Hey Sweeties,
I am not wholly sure where I am going with this post, but I know I need to write something so I figured I would just start writing, and hope it will make sense later. Here goes.
As you all know, I do not shy away from opinions and things both on this blog and on my social media accounts. While some areas of politics and world culture do present a challenge to discuss, some things you cannot but stick on your wellington boots and wade into the conversation with, no matter how sticky and muddy it may be.
So, this thing with Trump…
I am not sure I can say or present anything about Donald Trump that others have not already voiced and this post is not going to try. Dare I say it, we knew this was coming when a country votes in a leader that has very dangerous views and ways to action them. Part of my theory is that Trump does not think he is going to serve his full term in office, so he is cracking on with as much as he can before he is booted out of the White House. But who knows, right?
This morning it was announced that Sally Yates, Trump’s Acting US Attorney General got fired for contradicting the travel ban (which has stopped people from seven Muslim-majority countries entering the US) and if Twitter is anything to go by, she’s been applauded as a hero, and good for her I say! Normally to be fired from a position is something to be frowned upon, but how satisfying it must be to be fired because your values are considered a threat because they represent the majority view.
I think there are two things that have so far come out of Trump’s Presidency that are almost as alarming as Trump himself. 1. Our Prime Minister is actually spineless when it comes to standing up to bad people, and 2. How people of influence are not using their voice to speak out against wrongdoing. Let me elaborate on the latter point.
Use Your Voice
For people of influence, my social feeds are looking very bare of actual opinion about what is going on, but I have struggled with this way before Trump got involved. As a blogger, I follow many fellow bloggers of various size, as well as several platforms that retweet blogger generated content… so my feed is 95% ‘see my latest beauty haul’ (no offence because I post that stuff too remember!). I also follow many of the mainstream media and news channels including journalists etc. but much of their content is lost in amongst the fluff.
Because of this, anything that breaks and causes a riot of response, I hear it almost before I see an official report, but actual conversation about certain things not so much. The big-time bloggers and people of influence are quick to share their affiliate links, or their sadness for a celebrity death, but when it comes to actual issues concerning human rights it all goes very quiet. Firstly, I think we do have to acknowledge that we do not know what contracts tie these people down from being able to share opinion on politics, for all we know they could be sat at home desperate to say something but are gagged from doing so. So let us assume this is the case; what a crap life to live that you cannot share an opinion on something that matters.
We’re Too Quick to Judge
Extending this point though, it does not actually matter if you have 5 followers or 5,000 as it only takes one person to pick up that message and share it with their own network for views to be distributed and conversation to begin. However, while we supposedly live in a society that promotes freedom of speech, speech has actually never been so constrained. It takes nothing for something to be taken out of context that was originally well intended, to stir up hate. Equally, you share an opinion that conflicts with somebody else’s and rather than embrace diversity of thought, you are unfollowed or spoken to like you are wrong. What the fuck, people? I have unfollowed people in the past for having a different point of view to me, sure, but that is because they have branded those with opposing views as something totally un-true and that’s judging.
People that preach their views onto others deserve to be unfollowed whether they speak for the majority or minority. It is like Brexit, Facebook for me turned vile because many of my ‘friends’ did nothing but preach their view onto the rest of us. I do not care if people voted to remain, or to leave the EU, they will have had their reasons for how they voted and just because someone voted to leave, does not make that person a racist. Why are we so extreme with branding people? It is like feminists, I am a feminist because I believe that men and women alike should be treated equally; but because I am a feminist, it does not mean that I burn my bras every night and go on man-hating rampages. It is the same for our Muslim friends, just because they are Muslim does not make them terrorists; terrorists are not Muslims. Jeez people, calm the actual fuck down.
What is Freedom of Speech?
There was a time when freedom of speech was all about debate and encouraging new thoughts and ideas, now a person is either the hater, or the hated. We have the most channels now to talk and communicate and yet we are too scared to say something that might turn everyone against us. Let that be the final thought.
Until next time x
