Diversity

I think I have told the story, before... but it seems relevant to the conversation, again.  A long time ago, I was standing in formation in my active duty Army artillery battery, and pur gunnery Sargent turned around and looked at his unit in the battery and did a double take and then said, "man... we are racist as a motherfker."  I turned to look at what he was seeing.  The entire first row (each row was a self propelled gun) was Hispanic.  The second row/gun was all white.  The third was all black.  There were no exceptions.

We are seeing this more and more in society.  You have companies.. like those under Elon Musk (grandfather was an active supporter of the racist apartheid in South Africa that held down Nelson Mandela and the black majority) whose companies and especially management are overwhelmingly white and male.  However...less prevalent but I have gone into several restaurants and stores and noticed they were all black or all Hispanic or all women, too.

We currently have a white presidential ticket running against a multi cultural and gender ticket.  That's not an overstatement.  The white ticker not only is amazingly white (like... Putin Russia white.. how often have you seen a Russian not white), but they openly say they are standing for whites that they feel are threatened by minority groups and Feminists threatening male power.  Statistics don't lie, and the demographics of the group are a very narrow sliver of society's pie..  like 90 percent white and largely evangelical and male and straight (indeed... anti LGBTQ).... vs... a minority woman, married to a white jew with supporters from all races, genders, economic backgrounds, religions, sexual orientations, working women and stay at home dads... like.. everyone.

Indeed, it's not just a stark difference in contrast, but the narrow sliver actually hate the diversity of others and want to force everyone to be like them.  In schools, that party censors things that don't fit their perspective, so the kids can ONLY hear and see what they believe.  They aren't content to be straight, but they feel they must cure others of being gay or trans.  A party thar used to stand for freedom now flinches to hear the pledge of allegiance say "one nation under god with liberty and justice for all" because they don't WANT others to have liberty or freedom.. not IF it is different than them.

Very often... and often around elections but not exclusively .. I lose friends simply for having a different opinion than others.  I don't unfriend people or end interaction with others for political or other differences, but I find the reverse is not as true.  I also don't believe in hiding my differences or silencing my opinions.  If my "friends" are only going to have me around as self validation or an echo chamber, it's better to know sooner than later.

Freedom is accepting that other are entitled to their own opinions without being "evil" for having them and working together even when we don't always agree.  I'll end this with a clip from a movie that I included in a playlist a few months back ... about the trial of Larry Flint, when the courts approved the freedom to have pornography.  Take a few minutes to watch this and consider if you can really say, I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free.