Lessons Learned In 2020/21

Taking stock of lessons learned in 2020 seems to be a new trend in the website world. After seeing Humblebee and Me and Serious Eats do it I figured I would continue the trend. Why? It's damned useful for helping people learn things the easy way, not the hard way, and I hope it catches on.

So without further ado, here's some of the crap I learned this year.

• To not be evil is the greatest victory of all.
• The more racism I see from anyone of any skin color the more pathetic it gets. Yeah, sure, because you decided what family you'd be born into. Yeah, sure, because you were there when your ancestors toiled away in hard conditions and survived against all odds - that was your doing. And now you are proud of it. Bruh.
• If you value stuff, land, power, or success more than human life, there is no hope for your soul whatsoever. Especially land. "But land is my survival" no, fool, there are plenty of human travelers that survive just fine. "But my heritage" Your heritage is to justify greedily owning land instead of valuing human life? If that's the case your heritage sucks. You can have your "it's mine, it's mine" toddler tug-of-war, just stay the hell away from me.
• I want to live in a world where people think more like me. Specifically in this way: I wish I was Black so I didn't have to travel with a metric ton of 100 SPF every time I want to go outside for five minutes without several days of severe sunburn. Fuck. I mean, there's really nothing more to skin color than that. Sure all humans have origins, a cultural background, a bunch of people who look like you, the conditions one is born into, but all that is external and the day you start defining yourself solely based on external factors is the day you cease to be an individual/have any freedom at all. And being super pale is only the "superior survival option" if you live in Antarctica, Iceland, or with Santa Claus. In other words yeah you're damn right I'm colorblind. There are so many other things I can hate people for besides something that was completely out of their control. So what, I'm supposed to like people who look pale like me and hate people who aren't lobsters on the beach? I like my personal freedom, fuck off, fuck you!
• It doesn't matter what your motivations are if you're killing a child or someone's grandma. Or letting someone get away with it when you could stop them. It doesn't matter how innocent you think you are. You'll pay for it sooner or later.
• A lot of religious people seem to be terrified of science, and I think it is because deep down they think if they examine their beliefs too closely they'll find out none of it is real, and no Divine Being actually exists or cares about them. A while back I actually did an experiment for myself because I was terrified of the same thing... I said, "Hey God, prove to me you exist." It uh... worked for me. Just thought I'd share that.
• A lot of less-educated people are mocking everything about more-educated people, and I think it is because deep down they believe they'll always be stupid because they were born that way. Thus, they mistreat educated people. No one is winning. It's unproductive. And worst yet, that deep-down belief is completely false; they were simply never given a chance to find what methods of learning or self-study actually worked for them. And by that I mean they never gave themselves that chance. It is debatable whether they even know that 'smart' and 'dumb' are relative and that the real trick in living a life with less suffering (what people consider "being smart") is to hitch yourself to truth as a value and understand that really thinking something through is hard work; mental labor.
• The most American cuisine there is, is probably cheap Chinese takeout or a cheap Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet. It's where we all go to fuel up and if you say it's not that important in your life, you're lying.
• It's mostly heterosexual people who are overly sexualizing the LGBTQ+ community, because they somehow feel that's all there is to being LGBTQ+. Is that all there is to their romantic behavior and lifestyle and is that why they're applying that shitty mindset to us? Probably. Being really in-your-face about how straight you are and how much you like to have sex will make anyone LGBTQ+ think that there are one of two possibilities here: 1. you're a chud and you have no life, and 2. you're in the closet
• I used to dumb down what I said out of fear of being misunderstood or hated by people who, while not actually stupid, were anti-intellectual, anti-change, or anti-learning. I also used to censor everything I said to avoid hypersensitive/intolerant people calling me out for some perceived slight; revising and re-revising my written word to avoid internet flame wars instigated by people who don't bother to think deeply about anything. Boy, do I ever not give a crap now.
• I have zero patience anymore for the following: conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, willful ignorance, Trump supporters, anyone without a single original thought or opinion, people who function as echo chambers or a hall of mirrors for puppet master/s, and people who don't think before they speak.
• I always thought that people have the ability to choose to think for themselves, and that when they don't, they become monsters. That still seems to be true. I also always thought that people are not "born smart" or "born stupid" but choose either to avoid the mental labor required in thinking for themselves or to dive right in and become a deep thinker regardless of whatever b.s. it says on the IQ test. It still seems to be the case.
• I have a -9000/infinity level of patience for social justice warriors. Yes, because we've seen straight-up Fascism let's go a hundred percent the opposite way into cancel culture, obscene levels of entitlement and coddling full-grown adults. Oh, that's gonna work well.
• This country is a unique mixture of the best of the best and the worst of the worst.
• The diversity window is closing. By that I mean the tolerance of those who are different by a very vocal minority is diminishing for larger and larger amounts of demographics. First it was all children and youth not in public but in private, "those damn Mexicans and Arabs," next Black people and Jews, then it was Asians, then all minorities of a different skin color. Next it was the LGBTQ+ community, the disabled or mentally different, and everyone who isn't Christian. Next it was Democrats and everyone who is not a part of the "I love our God Emperor of the United States" community that worships their golden god. Soon it will be women, essential workers, doctors and health care professionals, and other people who historically had little to no privileges or who don't toe the party line, because when you're power tripping it's not enough to make others suffer but you crave feeling like a god. Next will be the people who don't support open Fascism as superior to democracy and/or Russia and China, then it will be anyone who isn't blood related, and then it will be people who ARE blood related in the march to become the top dog. Because if power and fear of losing power is the only thing you value then you'll inevitably sacrifice something. The might makes right philosophy leads to 'uneasy lies the royal head' situations. Just watch.
• Right along with the diversity window, the freedom window is closing. The irony is lost on most. Now, you actually can't think for yourself, be different in any way, stand out, or deviate in any way from the latest orders from the far right (or the far left). By shutting out more and more diversity and being intolerant of more and more diversity in others, the social environment forbids it in yourself too until all you are is an automaton marching in lockstep with everyone else in the same boat. All in the name of Freedom. Yeah.
• People who lie to themselves do so because they are weak, pitiful, cowardly creatures who are intolerant of any discomfort no matter how slight. Therefore when it becomes apparent that they've been wrong to lie to themselves, they choose another lie to tell themselves to improve their internal comfort, freedom and happiness and virtue and honor be damned. Stay away from them unless you are a glutton for punishment, for people who don't value the truth can easily be persuaded to think you are expendable. They're gullible, and gullible people can easily be made into mobs.
• The human race spends so much time, effort, and energy on improving technology and scientific endeavors. If we spent even a fraction of that on developing better systems of ethics, government, virtue, morality, and religions, we wouldn't be in such a mess right now.
• Being full of hatred is worse than losing in a struggle for democracy. One is a struggle for freedom and human rights. The other is a struggle for your soul's well-being. They're both pretty important but as General Mattis said, "Fight with a happy heart"
• Being hateful is not actually helpful. For anything. It is illogical, impractical, damaging, and messy.
• We really needed the Single Dad Laughing blog this year out of all the others and it was taken down, damn it!
• For years I had no idea what "for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" meant. This year, however, pointed out to me that I treasure children's well-being, my family, my friends, truth, freedom, and all things that are wholesome, good, and pure. That's where my heart lives; what I value. Thank goodness other people feel the same way and I think they re-learned the value of these things this year as well.
• Good Christians generally don't talk about their religion to non-Christians. They're too busy helping with the pandemic efforts.
• Even the kindest Christians are generally pretty judgmental. This is odd, considering that the essence of Christianity seems to be humility and unconditional love, but what do I know anyway.
• Racism and other vendettas/obsessions based on defining oneself by what oneself is NOT are always an excuse for mediocrity. If they don't start off that way, they end up that way. And this applies to everyone of every skin color, background, religion, culture, and creed, without exception. Better to stay away from people like that. Better to try to avoid becoming like that.
• It would be pretty nice to have some real competition in the corporate world instead of this monopoly-led, captive consumerism charade
• I am very tired of Black people dying. I am very tired of Native American people dying. I am tired of this racist, stupid system and the racist, silver-spoon-in-mouth people in it.
• I am going to be misunderstood no matter what I say. I've learned to accept that.
• Everyone needs to see a good therapist regularly. No exceptions.
• The louder they preach, the less they believe it
• Automation for chores is a very good thing. Dishwasher? Roomba? Oh yeah. Now if I could afford them.... ha
• Parents of teens these days tend to not give a damn about their kids.
• Most of the crap I went through in life was due to people actually believing that their success and well-being could only be achieved by denying it to me. Wealth, happiness, success, enjoyment. The old competition for resources model that every living thing does to some extent. Hoard, hoard, hoard. They were stuck in a mindset of hoarding commodities, medals, achievements, recognition, and "stuff." Ironically, they were very rich in resources and opportunity but didn't use them correctly, instead preferring to be bullies and attain "more" while ruining what they did have. Miserable people, on an infinite treadmill, trying to bring me down with them out of a self-preservation instinct and jealousy. What a small and limited mindset. This year I made a sincere effort to not be like them.
• Education is indeed the golden door to freedom.
• Other countries actually care about what happens to the United States. They actually looked up to us I guess. We've got to regain their trust.
• We have a little, itty, bitty, smol climate problem. Ok jk it's a huge deal and if we don't fix it within the next ten years - not 20, not 30 - we are not gonna have a good time.
• There are two kinds of people. My kind of people, and not my kind of people. Chances are if you're reading this you're my kind of people.
• There are still real punks out there. Punk isn't a style, it isn't even really a kind of music although you could say the music expresses it. It's something that's part of you that screams "freedom." I have no respect for people who say that punk, goth, or whatever new way of thinking that someone is trying out for themselves is 'just a phase' because it is extremely suspicious - they clearly went through such a phase themselves and then killed the part of them that enjoyed living and/or the whole thinking for yourself thing.
• Russia and China's governments and sycophants are like the people who put me through crap. Miserable people trying to bring everyone else down with them. Miserable... and dumb. Perhaps they should clean their own house. Let me clarify: the governments and the authoritarian fascists in both countries are the problem, but I'm well aware that much of the population of each is super cool. I wish them luck.
• You can't make a clockwork orange, but you can put nonsweet oranges in prison
• There is a difference between people who annoy you and people who are committing crimes. How much freedom is destroyed because people are upset about their lack of comfort? Let them wear the outrageous clothing, dance badly, sing badly, drive under the speed limit, commit minor social faux pas, cuss and swear, be awkward and socially inept. Let them exist as strange, bizarre, and even mentally ill human beings. It's the ones who commit crimes we should be intolerant of, not anyone else, or we're destroying our own freedoms too. If we're uncomfortable with people or with our own actions despite any of that not actually harming anyone, that means a need for looking within, not lashing out.
• If we do not have trust in our justice system, police force or military, we have nothing. Right now, we have nothing. Welp, nowhere to go but up I guess.
• Man, I really love monks and nuns. They're so nonjudgmental, nice, and dedicated to their faith.
• Formation is a track with serious heavy metal vibes and until the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 I had no idea what it was about. I am utterly ashamed I didn't 'get it' earlier.

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