A Carson City Resident's philosophy? Ok… Maybe a few questions (Opinion)

My philosophy? Ok… Maybe a few questions: After long evaluation, I have decided to write down some of my philosophy and personal thoughts, politics included, which may or may not be agreed with.

I am an immigrant to the United States of America from Germany, and I think my dual upbringing has provided me with quite some stories to tell, which I am lucky to have been able to share with some of you. So far, most of my life experiences have been very positive and at times even somewhat ideal. One could say and I do live the American Dream. Healthy, preferring the outdoors, staying physically active and living in the Lake Tahoe area, I feel truly blessed.

What really influenced my thinking today, was the experience when I grew up in a different country of course, but also frequent visits of close family in Dresden, formerly East Germany and the many conversations there with my Grandparents, mainly my Grandfather, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Friends. East Germany at the time was, in retrospect, a different World, even more so than the United States. In short, it was on the other side of this social spectrum and after what I learned, I had to tell everyone, “how good they really had it”, growing up in a free country and especially America. The experiences gathered eventually raised my interest in History.
Please look at a map and German history during the Cold War period to understand some of the historic background, if need be.

I have observed strange changes during the last five decades, but mostly since I lived in my new home of the United States of America.

One of my observations was during my childhood in Germany, no one greeted or acknowledged each other while walking towards and passing each other on a sidewalk. But folks here in the U.S. did, by nodding their heads to say a superficial “Hi, How are you doing?”. For some reason I liked all that, which probably influenced me having the desire to move halfway across the world. The reason may have been the fact that most Germans were not proud of being German, because of World War II, the Holocaust in particular. It is because of the freedoms one has in America, that this Country is as desired as it is by so many. After a quarter century however, German confidence (Nationalism, Pride etc.) must have somewhat increased since this behavior seems reversed and is today less common here, than there.

Optimism and pessimism are readily encountered, both have their benefits, but optimism is healthier overall. We all should set optimistic goals to progress into the future. Pessimism in contrast, always generates fear and we all know how one feels having to live with fear, no matter how big or small the cause. Pessimism on the political front seems to prevail, at the moment.

During this time, proud of America and united we certainly do not seem to be! Freedoms and Liberties are slipping away, respect seems increasingly rare and tolerance appears for sure questionable (You probably have noticed for yourself.)

I believe the public is being brainwashed by most of the media, such as “Goofle”, “Bookface”, and most of the TV media of today’s times. The Big Tech Companies have become so powerful, that they now dictate not only our knowledge, but also of how we live, should behave, as well as what and how to think.

Censorship of text and speech is now a common occurrence. This should be frightening to everyone. With most news visible in real time and more opinion-based newscasters, former agencies such as Reuter and the Associated Press were taken over by “Goofer, Twit, and Bookface”. This has been happening for a while now, whether here in the United States or elsewhere in the World! The amount of lies, negativity and even viciousness one is listening to or reading about on these platforms, are getting out of hand and sound a lot like propaganda.

Yes, we are going through a crisis, currently. It is not the first, nor will it be the last, mankind has endured, navigated, learned from, or even mastered. Life, as we are accustomed to, must continue. Yes, we all should wear masks, wash our hands often, practice social distancing and do everything we can to fight the Covid Pandemic. Even so, Science is not specific or concrete. Science is experimental and broad. Findings and opinions differ or change. It is therefore impossible to accept any science derived opinion as fact. By principle, guidance is good, and mandates are bad when it comes from any government. If one is mandated to behave a certain way, to wear a mask, for example, without a 100% guarantee of its effectiveness and the science remains inconclusive, the freedom to decide for yourself is taken away.

Losing freedom, however, will cause unrest as we have seen, and likely severe problems for the future. We need to continue approaching every challenge with time, vigilance, consideration and most of all, common sense.
Common sense seems to lack at times, in my opinion. Most people I know, are by most measures conservative, and with that, behave conservatively in their lives. Meaning that they stay employed, stay busy and/or have families to care for. They want to live life, maybe even get ahead to make something of themselves. But they are taking care of themselves, their responsibilities and live their lives within their means. I question why some support liberal, even socialistic concepts, ideas and ideologies, and more Government with more rules, regulations, and laws. As in the novel Animal Farm, by George Orwell, this tends to create a society, where "All pigs are equal, but some pigs are more equal than others."

More government will only limit individualism. It will take one’s power and the power of nearly all the people away and give it to the bureaucrats and politicians.

There are people, who simply want to fight global warming and pollution. This is great and I believe that most of us care about our environment. We all should contribute, working on a sustainable planet and any challenges humans will face on Earth. This also needs time and common sense. However, I find some individuals rather hypocritical when they call themselves environmentalists, but only drink bottled water, for example.

Some of us believe, that longtime politicians have the interests of the public in mind but are they not. They are driven sometimes by utopia (dystopia), corrupt or selfishly set goals and ideologies enforced by arbitrary timelines? (“We must eliminate all fossil fuels by 2025!” comes to mind.)

If you still wish for and desire more government control, you might be on your way to disaster and fear. But almost certainly you are on your way to hypocritical people with political power, who will take away more and more, piece by piece, of your freedoms!

The decay of our culture and the attempt to abolish and destroy our history must stop. We must learn from our mistakes or they could happen again. It simply is never too late, to learn and to come together.
When I hear complaints such as injustice, racism, white supremacy and even police brutality, I believe they may exist in some cases, but are not the norm. I think that America has always had mostly good intentions and learned from its challenges and mistakes. We keep on learning.

America was, up to the present, referred to as “The New World”, where multiple nationalities came together to form an inquisitive, innovative leading nation. The United States Constitution was drafted with tremendous care and foresight, with the larger picture in mind. Amendments were deemed essential, as times do change. I notice that this doctrine is slowly being disassembled. Necessary rights, such as Freedom of Speech and the right to bear arms, to defend yourself of potential government tyranny are threatened.

By the way; abortion has been legal since Roe v. Wade. What is now up for discussion are late term abortions, gender identity and other minority issues, which should be respectfully discussed, but not mandated for the majority.

Marxism, Socialism and Communism are ideologies, which have never worked and will never work. They create over-involvement by bureaucrats and politicians, which in the past has always led to totalitarianism and dictatorship. We may be at a point where it would only take one bad move or person to topple the entire structure of our constitution and it could destroy our culture.

If you are still for more dependency on government, go ahead and vote for the wrong nominee in this upcoming election. Bad politicians lead to bad governance, which will always have bad consequences. It could be the end of America as we know it.

Everything takes time. We, as social humans, must experience and deal with everyday life, from learning to live with setbacks, including tragedies, to gaining others’ trust for developing important, essential and good relationships and alliances. Through discussion and debate with all people, it takes time to find good solutions to problems, to develop thought-out strategies and achieve the best positive outcomes as per the majority. If we as humans try to permit anything and everything, it will ultimately cause division, division, and more division!

More division will dehumanize us all and we might run the risk of becoming no different than most animals. Division is bad! So, compromise and real toleration are the answer, if you ask me. If we choose not to live by anarchy, but rather in a society of acceptance, ethics, morals, dignity, and everything else which makes us human, we need rules, laws, and their enforcement. That is why we, luckily, still live in a democratic republic and have a vote to elect our representatives to govern in benefit of the vast majority of the people—not a smattering of vocal minorities with values and agendas which are harmful to the rest.

America has the electoral college, but this voting system seems unfair to some people. However, the United States simply cannot be compared to smaller countries, because of its vast geographical and social diversity. There are big metropolitan areas neighboring extremely rural land, with each, naturally requiring different considerations. This country can be compared to Russia, or China for geography or size, but not social or political diversity. But of course, our democratic tendencies are more clearly defined and functional than these. So, comparisons always fall short.

Does it boil down to, hating the President more than loving America?

What does the Democratic Party really stand for? Is it just, wait and see (You must vote for it to see what is in it)? Just not Trump, at any cost? Really? All I have really noticed from them, so far, is offensive, pessimistic, uncooperative, and even seemingly corrupt. I have not heard of one plan, strategy, or concept about finding resolutions to our nation’s or the world’s challenges, or how we should realistically move into the future. At present, liberal politicians seem to have only one narrative—everything our current President does is bad or of no value.

How can this be? I remember, that up until last election, everyone was tired of many of our long-term politicians and the population was ready for someone out of the ordinary. The result was that Donald Trump was elected, and Obama before him. In contrast to the stale narrative, our current President had plans and strategies in which roughly 50 percent of the people did agree with. He has followed through on most of those plans and I think this nation is doing better in many ways. Are we not trying to do better every new day?

At a young age, I was fortunate to be taught respect for others and that there are rules and laws, which for the good of all, must be respected. The amount of hypocrisy, judgement, ignorance, and disrespect found at all levels today, I find hard to believe. Mainly, within the Democratic party one will find some arrogant, disrespectful, and quite nasty politicians. Trump shows arrogance in a humorous way, but with composure and conviction to goals that benefit all Americans. Don’t you think?

By far, no President of the United States of America has ever been as disrespected as our current office holder. The refusal to give him at least the minimum honor due the Office, is astonishing! Their refusal to accept as valid the desire of half of the voting population (and a striking majority of States) is utterly wrong-minded.
Our future President should be our current! At least we know that he is capable, dedicated, forward-thinking and strong. He says what he thinks, even though some people are overly critical of him in every respect. Do you still think everything is bad with Trump? Are you still thinking about drastic change and uncertainty?

What do we know of the alternative? Have we not heard only vague and contradicting messages regarding our future? Have we not seen constant disrespect, bias, arrogance, corruption, boycotts, and deceit?
Is personality truly more important than good results?

Let us be optimistic and appeal for true tolerance, respect, dignity, and common sense.