The Problem with Elon, Mental Masturbation, Sheep, and Shepard’s, Critical Thinking Skills

"With school turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators, the word 'intellectual,' of course, became the swear word it deserved to be."
— Ray Bradbury 

Hey there, happy Saturday; thank you for stopping by and hearing the thoughts and ideas of an olive-colored man sitting in Indianapolis; let’s light this candle and see where it goes!

I’m up; my wife is still asleep, sipping coffee, and the back door is wide open, letting the fresh air pour in.

We both got home about 5:00; I had headed up to Muncie to see some clients and stopped to check on my parents. We were sitting on our front porch when a man named Juda and his daughter Indiana walked up to the patio. He said, “I grew up in this house.” Knowing the story, we asked, “are you the artist?” “No,” he said, “My father is the artist.”

We had heard the stories about the Stephen Stoller family. When in Indy, they raised their six kids and then returned to their home in New York, where Stephen became the artist of 9/11. We gave Juda a tour; he said the house was in good hands and saw his old neighbor and friend across the street.

We headed down to the Dugout, sat at the bar, and got supper. While there, I ran into an old friend and his wife. It had been years; we caught up quickly.  We came home and watched some tube before heading to bed; we got nine-plus hours of fantastic sleep.

I saw a post on LinkedIn by my friend Jeff that showed all the billionaires that owned media companies, but he was asking why the idea of Elon Musk buying twitter was such a bad thing? I thought and realized that an old Sammy Hagar tune held the answer. I first heard the song, “There’s only one way to rock!” and I loved it as a young man. This pre-Van Halen tune is still one of my favorites of Sam, and I think he was predicting the future.

Here are a few of the lyrics, but I’ve changed the word rock to think since today; a few will tell you, “There’s only one way to think.”

“I’ve heard it called by different names.
All over the world, but it's all the same.
Now there are so many ways to make love.
A million ways I’ve been thinking of; oh yeah

… But there's only one way
There's only one way to THINK, yeah.

So many things can get you high.
I'm going to try them all just once before I die.
And you can analyze this situation.
To me, it's all just mental masturbation, huh

… There's only one way
There's only one way to THINK.
There's only one way.
There's only one way to THINK,

… Now quickly, check the hands on the clock
It's 8: 05; it’s time to rock

… And this world can disagree
They don't understand how it can be
And it's not my point of view.
It's a fact, and you know that it's true, huh, oh yeah.”

Today if you use critical thinking skills, you are deemed something other than a good human. If you believe a man is a man and a woman is a woman, you might have a mental condition. If you think kids should not be exposed to adult material before the age of 8, you are somehow a transphobic human. If you felt that the handling of the pandemic was theater and not science, well, shame on you. You are a selfish bastard.

You see, Elon is a Libertarian and thinks free speech should be the rule of the land. His definition of free speech is “allowing someone you disagree with to say what they want.” Most agree with this, but the power structure in place thinks it’s time we begin limiting what they call misinformation or sometimes disinformation.

Do you know what misinformation is? It’s words and ideas that do not fit the current narrative. What is the current narrative? America is a racist, systemically flawed nation that must be radically changed to become more in line with our European ideology. If you do not believe climate change is the most critical issue we need to fix, you might be an idiot. If you are worried about inflation, that’s Putin’s fault.

The problem with me and my kind is that we think for ourselves. These days it’s a rare thing to have thoughts and ideas that counter what the media tells you to believe. And if you dare say things out loud, you could be canceled.  If you think differently than me, I don't care; be free, but let me also have that same opportunity.

There are many folks angry with the removal of the mask mandate. Some will continue wearing masks, and I think that’s fine. If you want to cover your face, do it. But don’t ask me to do something that is counter to actual science. The pandemic showed how sheepish many are and exposed the shepherds.

I caught an article this morning that shared that COVID was the third leading cause of death in the US last year. Well, that’s terrifying but is the data based on COVID or because of COVID. I think everyone has COVID, and if you die, you will test positive, so that slight hitch might skew the data and allow those in power to continue to try and control your life but use reason and logic to see that this pandemic is an experiment as to how far the sheep will go and what the shepherds will do not to comply.

Some people read my work and get angry. I’m sorry, I’m not trying to upset you; I’m trying to show another side of society that is not in fear, uses reason, logic, and critical thinking skills to see the world as it is not what I’m told is.

One final note of insanity. I got a text from a teacher at a nearby high school. She shared that a group of students now identify as cats; they lick their “paws” and have demanded a litter box. Can someone be an adult and tell these kids they are not cats? They are boys and girls, and they should act accordingly.  The world has gone mad, and everyone acts like this is normal.

"With school turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators, the word 'intellectual,' of course, became the swear word it deserved to be."
— Ray Bradbury