In Defense Of The Golden Rule
Recently I had a rather unpleasant experience with another member of a group I belong(ed) to. It was very disheartening and troubled me more than you might think, because for the first time I felt that the values I've been fighting for are forcing me, forcing many of us, to rock back on our heels on the defensive, when we've done nothing wrong at all. I was incredulous, and it's made me ponder the very bonds we share as a people.
Here's the short story. I saw a tweet that shared an article, which I thought was a real eye-opener so I Retweeted-with-Comment. I did that a couple of times, as I often do with a tweet that makes me think. I thanked the group member and also WikiLeaks, who it originated from, and included a short snip from the article. That was over two weeks ago.
Then, a couple of days ago, the person who originally shared that article with the whole wide world sent me a DM asking me to delete the tweet. I was shocked and replied with a question as to why, had I done anything wrong? If anything, I had complimented the person for bringing this news to our attention. There wasn't a trace of anything other than courtesy, as I don't even know this person other than her Twitter handle.
That is the default position. We play by the Golden Rule and thank our colleagues (or comrades if you prefer) when they share something that we find valuable. If there's a particular slant we see differently, that's on us, but it's no detraction from the article or the person sharing it. We don't have to be nice, either, and sometimes we're pretty blunt, but wasn't an issue. We went back and forth, she appeared very disdainful of my tweet that included the article that Wikileaks had initially shared. it was absolutely ludicrous that she was asking me to delete it! Here's one of her replies to me, verbatim from her:
"Whether I brought it everyone attention and re-using the article including my name in your tweet is two different things, you didn't check with me to see if it OK and I didn't give permission. You already have the article reposted without my name"
To say I was shocked and bewildered is an understatement. I was incredulous. Are we now expected to ask others if we can please retweet the articles they choose to share with all of Twitter?! This wasn't a post from within the group, and from what I understand, that is after all the purpose of half of Twitter. We retweet finds that others choose to share, along with tweeting what we choose to share.
It's true I often Retweet-with-comment several times, on an occasion where an article has made a big impact with me. Again, if anything this is showing support. I was beginning to feel that I was dealing with a 'snowflake' ... someone who couldn't take a compliment.
Apparently, as the encounter became more heated and I insisted on knowing why I should have to delete my tweet simply because she didn't want her Twitter handle in one of my tweets, she hinted at "safety reasons" that might be misinterpreted as "goading the head of a European country" (her quote marks). I asked for clarification; was she actually concerned about "adverse consequences" resulting from her Twitter handle appearing in the same tweet with the Twitter handle of the "head of a European country"!? Unbelievable, because if that was the case, and things have truly come to this, then I would be stunned to my core but would agree to remove the tweet in order to protect her from recrimination. However, I felt the principle is too important to sweep under the carpet if in fact that's the case. Nonetheless, she refused to agree to such a scenario. She wanted me to delete it simply on her say-so. I said bluntly, "it's one or the other though, you can't have it both ways". People, ANY person, patriot or progressive, are not obliged to request permission from someone before we decide to share their tweets; that's nonsense! That's a load of bollocks! (Whoops; is that British word out of bounds now too?) However, despite my enthusiastic embrace of the fight to save Great Britain, as it's only staving off a fight to save my own country, the culture may have already changed so much to such a drastic extent that many otherwise-courageous British patriots are afraid to admit to themselves just how scary the new social media environment is. Was this person truly afraid of having police in the UK come knocking at her door because she happened to share an article Wikileaks was tweeting about? An article I then shared with a thank-you to both of them that also included the Twitter handle of the head of a European country that the article was about?? ๐คจ
As I understand it, on Twitter, the average person can speak truth to power, so long as they don't stalk them or threaten them with real-world harm. We share opinions, news, recipes, gifs, pics of all types. Sometimes POTUS will share something that I will then share, that someone else will then share and soon dozens of people will be included. Chances are unlikely POTUS ever even sees anyone past his initial tweet.
This is one of the roles that Twitter plays....that of a safety valve in a pressure cooker; the tweet that I stood by, and was asked to leave the group for because I would not simply delete it for the sake of the moderator if no one else, brought attention to the details of who funded a "major European head of state". Big deal. I doubt it very much that s/he or even one of his/her assistants would even read my Tweet, being that only one person replied, simply musing about where Russia was involved in all this. Aside from that single reply, the tweet garnered only 9 engagements and 120 impressions after a full two weeks. Pffft!
Right now the West is on the cusp of a major social explosion, as more and more people rapidly wake up to important Truth they've been lied to about. These days there's so little trust in CNN, the once self-described "Most trusted name in news", that their most watched show is below 35 other RIVAL shows, many of them not even on a News Network. Podcasters like Steven Crowder, Joe Rogan, Tim Pool, Lionel Nation and a multitude of others have much more market influence then the best and most well-paid anchors of CNN, MSNBC, or even the BBC. Without the manufactured outrage against Orange Man, who is Always Bad, and moderate voices who are always called "far-right racists and sexists" if they don't prostrate themselves in humiliating fashion for being male, or Caucasian, or well-educated, etc, then corporate media (aside from Fox, which has ironically been the refuge for many #walkaway Democrats) would have collapsed by now.
#Brexit is coming, and not far behind that will be #Frexit, as the #YellowVest movement continues it's inexorable pounding of an illegitimate regime in that country. People may wonder why I describe myself as being "temporarily located in UK cyberspace". I'll tell you why, because I found a great community of proud British patriots. Apparently there are enough Brits left with spirit and spunk, enough fight left in 'em to feel they can use our every assistance. I have a feeling that must be similar to what people in Britain and America must've felt in the late 1930s, when the ominous war clouds of an Orwellian totalitarian regime were emanating from the European continent.
The same is true today. It's no understatement to say that Evil has cunningly plotted its return since the end of World War II. Since those bygone war years filled with Hero Machines, with blood, sweat n' tears, the insidious plans of gluttonous elites have had it in for the destruction and replacement of the nuclear family unit, the elimination of the protection of the US Constitution and the liberty it enshrines, and an all-controlling surveillance state that uses mass-media to mold opinion and shape whatever morality the control system deems necessary.
That is what we fight against. The use of the Golden Rule against the hosts in the Western countries that have taken a murderous cancer in, under the slogan "live and let live", is an abomination and this little encounter I had is symptomatic really of that larger fight. When practicing the Golden Rule, we should NEVER have to apologize, and we shouldn't be made to feel bad over following it, though we should always have a thick skin. Anyone that offends the Golden Rule and attempts to misuse it against us should be called out. Not in a shrill and hostile voice, but a voice of transparency. These 'little things' are where the real spiritual battle goes down, and if we don't make the Golden Rule our default position in our interpersonal relationships, the more quarrelsome and divided we will be.
Since reaching out to various members of the group, who I have continue to respect and retweet, who I genuinely like and who's camaraderie I appreciate, I've been welcomed back, at least to a subgroup, at least a group of patriots that are wide awake, but the issue is bigger than simply being a member of a group. Aside from God and of course the Twitter authorities, no-one censors my opinion but myself. I try to do a good job of policing myself, but if you see me doing a poor job of it, at least explain your opinion to me, and don't make me feel bad for doing something right.... Even if I'm not fully successful at it. Finally, whatever you do, always have the courage to stand by what you've said and done. Sharing information with the twittersphere doesn't mean you endorse everything or indeed ANYTHING in it.
Right now, we have bigger fish to fry. It seems the power elite is bent on destroying such heroes as #TommyRobinson, and other persecuted citizen-journalists and anti-Orwellians like Carl Benjamin/Sargon of Akkad and Count Dankula. Whether you agree with them or not, and I don't agree with everything they say, they should have the right to say it! They and a small band of British patriots have the potential of upending the British electoral system and forcing the politicians in Westminster to finally respect the Brexit the UK public voted for, and hopefully begin to roll back the insidious globalism that is corrupting the soul of the West.
That's all. 'nough said. Just remember to respect and observe the Golden Rule and have the courage to stand by what you say and do. You don't have control over how others take it, only how you give it.