Category: Politics

San Francisco: A Great Example of Political Hate and Redirection of Real Problems

Politics

The anti-NRA people always amaze me.  Recently the NRA was called a terrorist organization in a story involving one supervisor and the San Francisco city council.

One of the worst run cities in the country. Refusing to ask for federal help, I don’t mean money, as that doesn’t help.

Hate is not the answer, talk to the NRA. I bet not one member of the city council ever directly talked to the NRA about their concerns or have listened to their ideas and policies that could help them.

So, as a long-time member of the NRA, and Democrat, (35% of their members, your constituents are democratic members) you are calling me a terrorist.

That is the most ridiculous thing in the world to even think about.  If anybody would really do their homework, the NRA is one of the most caring as it relates to second and first amendment protectors in the country. They have been trying to get people to look at the needs of the mentally ill, for years. There are lots of things they are for.  They’re just waiting to work with Congress to get some things accomplished.

I do think there’s more things they should do.  Maybe I don’t agree with everything they do, but I agree for the most part with what they do regarding gun safety, gun safety classes, protecting rights, and seeing that guns are in hands of the right people.  We have such great laws out there now that, if they were ever enforced, we wouldn’t have near the gun deaths

But to call them a terrorist group is unbelievably naive.  A lot of Democrats are NRA members.  I am one.  It’s not a Democrat or Republican issue.  It’s not a gun issue.  It is an issue of law-abiding people versus non-law-abiding people.

Why doesn’t anybody ever talk about the shooter?  Where were the security guards in El Paso?

We talk about the guns instead of the shooters.  The shooters are all mentally challenged at some level or another.  No one in their right mind would do any of these things.  Don’t forget, 90% of all gun shootings are pistols, not AR15’s.

I think that our efforts should be on education.  If I have any criticism of any of the pro-gun people, including the NRA, it’s not educating the general population enough to not let the radicals dictate the agenda.  Blame the media for this, they won’t get the message out.  The Democrats have been defining the Republican party for 30 years because the Republicans and the NRA can’t get their message out on the liberal media.

I understand they have a huge challenge.  The NRA does, the Conservative parties do. They can’t get any coverage because what they will cover is one person calling us a terrorist and a council that went along with her. This is just amazing to me how naive people are about what the NRA really is and what the NRA really stands for.

As for the totally failed San Francisco city council they need to communicate and find solutions by listening to all people possible before making uninformed decisions.

Hate rhetoric never works toward a solution, it only exacerbates it with negative results and no solutions. No hate No Violence hopes for honest respectful rhetoric. If you talk to your adversaries it can only improve the results, maybe not perfectly but better than hating just to hate.

Stop knee jerk reacting and start talking.

What are your thoughts?

 

Who is No Hate No Violence?

Attitude, Freedom of Speech, No Hate No Violence, Politics

A letter from our founder on the importance of free speech and debate theory:

I am 71 years old and I have experienced and have seen a lot in my lifetime. I’ve watched our world evolve in so many ways.  Because of this I know that we are fully capable of changing from a bad attitude to a good increasing our happiness. And I know we will continue to make this world a better place for future generations.

This is why I started the No Hate No Violence blog.  I started it because I truly believe there is no place in the world for hate or violence.  I believe we CAN make our world a better place.  And I want to help do this.  So, I began by writing posts trying to encourage others to embrace this ideology.  This is my pay it forward.

Our team here created NO HATE NO VIOLENCE signs and took them to the streets to be carried at the different marches and protests.  All in the hopes of reducing the tensions and encourage peaceful demonstrations and dialog.  I’m not going to lie.  It was intimidating for us to do this.  But it was successful.  We found that it didn’t make a difference what position a person stood on in the matter. Most were receptive and wanted to hold our signs.  This gave us hope.

But, in my process of learning how to be a blogger (and yes, I am still learning how all of this works), I have spent many hours researching various topics.  And as does everyone, I too have my own personal beliefs.  But above all I believe in free speech.  So, when I came across debate teams and the rules of debate I thought AHA!  This is what we need.  This can help!

No Hate No Violence believes in free speech with open and respectful dialog.  So, we began developing the No Hate No Violence Debate Forums.

If we could promote free speech and reduce today’s angry rhetoric using facts we could encourage people to actually listen to each other.

We could get people to really hear different points of views objectively. What better way to start than to encourage healthy respectful debates.  Especially in our youth.

In today’s world when we follow our politicians and media we become more and more exposed to so much negativity, mistruths, and corruption.  Sadly, we are teaching our youth how to be corrupt, how to lie, how to be self-absorbed and how to be closed off to differing points of view.  Much of our society claims to be enlightened and open-minded in today’s age, but in reality, many have become more intolerant.

I think that our issues with bullying alone, is an indicator of what our society and social media is teaching our youth.  Our political leaders and their rhetoric spread all across the media spectrum just screams intolerance and is the epitome of bullying.

We want to change that.  We want to bring the fine art of debating back to the forefront of American society.  We want to re-open the dialogue.

Let’s encourage and support the benefits of debating.  Debating promotes open dialogue and respect and tolerance for others.  It teaches people how to think objectively and quickly.  After all, to be objective you must be able to hear both sides of an issue.

The more we thought about debating the more we realized that we need to expand and promote these programs nationwide from grade school through university.  Especially to those schools needing assistance.  We want to get these debates recorded and publicized to provide ongoing education and awareness to the general public.

There are so many benefits that debating can offer.

Teaching our children to debate at the grade school level will develop their cognitive skills giving them greater confidence and self-esteem.  It will improve their study habits and encourage them to take more interest in subjects they may otherwise shy away from. Click on this link to check out 3rd graders debating!

Debating at both the grade school and high school levels gives the teachers fun opportunities to engage their students in some of the more challenging or “boring” topics.  It’s also a great avenue of redirection for kids lacking in social skills.  The child identified as a “bully” could redirect their aggressive behavior in a more productive way.  And the “shy” kid can find their voice.

These skills carried through high school and college will provide far better opportunities for success in life.  High school debaters will improve their future college and scholarship opportunities.  And those who choose not to go to college have gained invaluable skills to promote themselves in the workforce and their future careers.

Benefiting our youth with these skills benefits our society.

As you can probably tell, we are very passionate about this.  But we are small and have been self-funding everything.  We need your help.  To fully make this a reality we need volunteers and donations to enable us to develop and distribute our systems, market the program, provide outreach and training, and to fundraise and secure sponsors.  We hope you will join us on this journey to pay it forward.

There is no debate…debating can make the world a better place!

 

We Can Do Better

Attitude, No Hate No Violence, Politics

I think the Democrats and Republicans could help us get back on track and away from all the negativity and hate if they would just lower their rhetoric.  We can do better.

They need to reach across the aisle and work with each other. Have face to face conversations or debates away from the media. They need to focus on getting the right things done rather than what kind of exposure they can get for their own re-election.  The more respected politicians don’t go to the press all the time.  They’re too busy making things happen by actually listening and doing the work.

I get that the Democratic party isn’t always conspiring with the mainstream media. But they are definitely in cahoots with each other.

Their constant same rhetoric is teaching our children how to lie, deceive, never answer a real question, or give any real facts.

They don’t report the facts because it might not fit their narrative and it’s teaching our children how to do the same which creates hate. All of this anxiety is a source of depression, and bullying.  A lot of these issues I blame on the politicians in general–parents who really aren’t doing the right job of parenting.

We need to teach our children to be curious about everything.

Not how to think.  We are all responsible for raising our kids with good morals and as they say, it takes a village. Especially when it comes to single parents and at-risk youth.  They need our help.

We as parents should demand from ourselves and our leaders, media, and teachers that we be better role models and examples.  The way we’re acting right now needs to stop.  Think about the future we are creating.  What can we do to improve it?

Let’s stop talking and do the right thing.

Anti-Free Speech in Our Colleges Is Another Form of Bullying

Freedom of Speech, Politics

Anti-free speech in colleges is the ultimate bullying.  The worst bullies there are, is  the people who stop people from free speech.  When they don’t support the first amendment, when millions and millions of people have died to support it, they are believing in breaking the law, and believing in hate and violence.

It’s crazy to think that the Free Speech Movement began in 1964 by UC Berkeley students.  They were all about protesting a ban on on-campus political activities.  All fueled by the struggle for civil rights and opposition to the Vietnam War.  What has changed?  Now, fifty-five years later, unless you are promoting Liberal views, you are not allowed to speak.  You are not welcome.  The Liberal moral compass really needs to be looked at.  How can we allow ourselves to take such a huge step back in progress?

Anti-free speech quite simply is bullying, and bullying is hate. That’s it.  It is a hate that people have developed over the years.  And we need to fight it.  We need to continue to fight for free speech.

The people who try and stop free speech are the people who have no answers to whatever the comments are.  They don’t know how to debate because they have no answers to the problem.  They are afraid to have a fair debate.  They want to stack the uninformed odds in their favor.

By stopping discussions, you’re nothing but a bully. And if we are against bullying, we should be against anti-free speech.  That is my opinion.  It’s just not right!

This is being fueled by taxpayer funded College professors, more reasons why we should abolish tenor. Tenor has been greatly abused, often as cover for doing the wrong thing. Questioning American ideals is ok, but encouraging anti-American, anti-free speech, is wrong. Lets do the right thing.

Thank you, President Trump, for signing the executive order protecting free speech on college campuses.  I surely hope this can  get the current college administrations and the American people thinking more about free speech and what we can do to support it.

 

 

BE PROUD TO BE THE BEST GREAT NATION IN THE WORLD

Attitude, Politics

America’s wealthy donates more money on an annual basis to help other countries than anyone else. What many don’t understand is that about 20% of the people in the US pay 80% of the taxes.  Those 20% paying 80% of the taxes are not all wealthy.  Think about that.

Being the greatest nation in the world allows us to help all these other countries in the world. If we don’t continue to work on being the best and greatest nation in the world we won’t be able to help the other countries as much as we do.  President Trump could do a better job of pointing that out.  We have done more to promote equal rights and human rights in the world than all other countries combined. 

We really need to lighten up and focus on what the big issues really are. Can you imagine if we just adopted a more positive attitude moving forward? The Democrats would be so much more productive in a good way rather than creating a divide amongst us.

The Democratic stonewalling needs to stop.  I applaud Nancy Pelosi’s decision to not try to impeach President Trump because, as she says, it will only divide our country.  Though, I will admit, I am not confident in her intentions.

But, I do think the Democratic Party has some good potential presidential candidates for 2020.  If they want to gain momentum with the votes they need to stop the stonewalling Trump Haters at the expense of the voters.  The people are tired of it. They are going to lose their seats in the house and presidential elections if they don’t. 

One man with conviction will overwhelm a hundred who have only opinions. ~ Winston Churchill

So, let’s get a positive attitude and get rid of the hate and violence. Let’s focus on the more positive we can do in the world to benefit everyone.  Remember, the people with good attitudes generally are more successful in life.  So, if you want to continue on with a negative attitude then expect to make less money and be in the lower echelon of democracy.  But if you want to continue to rise…well then embrace the power of positivity and keep a positive attitude!

Bringing Tolerance to Religion and Politics

Politics, Religion

It can be easy to think that certain core beliefs are irreconcilable. You see it with religion and with politics: people are so strongly invested in their beliefs that it seems they’ll never work together.

But there is hope, and that’s by finding our common ground in avoiding hate and violence. You see, most people do not believe in hate or violence. It doesn’t matter whether you follow Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, or atheism. It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the far right, the far left, or someplace in the middle. The majority of people simply don’t want to live around hate or violence.

It wasn’t always this way, and that change didn’t happen overnight. Take Christianity. It took centuries to move away from the ideas of the Crusades and the Inquisition, a move that’s still in progress. But armed with that big idea of no hate or violence, progress has been made and continues to be made to this day.

What happens if we take that idea and apply it to politics? Most people do not actively want violence or hate in their community and their country, yet we find it in our political and religious discussions.

We have to find a way to take the hate and violence out of our politics and out of our religious disputes. The only way to do that is to work with compromise and tolerance, or the old “give and take.” It might sound old-fashioned, but it’s stuck around because it works. If we’re trying to resolve an issue, then we need to work together. You help me on a bill, I help you on a bill, and in turn we help the people. It’s not entirely what you want and not entirely what I want, but it’s progress. And it’s done without hate or violence.

That’s how democracy is supposed to work. It’s how democracy used to work and how it can work again for everyone. No matter what your religious or spiritual belief, you want society to get better. Like most people, you want something that will help improve everything for everyone.

We need to share our similarities and celebrate our differences.  The only way to get there is to embrace compromise and respect, and to reject hate and violence. If we all agree to work toward this ideology, then things would get better. For all of us.

Let’s Preserve Our History With Transparency

Attitude, Freedom of Speech, No Hate No Violence, Politics

Let’s put up large well-lit plaques instead of tearing down our monuments.

I know there are monuments that some people would love to tear down because they represent a dark part of America’s past. I understand why some of these monuments might offend certain people, and I am sensitive to their pain. However, to tear down these monuments would amount to an erasure of the history that they represent. To remove them disrespects the work of the artist and the historical significance of the pieces as they are.

One of the arguments for the removal of Confederate monuments is that they exist in public spaces without context.

They could be seen as a glorification of ideals that our country no longer represents instead of an example of how far we have come. So, instead of tearing them down, why don’t we provide that context? The cities and states that are home to these monuments should choose to maintain the monuments but put up a plaque that explains who the person was and what they did. In the case of Confederate generals, the plaque would explain the person’s involvement in the Civil War and that the war was fought for the preservation of slavery. The explanation should condemn the enslavement of black Americans, but let’s not forget that these pieces of art have become fixtures in communities and, beyond that, are the work of talented artists who spent time, sweat, and tears on them.

There will be people who are offended by this suggestion.

I recognize that. Those whose ancestors were enslaved and are reminded of that horrific history and pain by these monuments should be the ones in charge of the committees that would oversee what should be written on the plaques. Let those on the side of history that has been silenced for much of the existence of our country tell that story as they want it to be understood. Whether it be a few sentences or several paragraphs, providing context would allow for the preservation of the historical art while condemning racism and slavery.

Don’t we want the United States to be a country of redemption? Forgiveness?

If we don’t acknowledge the grim parts of our history, we may be doomed to repeat them. Adding a large well-lit sign explaining the historical context of these monuments would elevate them from a monument to a lesson. It could explain the wrongs of the person and how much our country has grown. If we intend to move forward and build a stronger, more united country free from the tensions of the past, we need to embrace our history and our monuments for the growth that they now represent.

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