Tag: chaos

Being a Good Ninja

Halloween is almost upon us. Such a fun excuse to dress up as something or someone else for tricks and treats. I’m so blessed to be able to experience this day through my grandchildren now. Oh, I know adults can dress up too and party, party, party. But you can’t beat the anticipation of a child during this “holiday”.

My grandson will be a ninja for Halloween this year. In fact he has actually stated that he wants to be a ninja when he grows up! Not impossible these days when you consider that he can start karate classes at his age of five. But honestly I think Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers have more influence over this decision than any career ninja he’s met in his short life. I personally acquired my first degree black belt at the age of forty. It takes a lot of determination to get that far!

Everyone can develop good ninja skills.

Occasionally I will make an off handed remark to someone that I have ninja skills. This happens usually when someone doesn’t realize I’m near them or when I unsuspectingly respond to a person’s body language. What are those skills? I believe they are quite similar to my black belt skills which reflect a redirected proactive defense approach to life rather than a direct attack method. All ninjas know how to attack, but good ninjas know that you should never try to put yourself in a situation where an attack is necessary. Awareness of your surroundings, of the people around you, and of your own training is the best test of the stealth needed to overtake any precarious situation. The good ninja prepares and practices these awareness skills constantly.

Are there bad ninjas out there? Certainly! I’m watching them now destroying the streets and buildings of France. These “ninjas” believe that the governing bureaucracy is against them and they attack their own surroundings as if it is their duty to all citizens. They have been stealthily organizing to make their strike! They are aware of the system vulnerabilities initiated by the undisciplined bureaucratic processes. The chaos these bad ninjas unleashed will be difficult for the good ninjas to overcome…Unless the good ninjas are fully aware of their fundamental training skills. All the tools exist in the Western Pillars and Cultural Values of:

  • Individualism and Autonomy: Emphasis on individual rights, personal liberty, and moral accountability over collective conformity.
  • Reason and Rational Inquiry: Reliance on logical argumentation, empirical evidence, and critical thinking to derive ethical rules.
  • Universalism: The belief that fundamental ethical standards and human rights apply equally to all rational or human beings.
  • Rule of Law: The principle that laws should govern society through a constitutional framework rather than the arbitrary will of leaders.
  • Social Contract Theory: The idea—explored by thinkers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau—that legitimate moral and political rules arise from an implicit agreement among individuals to form a peaceful society.

The bad ninjas who are acting out on the streets of France absolutely hate Western cultural norms, but these norms are what keep a free society from devolving into tyranny. We all must be good ninjas in these times of chaos and practice our Western cultural norms constantly against any bad ninja behavior. Not unlike the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fighting against the evil Shredder and heeding the advice of their beloved Splinter.

May we all grow up to be good ninjas 😉

Chaos is Powerless

The Shrew thinks that liberals, especially progressive liberals, are the most optimistic when they see their change agenda advancing quickly. They aggressively force their agenda along and sideline any questions from those who seek to understand more about their changes. Today’s liberals know that they must cause chaos to bring about the changes they see fit. Labeling the observations by those who question the left’s actions as “misinformation” and “disinformation” is the best way for today’s liberals to hide their agenda and cause chaos. Division is constant on their perceived road to utopia.

What is the point?

Conservatives on the other hand see the world the way it is and plan a more pragmatic approach to changes. This involves some give and take with the political opposition which seems like it takes forever to implement a change, however any change that is made has a more lasting effect.

But what is the “change” being sought?

We the people must understand that as individuals we hold the most power for our country’s needed changes. When things look bleak in life, does more chaos help or harm progress toward betterment? Are opposing positions part of chaos? Yes and no.

Yes, opposing positions naturally seem chaotic. Each side strongly believes their argument should win. When one side won’t allow the other side to be heard then forward progress to solutions is hampered. We have seen this on many college campuses, at city halls and in DC. How very sad in a country where free speech and transparency has always held tremendous value.

Measured debate is the healthy way to process all viewpoints of an argument and arrive at solutions. In this way the chaos of opposing viewpoints can be eliminated. Winning an argument takes skill. Facts and reason are used to remove hearsay and emotion. “Utopia” can best be achieved with measured debate.

The next time a progressive liberal makes an emotional appeal to you, ask them what positive results they want. Positive results require actions that can be considered effective. But today’s liberals don’t like facts, data, or scientific methods that can be tracked. They prefer emotional outreach and manipulation of facts, data, and science. If you are a conservative then you understand that emotions and manipulation result in stagnation which helps no one. This is why pragmatism works towards real betterment.

You don’t have to be a democrat or a republican to use a pragmatic approach to policy changes. What you have to be is a representative for ALL the people in your district, sensitive to ALL points of view and open to compromise. It’s true that when one political party is in “power” then they hold all the cards. But as Uncle Ben said to Peter Parker, “With great power comes great responsibility.” So when an administration has all the cards they are also accountable for how they deal them.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

As for those of us who are watching and having to live with how the deck is dealt, our power requires us to know our responsibilities. Those responsibilities are to be skeptical of all government, ask pertinent questions, seek answers from many sources and vote our conscience.

No chaos needed.