I think that anyone who adopts a label like Republican, Democrat, Lutheran, Catholic, Liberal, Conservative, whatever - and feels they have to support that entity, no matter what - has stopped thinking, and has given up responsibility for making the right decisions in life. Life is not so simple that one group, or one religion, or one political party can always be right. Most of you probably agree with me - not on the particulars, but on the basic idea.
So, if we basically agree, why does it look to me as if the majority of us are on auto-pilot - automatons who can only respond in ways programmed into us by the labels we have adopted? And - even if the labels are meant to stand for something good - why do I feel that the programmers didn't read the instructions before they designed the program?
Gobbledygook, right? You have no idea what I'm talking about (and you doubt that I know, either). Well, in these pages on politics and government, I'm going to give you some of what I believe. I suggest that, wherever you go for information and advice -- your education, the nightly news, a god, several gods, the earthly representatives of those gods, your gut -- you weigh my ideas against "theirs," and see where we agree and where we disagree.
You might ask my qualifications for writing what I do. I'm a wildlife biologist by training and by career choice. But I'm a CITIZEN, interested in many subjects - history, politics, religion, The Economy, civil rights, small town survival, genealogy, etc., etc., etc. I read A LOT - both fiction and non-fiction - and I think a lot. If what's on cable TV is any measure of the U. S. population, I must be well above the national average in knowledge, intelligence, and (definitely) couth. I have lots of opinions, and lots of ideas. Sometimes I write as an expert; more often as a "well-informed observer;" and even more often I'm just shooting off my mouth. If you read what I write, you can form your own opinions about which one of me is speaking at the moment.
Sanford "Sandy" Wilbur
December 2021
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