So far I’ve lost about 7 friends. If these were just the
hollow, disjointed separations jumping from the back of my social media
accounts, I would merely swat them away like flies. However, these people aren’t
avatars, soulless entities I’ll never interact with outside the domicile of
cyberspace. Rather, I’ve known them all since I was 12 years old. We’ve grown
up together, kept in close contact, considered each other a tight knit group,
and heralded our bond as a sign that true friends do stay in touch after
graduation. This group included former lovers, athletes I’ve bled in the ring
with, and some of the brightest young intellectuals I had the privilege of
knowing. Now our grasp on each other, increasingly tenuous as the event loomed
over us, is severed forever, and, according to them, I am the sole reason why.
What, you may ask, is my abominable, unforgivable sin? I voted for Donald
Trump, and they don’t like that. It offends them, the carriers of fatally
delicate sensibilities. Certain relationships are supposed to be far deeper,
more firmly rooted, and unable to be swayed by the indifferent, harsh winds of
politics. I was a passionate Trump supporter from the start, and while not
vocal about it, didn’t back down from defending my beliefs when a political
discussion manifested. While in the military this may not be the case, where I
grew up, we are pretty much inoculated with Liberal and Leftist views from
birth scholastically and socially. Steeped in the same broth, I considered
myself a Liberal at a young age. Eventually, as I matured and gradually became
more self-aware, I found myself harboring beliefs that were contradictory to
those championed by my peers. Time marched on; I joined the military, and found
a home, one where I wasn’t under the constant stress of silencing myself for
fear of being branded a dissenter, as well as freeing myself from the
unnecessary burden of unwarranted guilt. Along the way I read voraciously to
gain an understanding of polarizing political viewpoints. This is something my
ex-friends failed to do. Any philosophy, including my own, becomes dogmatic,
stagnant and dangerous if left unchallenged. For my now adrift acquaintances,
who preached nothing but tolerance, acceptance, and the open, unfettered
embrace of literally everything, they’ve proven to be not only intellectually
stunted, hypocritical ideologues, but also personally repugnant and ethically
reprehensible.
The focus of this post isn’t to discuss my personal
political leanings. I voted Trump, so you can ascertain reasonably well what I
believe. It’s to draw focus to the double standard my “friends” swore by, one
that the seeming majority of Liberals I know love to defend. My Facebook feed
is awash with posts threatening violence against Trump supporters, BLM
adherents openly proposing and supporting assassination, and “progressives”
that predicted a party of sniveling, cowering losers when Hillary won, acting
in THE EXACT MANNER THEY INSULTED OTHERS WITH. The dissonance is both
astounding and sickening. If this was 2008 or 2012, Obama had just taken office
and Conservatives were partaking in even a fraction of the behavior these
animals are purporting, there would be national, probably global outrage. Trump
won because normal, hardworking people, those who are too invested in paying their
bills and feeding their families, those with actual responsibilities and
substance in their lives, are tired of being beaten down socially, economically
and legally by SJW’s and the assorted creatures that staff the Left. White
Privilege, Thin Privilege, Male Privilege, Radical Feminism, rape hoaxes,
anti-white slander and propaganda completely endorsed by the mainstream media.
Ironically, as much as his detractors love to compare him to Hitler, those same
people have gone after a completely innocent, blameless group with the same
zeal as the most ardent racist. Their reasoning goes, “In the past, white
people performed genocidal acts of conquering. They deserve justice”. And what
exactly is justice in this case, you insipid little dipshit? As a young man of
mixed racial heritage, I’ve spent my life entrenched in two vastly different
worlds. In both, I was tolerated begrudgingly at worst and outright ostracized
at best, simply because I either didn’t know how to speak Spanish with anything
other than a tourist’s feasibility, or I was “too dark”, marred by the supposed
curse that is my skin. It wasn’t until I made friends with the other outcasts,
the rebels and outlaws that I found a place to belong. What I learned is that,
to the truly intelligent and articulate, the genuinely accepting and loving,
color, religion, sexuality and gender have no bearing on a person. Whatever
that guy’s cousin may have done, despite the misdeeds of that girl’s sister,
they hold no credence over how they will be treated. Every human being is
judged solely on their character, nothing more, and nothing less. So for an
entire political movement to base the bulk of their arguments around punishing
a race of people for the “sins” of their ancestors is not only logically
fallacious, it’s morally opprobrious.
Why must we all be so divided? What makes an issue so great,
so all-consuming, that it is necessary to dictate your personal life, and who
you choose to keep in it, by the whims of that idea? Regardless of who I voted
for, the debacle of the past year, specifically the prior 3 months leading up
to the election, shows what a destructive farce politics really are. We’ve
turned loved ones into enemies, and our closest allies into guarded strangers.
The argument was made that, if anything, the election was beneficial and
necessary, because it illuminated the hidden racist tendencies of those living
amongst us. But are they racist really? The young black or Latino teenager,
perhaps a shade over 16, has a deserved reason to be wary of the police, given
that they are the first to be typecast for merely existing. Once again, in this
matter I speak from experience. Likewise, the staunch Alt-Right Republican can
be forgiven for being wary of unchecked immigration, especially from the Middle
East, given this particular hot button’s residual effects overseas in Europe.
From each of these contentions a myriad of counter-arguments and proposals are
unleashed, and the wheel of unceasing, irrelevant pontification churns onward
towards inevitable oblivion. Great philosophers and intellectuals have been
searching for a unifying theory or “system”, as it were, since the beginning of
sentient thought, that can harmonize with every belief, no matter how contrasting,
and, all the way up until the present day, it has proven to be a continually
fruitless and futile effort. Subjectively, I don’t believe such an answer
exists. God gave us free will, and with that He must have known that we would
squabble endlessly over senseless minutia until the Sun finally gives out. To
solve the equation of universal harmony would essentially turn one into a
demigod, as he would automatically cause the cessation of all war, conflict and
struggle. Hopefully soon, that day will come and that savior will emerge. Until
then, grip your Bible’s and load your guns. Grim days are upon us.