A miracle, I got myself to write in the morning. I’m always supposed to write in the morning. Not only that but I already created the Facebook event for the next John Platt’s On Your Radar and put away the dishes from the drying rack. I’m all sorts of productive today and this is before I’ve had my coffee. I don’t even have to make the coffee. It’s premade cold brew but I save it to drink with breakfast. It is tempting. Fine you talked me into it. I’m going to drink my coffee while I write this. You’re a bad influence on me.
I’m back and have almost finished my coffee. While I was in the kitchen I prepared the next batch of cold brew. Who is this person in my body that didn’t procrastinate? I even got out of bed an hour early. I’m much higher functioning that usual. Let’s see how long this lasts.
Last night’s exciting dinner was roasted chicken leg. I have that often, but I season it a little different each time to keep it interesting. I had it with plantains so many I should have made jerk chicken. I just thought of that now. I’m a bad Jamaican. I saw a woman with a beautiful mask on the other day. I’m thinking about it because the color scheme recalled the Jamaican flag and I suspect that was intentional. I love the Jamaican color scheme, when I lived in Crown Heights lots of people dressed that way. I complimented the woman and got the usual reaction. At first it’s “Why the hell is this stranger talking to me?” Followed by, “Oh he said something nice.” Followed by “I really like this mask too; I’ll tell him about it.” It was made as a gift from her cousin. I said, “So it was made with love, not just skill.” Even though we both wore masks we could tell the other person smiled. A minor interaction but it made both of us happier. People like connecting with each other.
The real me is back. I just spent an hour not writing and it’s time to eat. As soon as I hear that my roommate is out of the kitchen I’m making brunch. I’ll write till then
That interruption ruined my segue. The pleasure of connecting is related to today’s them, Part 2 of What Everybody Knows. If you haven’t read Part 1 do so now, What Everybody Knows: Part 1. What everybody knows or thinks is an argument that people find compelling. If I told you that God spoke to me and gave me laws that everyone should follow you’d think I was either crazy or a charlatan and that everyone that believed me was either crazy or a fool. Yet billions of people accept that god spoke to people, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, all the prophets and disciples, as true and they are neither crazy nor fools. I know some atheists that think they are, but they’re a small minority. What’s the difference? It’s that billions of people accept it. It’s not evidence but our minds don’t see it that way. It’s irrational but not a pathology. Sane humans are often not rational. The atheists that think religious people are crazy or fools are not being rational. It gets interesting in the middle ground, what if it’s not me that spoke to god but a farmer’s son in western New York in the 1820s that spoke to god, Jesus, and the angel Moroni? That’s the story of the Mormons. Many people that happily accept that god spoke to Jesus and Moses, think of the Mormons as a crazy cult. There aren’t nearly as many Mormons, so it comes off as strange if you aren’t in Utah or Nevada. How strong is the appeal of Everybody knows? I know a Jewish family that moved to Vegas and became Mormons to fit in. I know a Jewish woman that moved to North Carolina that became a born-again Christian to fit in and now calls Jews that don’t believe in Jesus, “Incomplete Jews.”
I know other Blue State emigrants that find that the Republicans around them can’t believe that they are actually Democrats and or progressive. There’s tremendous social pressure to change. None of my friends have but I’m sure others have just as I know people that moved to the Northeast and became more progressive.
This pressure to conform is why it’s important to advertise, not hide your dissent. People don’t like to be persuaded. If they find “Black Lives Matter” threatening or racist, arguing with them might just harden their defense. What might change them is seeing support for Black Lives Matter from their friends and family. Changing your profile or cover photo for a cause is not a meaningless gesture. It at least let’s people see that supporting your cause is not crazy. That it’s in the realm of normal behavior, that everyone who believes it is not crazy, foolish, or evil. It’s why I now have a Biden-Harris banner under my profile picture on Facebook. It’s why I often mention that I’m an atheist. It’s why I’m always happy to see my LGBT friends advertising their identity instead of being in the closet. I understand the need for many to stay in the closet, and I’m not condemning them, but if you have the freedom to be out, come out. Let people know you love the TV show everyone hates or hate the TV show everyone loves. Listen world, I love Wagon Wheel. It’s OK to love Wagon Wheel. So many people in the folk world will whisper that they don’t like some act as they are afraid of what others will think of them. This is not the same as not admitting it because you don’t want to hurt the feelings of the artist.
Don’t think of not conforming as being brave, think of it as a social virtue. You are making it easier for others to not conform. Just don’t be judgmental and attack those that don’t. My supporting Biden and Harris is not an example of me not conforming. In my social space it’s what everybody knows. But it’s not everyone, and I have some friends on the edges of my world that need to hear that it’s OK. I have friends on the other side of the political spectrum and that helps me remember that not all political opponents are bad people. I’m not going to abandon them to their echo chamber, and I don’t want them to abandon me to mine.
Wise Madness 