Author: joshboolean

YouTube keeps sharing videos of people who voted for Trump asking for forgiveness and those who didn’t vote for Trump explaining why ex-MAGA don’t deserve forgiveness.  I’m not sure how I feel.  I can say one things for sure, my feelings at the moment are mixed.  I want to feel compassion, yet so much damage has been done.  So many lives have been destroyed in some shape or form.  Obviously I could write on this for days.  I decided today, just to work out some of my basic thoughts on the matter.

I had to look at this from several angles:

1. Severity of the transgression
2. Knowledge and understanding of the transgression
3. Acceptance of responsibility vs. projection
4. Remove the “I” factor
5. Actually change in behavior, not just stating you are sorry

There could be more, but these are the ones I find most poignant at the moment.

1.  I strongly disagree with MAGA when they say this is just politics.  Trump elevated everything to extremism where human rights were being abused, and morality was called into question: protecting pedophiles, shooting innocent girls in Iran, shooting fisherman off Venezuela, shooting Americans in the streets, abusing immigrants, denying U.S. aid abroad, denying U.S. aid through FEMA, taking away rights, and abusing women.  MAGA, you are not losing friends because of politics, you are losing friends because you support and vote for atrocities.
2. I do believe we have to take into account as to wether or not the transgressor fully knew and understood what they were doing.  I feel most of MAGA should have known this.  Trump displayed a lot of these characteristics his first term and/or made it very clear what he was going to do his second term.  Everything was laid out clearly in the Big Beautiful Bill and Project 25.  Huge amounts of information were available everywhere.  If you claim ignorance, then you should no longer have the right to vote, because clearly you will remain uninformed forever and ever and vote how your told, not how you think and believe.
3. You have to take responsibility for your actions.  Don’t make excuses.  Don’t blame others.  I think this is what bothers me the most in some of these videos.  If you’re making excuses and blaming others, you are not on a path to change.  You will repeat the same behavior in the future.
4. You need to remove the “I” factor.  This shouldn’t be all about you.  It should be about acknowledging the harm you’ve done to others.  I see very little of that.  I see a lot of victim role playing.
5. You can’t just say you are sorry and move on, which is what I see in a lot of these videos.  I rarely hear “I’m going to try to vet my information,” “I’m going to talk to friends and family for second opinions,” “I’m going to really think about what people are telling me.” Almost none of them explain how they are going to become better people if they are forgiven. 

Again, I’m just some low income dude thinking out loud on my basic thoughts.  I’m not trying to write a moral thesis.

I have not made a final conclusion on how I will treat ex-MAGA asking for forgiveness, but I think a starting point with me would be to treat them like alcoholics in recovery.  I’m willing to forgive you and give you another chance if you can demonstrate to me you are changing our lifestyle (in this case thinking) and that you are trying to think about others more than yourself and maybe even find ways to serve others rather than yourself.

I’ve been thinking about evolution lately.  I feel like we are basing it on technology rather than a society or moral enlightenment.  I feel like a species that is truly evolving would develop a sense of nurture, education, and betterment and not focus on power, greed, and hate.

I can’t help but think of the Egyptians, the Romans, Persians, Ming China, Mongols, Ottoman’s, Louis XIV, and the U.S.: huge income disparity, war dominance, unbridled fear of immigration, little access to education…all the things that prevent the general population from exploring their full potential.  It hasn’t changed.  These patterns keep surfacing, even after 60 centuries.

We still rape, beat, sexually assault, traffic humans, cover up pedophilia, grift, steal, lie, and cheat.  We even willingly elect people engaging in these behaviors. 

We have global media, translators, have mapped the human genome, and can clone animals, yet we still harm others for our own personal gain.  When does this pattern stop?  It feels like it has been going on for 6,000 years.

A society that upholds the weak, provides food to the starving, heals the sick, and allows all to achieve their full potential equally is the truly evolved society, or for you biology people, truly enlightened society. Isn’t it time to stop being petty, stop feeding the greed, lust, and power trips and start looking at everyone with equality and potential?  When are we going to stop being barbarians?

What exactly is strength in America?  Is it the accumulation of wealth?  Is it bullying other’s into submission?  Is it telling others what to do and them watching them do it?  Is it creating an empire around you or building a name? 

I think most Americans have lost their way on what strength and power mean today.  It isn’t how many followers you have on social media.  It isn’t how much money you make.  It isn’t being in charge of others. 

Strength is doing the right thing even when you are pressured to do the wrong thing.  Strength is having the emotional depth to face world problems rather than turn a blind eye because you find what is before you discomforting.  Strength is building the weakest link rather than cutting it loose.  Strength is compassion and cooperation, not dominance.

I am mocked every day because I am sensitive, because I have compassion toward others, because I am not comfortable with profit or capital gain at the expense of others.  I am made to feel that I am weak, that I am not part of the team.  I am pressured to question my values.

I can’t stand my job, not because of what I do, but because of the politics, the lies, the hypocrisy.  For a lot of Americans this is a game and people’s lives are tools.  The sense of accomplishment lies in manipulation and dominance, not in working together to achieve a common goal that helps all involved.

Contrary to what the politicians preach, strength is education, unity, and supporting those in need.  I am ashamed at how unbridled capitalism and monopolistic greed have reshaped morals and a perceived justice system in this country. 

America will never be great again until we shake superficial, extrinsic strength and replace it with intrinsic strength, a strength united and compassionate for all.