Today’s post is going to be a little different. I’m not feeling well at all, and so I’m doing what I have the energy for. With everything going on, it’s tough to deal with being sick on top of it all, but you guys deserve what I can give, so now for something completely different…

Photo by Katt Yukawa on Unsplash

At the end of it all, I write here and other places not so much because I feel like I’m superior to people, but because it’s what I can do well enough to achieve the goal that I think we all should share: to have a better world.

I do think that’s what most of us want, on some level, even many leftists. They might have a terrible idea of what it would look like, but most of them want that, even if just for themselves.

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For many, they want us to be more like Europe. They’ve made no bones about it.

I have a problem with this, because the European views of free speech and gun ownership are views that only benefit the elite. Plus, have you seen Europe lately? France is burning as badly as we did in the summer of 2020; only the groups burning it aren’t really locals.

The media there is basically doing the “fiery, but mostly peaceful” thing and shielding the rioters from criticism. Politicians are letting this happen, then saying things like free speech is the problem, not riots.

So no, I don’t share their view of a better world, because they’re kowtowing to people who believe a better world requires me to submit to a power I have no interest in submitting to.

But I also think that while we need to continue fighting the good fight, we should also spend some time doing things that make the world a little better as we see it.

Some things are somewhat obvious, like working with good causes and maybe trying to connect with your neighbors on some level, or picking up trash on the side of the road in your neck of the woods. Any of a thousand simple things that you may already know.

But we need to embody the changes we want to see. Yeah, the whole “be the change you want to see in the world” is kind of cliché, but there is something to the idea. Even if the world doesn’t change because of it, if enough people do it, that’s a different equation.

So what do you think matters?

I think people need to make better choices in the goods they consume. I think that we need American manufacturing to be strong again, and that starts with people actively wanting American-made goods. It’s not possible in every category, but we should demand better stuff, and if that means fewer things, so be it.

As a result, that’s something I’m trying to accomplish. I’ve got too much crap already, but I want to replace all of it with fewer things, but things that will last forever.

I do intend to be that guy who reaches out to his neighbors and gets to know them. Despite my introverted nature, the truth is that they’re not reaching out. So, I’ll do the legwork and try to get to know them, all so that I can feel a sense of community and, hopefully, they will, too.

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I’m going to find a way to donate more to good causes, once I can, preferably with low overhead and that actually does the work rather than spending all their time fundraising. I know charities need money, but that can’t look like their reason for existing.

Yeah, I’m going to support more apolitical charities when I’m able, but also some of the political causes that matter.

That’s just for starters.

The world sucks, but we’re a big chunk of the people who make up the world. Let’s do our parts, and if no one comes along with us, so be it. At least it’ll be harder for them to claim we’re garbage people when we’re the ones actually doing something to make the world better while they’re just trying to burn it to the ground.

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