Bullying Is Bullshit

Of all the many things wrong with humanity, perhaps the most tragic and ridiculous reality of our world is the fact children the world over have been exposed, one way or another, to the act of bullying. From going out of their way to put people down, to humiliating other kids in front of their friends, to simply mean physical acts which are very often violent, bullying is an age-old problem endemic to humanity. We are a relatively intelligent, social species, and with all the positives that brings, we’ve retained a handful of negative traits along the way.

Yet, bullying is a problem beyond the realm of children. Bosses at work are often bullies, people in positions of authority, such as law enforcement or prison guards, can be bullies just as easily. Even our current President has made a name for himself being a raging bully and deeming it “saying it like it is” to make the whole charade more palatable. The problem surrounds us and permeates our society, much like corruption and sexual harassment. And as we all know too well, even our children are infected and affected by this lunacy.

Take Keaton Jones, an 11 year old boy from Tennessee who recently made a now-viral video calling out his bullies. He gave a heartfelt reflection on how messed up this whole thing is for anyone to go through, and it’s resonated with people. Celebrities, politicians and regular people from all over expressed their support for Keaton over social media, even extending invitations to be taken out on a yacht, hangout with Snoop Dog and attend the premier of the next Avengers film. There’s even a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for his future college education.

Keaton’s video is heartbreaking, no child should have to go through such nonsense. Yet, nearly all of us have, at one point or another, faced a bully in our own lives. In my experience, even bullies themselves are driven by abuse in their own life, often in the form of their parents. For example, in middle school, I had one particular guy from the baseball team that would harass me relentlessly, calling me short, fat, stupid and ugly, often trying to knock books or other items out of my hands, and generally just excelled at being a dick. I avoided him as often as I could, and survived all the way through high school and beyond, I’m pleased to announce.

Years later, I found out the same guy committed suicide. It turns out his mother had died when he was young, and his dad was a raging alcoholic who often beat him and his siblings. Eventually, he was placed in foster care, and it then hit me that I hadn’t seen him throughout almost all of high school. And now, years later, for reasons I’m still not aware of, he took his own life. The guy that made my life far more difficult was in fact living a miserable life himself, one far worse than my own.

There is no excuse for treating other people poorly, but it can help to understand all of us have challenges and bullies in our lives, and to try to empathize, to reach out and make as many friends and allies as possible. In fact, this was exactly my anti-bully strategy in middle and high school. I was never one of the coolest kids, but I was never at the bottom of the social hierarchy either. I played sports, dated pretty girls, and am built like a human tank. So, I made friends.

I looked for others who were picked on, those who didn’t have many friends, those who were more introverted, awkward, or considered weird by most others. It didn’t always work out, but I started going out of my way to befriend them. And more often than not, it worked. We built something of a coalition of misfits, and in so doing, insulated ourselves from the effects of bullying. We’re stronger in groups, as they say, and I’m still friends with many of these unlikely allies to this day. Building a solid network of people around you is a proven system which can work for anyone.

This is often easier said than done, and the plan wasn’t always perfect, but it helped quite a lot, and it can help you as well. Whether you’re still in school or a middle-aged professional, dealing with bullies requires self-confidence, strategic thinking, and friends. Develop these skills and connections, network and build a coalition around you, and do your best to hold bad behavior accountable. For example, if you work in an office space, and your boss is a jerk, connect with others who feel the same way. Bring the issues to his or her attention, and if they refuse to cooperate or change, consider going above your boss. Contact your HR department, if you can. Either way, you’re going to have to make a move at some point, even if it means leaving your job.

It’s 20-goddamn-17. We deserve better than the behavior of our primate ancestors, we need to do better than the behavior of our ancestors. It starts with each of us: invest in your children and guide them in dealing with their own bullies. Be the parent that records their child calling out their bullies, and help them build a self-confidence and network of people to help them through difficult times in their lives. Do the same in your life, and refuse to let people, even our own President, get away with such behavior. Just like Keaton says in his video: stay strong, things will get better. And they get better through all of us taking action, and demanding a better version of humanity.

Thanks for reading! This blog works in tandem with my YouTube channel of the same name. Feel free to check it out if you enjoy my content here. Come back often for regular updates, and see you next time...

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Not Even Net Neutrality Can Survive Trump?

It’s official guys, crony capitalism is in full swing here in the U.S. We can’t even defend the internet, around which so many of our lives revolve, in this era of Trump. Lies ranging from the regulations were harming investment to they hindered the ability of emergency medical services to function effectively were told, yet all of them were lies. The FCC knows they are lies, Ajit Pai, chairman of the FCC, knows they are lies, yet they are pushing this corporate-donor agenda anyways. If anything sums up the bullshit big-business corruption running rampant in Washington D.C., made even worse during the chaos of this early Trump administration, this is it.

In an age of resurgent white nationalism, shrunken national monuments, blatant lies on everything from inauguration crowd sizes to severity of tax cuts to the physical beauty of a border wall, habitual sexual harassers being exposed left and right, reckless tweets from our own President, and a general political atmosphere based on simple answers to complex issues, perhaps nothing is sacred. Maybe we shouldn’t expect anything to be off limits or too ridiculous for Trump and his kind, but we should never accept this as normal or okay.

Corporate and special interest money has been swelling the coffers of politicians for decades, yet has become more dramatic in light of some rather recent Supreme Court Decisions. Notably with the Citizens United case in 2010, politics has become ever more influenced by those most willing and able to fund the machine. Scores of competing billionaires, millionaires, corporations, lobbyists representing dozens of industries, unions and political action committees all jockey for position and influence, very often at the expense of the average voter.

There are times our interest overlaps with those of the wealthy and elite, but we are nearly never the reason why things go our way in politics. The best we can do is form powerful lobbies, like the NRA, wether you agree with it or not, to speak on our behalf. Aside from these single-issue organizations, the nation and economy is increasingly run by and in the name of those paying for it. We are not yet a tyrannical oligarchy like Russia, or a single-party dictatorship like China, but our crony capitalists are running most of the show.

We’ve faced situations like this in the past, notably in the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, and we’ve emerged stronger, freer, and more prosperous every single time. But freedom and prosperity truly are not free. Our government is meant to be a tool of the people, a body through which our collective will can be shown. It was developed with plenty of checks and balances in the system to prevent both rule by whim of the masses, and rule by powerful yet corrupt individuals.

What our Founders could not have easily imagined, however, is how America would look today. Industrialization, automation, information technology, mass transit, dozens of multinational corporate juggernauts, the world has changed drastically since the creation of our country. Just as the branches of government provide checks and balances on each other, unions and the government represent the people when dealing with business.

We should absolutely support business, especially small and startup companies, they’re the backbone of our country, and keeping the market as free as possible has proven to be the greatest source of wealth creation and innovation. The unfortunate reality is, however, in areas where expensive infrastructure is needed, such as electricity, cell phone service and emergency medical services, there are often few options around a specific area. For example, where I live, there is no competition to Comcast in providing cable internet access, and if someone in my family suddenly had a heart attack or stroke, there are only two hospitals I can take them to.

This leads to effective strangleholds on various markets, with one or only a few companies providing a service. This allows for huge artificial manipulation of the price and quality of service, and we have seen this reality time and time again. Simply put, the free market does not work on behalf of the People in such circumstances. Yet, the government can intervene to represent our will. It can be the guaranteer of a free market and prohibit crony capitalism. Our government has done so in the past, and in the most successfully run countries on the planet, they do quite often.

This leads us back to the internet and net neutrality. The regulations put in place back in 2015 ensured a free, open and equal-access internet service for everyone. It is arguably the purest example of the government being used on behalf of the People to ensure a free market. There were dozens of utility exemptions given to the industry, from the government declining to set price limits or speed requirements to emergency medical services being allowed traffic priority. Nonetheless, it wasn’t enough. The large internet service providers want as much control over their market as possible, at the expense of the rest of us, and Ajit Pai and his FCC just handed it to them.

It is well past time for America to collectively wake up, to realize the Left versus Right political rivalry is much more showmanship displayed by a sensationalist media than reality, and it is in fact time for us to reclaim our say in matters of state, to reassert our voice in our government, to demand our Voice truly represents us again.

Every politician wants you to believe they are the one who will stand up for you and your interests, but until we curtail the influence of big money in politics and eliminate the ability of politicians to choose their voters through gerrymandering, a free internet is but one of many losses we’ll continue to sustain. It’s time to collectively grab our government by the balls and remind it who our representatives serve. We dictate the course of this nation, every vote counts if you make it, we are the masters of our collective destiny, and it’s about damn we start acting like it.

Thanks for reading! This blog works in tandem with my YouTube channel of the same name. Feel free to check it out if you enjoy my content here. Come back often for regular updates, and see you next time...

YouTube channel here.

Disney Buying Fox! And OMG Star Wars

Just in case the Walt Disney Company didn’t own enough of our collective childhood, this week it was announced they’re moving ahead to collect a treasure trove of intellectual property and infrastructure in a buyout of a large portion of the 21st Century Fox media empire. Reportedly worth over $60 billion, the completed deal would see Fox retain their News, Business, and much of their Sports divisions, while turning everything else, from film rights to television stations like FX, over to the House of Mouse.

This would leave Disney in ownership of franchises like X-Men, the Fantastic Four and James Cameron’s Avatar, a larger stake in the streaming service Hulu, in addition to much else. The Marvel Cinematic Universe would expand notably almost overnight, and Disney would see its film and television presence grow dramatically while coopting one of its primary competitors. It would also leave the Murdoch family, who own and operate Fox, the second largest shareholders in the Walt Disney Company.

The whole thing still needs to be approved by regulators in a number of countries, but is expected to be allowed due to how the deal was structured. From Pixar to Marvel to LucasFilm and now Fox, Disney and its CEO Bob Iger, are on a bona fide roll. In an age of Netflix and Hulu, Spotify and MoviePass, traditional media companies are scrambling to adapt and consolidate. Disney is a prime example, acting more like a technology company akin to Google or Facebook while scooping up companies with valuable intellectual property. They even announced a plan to launch a streaming video service as a direct competitor to Netflix. As they well know, content is king.

Speaking of content, none is grabbing more public attention at the moment than Star Wars: The Last Jedi. With a current 93% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and pulling in an estimated $220 million over it’s opening weekend, director Rian Johnson helmed what is already becoming widely regarded as one of the best films in the franchise, and I entirely agree.

Challenging long-held tropes while honoring the best of Star Wars tradition, Johnson upends many of the expected moves for the film in favor of giving fans what may well be the most daring and forward-feeling in the canon since Empire Strikes Back. From the very start its pace is riveting and well handled. Constantly raising the stakes, giving answers many did not expect, and even eliminating characters most presumed would be present until at least the end of this new trilogy, The Last Jedi proves itself to be one of the funniest and most heartfelt films in the franchise, while carrying a weight and dark overtone worthy of the very best the saga has to offer.

From the strong performances by its lead actors to the strikingly new-yet-familiar visual treats, served one after another, this film sets itself apart as a Star Wars movie not only honoring its past, but moving boldly into its future. Disney has made it clear they wish to take the franchise in some new directions, and after the well-done yet formulaic Force Awakens, The Last Jedi is a nearly ideal follow up. Certain fans have been notably displeased by this second act of the trilogy, but this Star Wars is a new beast, rooted in its past yet not tied to the tales of the Old Republic, Empire and Skywalkers. There’s a much larger galaxy out there, waiting to be shown to us, and The Last Jedi revels in displaying just how much fun this wider world can be.

Thanks for reading! This blog works in tandem with my YouTube channel of the same name. Feel free to check it out if you enjoy my content here. Come back often for regular updates, and see you next time...

YouTube channel here.