The word silent seems to have multiple meanings and can be applied in many different ways. I find the word silent to not only refer to a lack of sound, but to also refers to a lack of knowledge of the actions going on around you, those actions being silent.
The importance of being a person who is engaged in the events of society is becoming greater and greater. We as Americans cannot choose to live in our own world and not be paying attention to what is going on that will eventually affect and change our lives. We do not want to get to a point where we collectively say that we did not know what was happening and would have done some things differently to avoid the mess we are in. The actions of others can be silent to those who are not immediately affected but can be very loud to those who are.
Someone in America sells a gun to someone they don’t know. The transaction is silent to everyone else in America. It is when that gun is used in a violent crime or used to kill someone, the silence of the transaction disappears and becomes loud and clear to the victims and their families. Unfortunately, it remains silent to the rest of us who don’t hear or know anything about the crime or murder. It is the actions that are silent that should worry us the most.
I don’t think it has ever been as important to pay attention to what is going on than it is at this juncture in American history. The changes being made at the local level, the national level and the global level are too big to remain silent. They need to be heard and paid attention to by every voter. It is only with our votes that we can effectively be heard and have results that are loud and clear. That is why there are politicians out there silently trying to make it harder to vote, make it harder for us to be heard. They are banking on the silence of their actions. They are hoping their actions and policies will go unheard until it is too late or too hard to correct.
Do you know someone with selective hearing? Someone who can’t remember something important you told them. Someone who can’t take a moment to acknowledge what you are saying. Someone who changes the subject without responding to what you said or what you need to talk about. There is a lot of selective hearing when it comes to seeing or hearing a news story that doesn’t fit the narrative we want to believe. It is obvious that people nowadays are much more likely to believe what they want to believe instead of believing what is true and factual. That was so evident when a host of a national opinion show was fired after lying to their audience and those people who were lied to turned on the cable news channel for firing him. Instead of being upset for being lied to and being played for fools, they tried to punish the channel by not watching the channel and chose to unsubscribe from their streaming content as well. It is that phenomenon that is going to make it very hard for the experiment called America to succeed. If people only want to believe what they want to believe and not believe the truth and what is fact, then how do Americans effectively govern themselves? How do Americans enact good policy or make good decisions to benefit the majority of Americans?
Americans will have to pay attention to the actions that are silently being thrust upon them. Actions that make it harder to vote, actions that put our civil liberties and personal freedoms at risk of being taken away, these are the actions that cannot remain silent and cannot be tolerated. That may mean voting out a whole party to get the party to start over and move into a more centrist and sensible direction.
My ask for each and every American is to seek out the truth. If that truth is not what you want it to be, you must believe the truth to be factual and true. You must be open minded to the fact you may have been played to believe what others wanted you to believe for their own benefit and made you not believe in what is best for most Americans.
Any politician who knowingly lies to you to manipulate you, needs to be voted out. You as an American need to put the interest of truth and integrity first over party affiliation.
Any politician who does not speak up and police others in their own party for their lying and manipulation for their own gain, needs to be voted out as well. The lack of daylight between politicians with honesty and integrity, and with their fellow party members who seek to spread lies and misinformation for their party’s gain is shameful. You cannot be a good American and not call out those around you who aren’t.
The truth is, your silence is loud and clear and speaks volumes about who you are.