I consider myself a liberal and a progressive. I consider being liberal my philosophy on life, and being progressive the practical approach to making that happen. Perhaps I'm too patient, or too pragmatic, or value nuance, but I am becoming more and more disillusioned and disappointed with similarly-winged Americans.

It seems we (as collective mindset) seem to be getting more absolutist as we go along, more prone to knee-jerk reactivism (is that a word?), and more prone to apply a litmus test to anyone who dares to bring shades of gray into an apparent black & white set of "rules". This is naturally most prevalent on social media (i.e.: the Book of Faces), where it seems some people don't even bother to read the articles anymore. They see the clickbait title, and comment "That's it - no more for me!" or "BOYCOTT!!".

Forget doing a little research to see if the article is even true, or if there's more to the story (or the person) than meets they eye. It's 0-to-60 instant outrage. Read previous comments to see if someone has offered some subtlety or evidence to the contrary? Who has time for that?

Let me provide a couple examples...

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12 comments (Latest Comment: 06/01/2017 20:46:54 by TriSec)

Good Morning.

So, yesterday was Memorial Day. I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to visit the flag garden on Boston Common. Every year, more than 37,000 flags are placed in a prominent location on the slope near the Commonwealth's Civil War monument. There is one for every citizen of this Commonwealth that have been killed in all wars - there were flags there for Isaac Davis and Crispus Attucks, as well as Etienne Murphy (Killed two days ago in Syria.)
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18 comments (Latest Comment: 05/30/2017 18:13:53 by Mondobubba)

Good Morning.

So, it's Memorial Day weekend, or the unofficial start of Summer. Too bad we never got a spring around these parts.

It was my feeling that since March 20, we've had no more than 5 days above fifty degrees around here, and certainly no more than 7, but checking the weather, it turns out my impressions are far off.
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5 comments (Latest Comment: 05/27/2017 23:24:08 by livingonli)

THE "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal --the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an hour.
- "The Mask of the Red Death" by Edgar Allen Poe

We humans all share the same planet. From space, there are no boundaries, save for natural ones (the oceans, rivers, and high mountain ranges). There is a tribalism that we pass on from generation to generation, however, that seeks to divide us, to compartmentalize us, to instill an "us -vs- them" conflict that is unnecessary and harmful. Our xenophobic and racial and religious and cultural mistrust of "others" is like a scourge upon humanity. Even acknowledging its existence does not preclude us from engaging in wars both big and small. So much energy and time and money is employed in perpetuating it, that it prevents us (or perhaps at least retards us) from attaining those heights which would benefit us all.
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55 comments (Latest Comment: 05/26/2017 00:24:08 by Scoopster)

Good Morning.

It's been quite some time since we reviewed the Cost of War.
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48 comments (Latest Comment: 05/23/2017 23:31:24 by TriSec)