Many many years ago, I was having a discussion with one of my landscaping clients. As we were discussing and lamenting the changes in society, she made the statement, “all people are crazy these days”. I responded by saying that if all people were crazy, then crazy was, in fact, the normal state of affairs for people. In short, crazy would be normal. And if this were the case, everyone would be normal… not crazy. The definition, you see would stay the same, but the criteria required to fit the definition would have to change.
Do you get the sense that this is happening all around you these days, in every area of life: race, gender, medicine and health, education, national policy? My guess is that you do… and if you do, it concerns you deeply. Most of us do not want crazy to be the new normal. Most of us want sanity to be normal and craziness to be abnormal.
The problem, of course, is that “most of us” are no longer driving the bus. A small minority – a small but overwhelmingly devious and powerful minority are driving the bus and we the majority are sitting in the back of the bus watching (seemingly) helplessly as we see the bus wandering all over the road and now getting dangerously close to a precipice of no return.
But we are not helpless. You are not helpless. You are one person and therefore have little power, but you are not helpless. You, as a individual can stand up to craziness. You can stand up to forces trying to suck you into crazy thinking and drive you to Crazytown. You can stand and refuse to ride along quietly. You can stand up and say “no more”. Standing up alone is scary… but I guarantee you that there are people around you not standing because they are afraid themselves and all they need is to see someone else stand first.
Stand up. Make your normal views be made known. Show them and shout them if necessary. Speak them loudly in your homes, on your streets, and in the public square. Band together with other like-minded normal folks and increase the volume.
If everyone (or even most everyone) on the bus wants to take a turn to a new direction and set a new course to a new destination, you have the power to do so.
More on this later. For a peek into what I consider to be the “old normal” please read my post:
Historical Values
Posted on November 17, 2021byadmin Jim
———————————————
If you would like to communicate further about this or any other issues, please email me at jimshaul@gmail.com and we can chat. We can also chat on Messenger once I know who you are.
If you would like to read more of my thoughts, please visit my blog: https://jimshaul.org and follow me there. You can also find me on Substack at MrJimShaul.
If you appreciate my posts, please consider Liking them and Sharing them below if you think they could be a blessing to others.
For His Glory,
Jim
You are sounding like a revolutionary Mr. Shaul. In the current societal landscape of warring ideas, this post is a diamond in the ruff.
Unfortunately, when one “stands up” in the heart of the battlefield in the war of ideas, being surrounded by enemies is likely for some of us. Doing so can bring about negative consequences. As such, people are quiet. I suppose it is to some degree sad to think that many philosophers such as myself lurk in the shadows hoping that tomorrow will bring tidings of the philosopher king’s arrival. Yet, that is a matter of perspective. Lurking in the shadows and meeting with friends to speak philosophy as if we are some form of dead philosophers society is fun nonetheless.
For those of less understanding, I find it likely that they will suffice with the ever-so-powerful slavery of being known as the every-day-dasein. Just keep on living life, or stand up and let your voice be heard? Reap the negative consequences in order to maybe bring about change that is formless? Why leave the comfortable slave mindset of the every-day-dasein for the risk of change? We have Netflix, video games, social media, football, Blue Jays basketball (finally), and good food with little effort. What more could the common man want?