Drawing a line

Warning: If you are a liberal who takes offense or offends easily I advise you to skip this post and come back next time.

I’ve read a number of posts over the last week from people who are feeling belligerant after the election. Feel free to read the gory details if you wish, but it suffices to say they’ve had enough pussy-footing around liberals for fear of causing offense: 

Don’t Cry For Me Concerned Fans

There I go, offending people again…

It’s the Zombie Apocalypse!

I can appreciate the sentiment. I, too, have frequently been offended by the narrow-mindedness, name-calling, and downright nastiness by many on the left–you know, the champions of diversity, tolerance, and civility. I, too, don’t anticipate it getting any better.

But I do differ significantly with them as to what I intend to do about it. I don’t intend to get in anyone’s face about it. I don’t intend to stoop to employing the same tactics. I’m not declaring war on anyone. I won’t go around de-humanizing the “enemy.”

But I’m also not going to shut up for the sake of reducing friction anymore. I have as much right to speech as anyone else. I have as much right to my religion. I have about as much right as anyone else to not be offended (ie. none at all, frankly). I may not have any more proof my views are correct than anyone else, but I also don’t have any less either. My worldview is as valid as yours. I’ve thought about it at least as much as you have.

So no, I am no longer going to sit quietly and hope our better natures carry the day someday. I’m going to blog about things that matter to me. I’ll try to do so calmly, rationally, and respectfully as I can, but I’m going to acknowledge right now that even that is going to offend people. And I can only say to them, “Please stop reading my posts, then. I’m not going to to stop being me just so you can avoid seeing anything you disagree with.”

I’ll try to warn you all when I’m about to get controversial so that if you like my other posts but just can’t bear to hear me express opinions on things that matter you can know to skip today’s post. I can at least do that much for you.

But silence is no longer an option. I see nothing changing on the other side. I don’t see a whole lot changing on “my side” either, by which I mean the half of the rather ambiguous and artificial, though horrendously diametrically opposed  dichotomy with which I tend to agree more often (simply more, not necessarily a majority of the time–as a general rule I think both extremities are fruit-bats). I see the election solved nothing; the warriors are simply moving on to the next battle.

Already I see people on the “other side” dutifully helping prepare the battlespace for the upcoming battle royal over the debt crisis with erroneous assumptions and figures trying to prove there’s nothing to be concerned about in the first place. I see others accepting it without question. The notion that governments don’t have to operate by the same rules as individuals or organizations is both erroneous and dangerous. I have an MBA, I work in the banking industry, and I’m a partner in a small business, so I’m just arrogant enough to think I have above-average experience in this.

Besides, (and here is where I start turning over a new, potentially-offensive leaf) prophets of God have been warning us for years to avoid debt. I believe them, because heeding that council has helped me through some tough spots that would have been much, much tougher had I not listened. If you can’t have or do everything you want without taking on debt, then simply do without or learn to tighten your belt. There is a large gap currently between what the government must do and what people want it to do. We simply can’t afford everything we want anymore.

But I digress. This post is intended only as a line in the sand, not to address any particular topic. It’s a warning. I’m not going to stay silent any more. I’m not going to become unhinged, though some of you may feel otherwise, but to withhold my opinion does no one any good. I have a right to say what’s on my mind. You have a right to ignore it.

But I will no longer voluntarily waive my right so that you don’t have to feel uncomfortable. The other side has been making me uncomfortable for years. I want my turn.