience true kindness.
- To be left alone to live the lives we deserve.
Courage is contagious, and we hope FREEDOM 4 EVER can play a small part in allowing you to use your courage to stand up, and encourage others to do the same.