GUESTBOOKS FOR DUMMIES
GUESTBOOKS FOR DUMMIES
Over the past twelve months I�ve suffered some fairly odd abuse in the guestbook : I�ve had death threats, had the kind offer of having my legs broken, been accused of sedition (that is the treacherous act of undermining national security), been called some fairly juvenile names, and generally roundly abused for the crime of having an opinion and not being afraid of using it.
You're a guest. You're signing a guestbook. Act like a guest. Have some manners. And some brains.
If you really must throw insults around be clever about it. Learn to spell. I can�t take you seriously if you can�t spell words of six letters or less. And I can�t accept your evaluations if you don�t know what punctuation is, let alone how to use it. I've been so tempted to return guestbook entries marked in red pen..
If you don�t like something, tell me why. Justify it. Explain yourself. Don�t just call me names. It makes you look dumb and stupid. I�m far smarter than that, and despite what your actions might make me think, you might be too. If you�re just going to grunt and yell then go back to the cave and leave the grown ups to do grown up stuff. You might see a small black monolith at some point, bang some rocks together, you know. Then I might start taking your inane babbling a little more seriously.
In the meantime, I have the right to my opinions, and not everyone I know appears to have one of those. Not everyone who comes here is entirely comfortable with me using my rights to freedom to speech to express an Idea, or an Idea they don�t agree with. Free Speech only for those you agree with, only for thsoe who don't ask the scary questions? If you're scared of the answers, you should be. All is not well. And it takes a brave man to fight a deluge of bullshit and conformity.
Not to say that I'm going to go against the staus quo because I have to, but bcause often the status quo is wrong. The status quo supports a way of life that is unfair, unsustainable, unstable, and immoral. If you don't not challenge that then you too, are all those things. Silence is assent. All that is required for bad deeds to go unpunished is for the good to do nothing.
I don�t understand you people. Really, I don�t. What exactly is the point of having a go at me? Do I scare you? Do you not agree with my opinions?
Does it not scare you that your opinions could be so bland, so dilute, that mine instill fear in you? That you feel threatened by common sense?
What is the problem exactly? Are you scared of me not being some bland boring unquestioning prole? Would you rather I just be quiet, shut up, accept my life, not question anything, not think?
What exactly is so threatening about someone who believes in something, and isn�t afraid to talk about it?
Or would you rather live in a world where everything is just hunky dory? Where there are no problems? Where everything is just perfect? Where there are no wars, no pollution, no impending apocalypse?
I�d like that too. But I know that in this world people are too dumb, too shortsighted to see beyond their own nose, their next meal, their next PlayStation game. They�d rather live in a world where everything just kind of works out and nothing is a problem. Question nothing. Be safe. Be dumb. Be one of the quiet, placated masses.
But being human isn�t about unquestioning acceptance of everything around you. It�s about questioning everything. Looking beyond the next house, the next mountain, the next world, to see what�s out there, what life really is.
To be anything other than curious and questioning is to sell yourself short as a human being. Keep asking questions and maybe you�ll learn something. Keep throwing insults and threats and maybe you�ll start a war. And there are enough of those around to last all our short lifetimes.
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� copyright Mark Reed, 1991-2003 except where indicated