Mistaking momentum for meaningful movement: Giving up freedom by default

Life is fragile.

Peace is fragile.

Freedom is perhaps even more fragile, demanding, and extracting lives, limbs, and the mental and emotional well-being of everyone associated with warfare. Freedom is bought and maintained at a significant price! Let us honor sacrifice with the dignity and respect deserved.

Remember, rights do not exist without responsibility!

In a world steeped in #InformationWarfare, we must be careful with the things we read, see, hear, promote, and disseminate. Not all factual information matters or should be afforded the same weight on the scale of truth. The fact that I'm wearing a watch is factual but unimportant.

Leaders – lead! Represent the best of yourself and your country! Use your voice, platform, and position to stop hateful rhetoric and #propaganda from being spewed on every side. Consider whether you are accurately representing your constituents. Hate-filled speeches and action never produced the change for which they were implemented.

If I wanted to watch America or any other nation implode, I'd promote real and perceived injustices driven toward fault finding. Back and forth fault-finding will surely keep the outspoken public busy and the media with content. After all, it appears like someone is at least doing something (with your tax dollars, no less). However, let us not equate being outspoken, loud, persistent, or sincere with informed or even knowledgeable.

Science has demonstrated the human brain responds to and feeds groupthink, especially when part of a group attacking something or someone else. Encourage, foster, and sow emotional response.

Continue promoting heavily-biased social media. Who cares what people say as long as it stirs emotion, right?

Forget solution making.

Sit back, point fingers, stir the pot, divert time and attention away from everything that matters, encourage emergency response tactics, promote in and out-group mentality, and watch good people turn against one another instead of holding leaders accountable. After all, why do the dirty work when someone will do it for you?

Watch freedom burn to the ground.

Come in, under the guise of peace-keeping (though none is to found, much less sustained), and engage in a non-hostile takeover. Most people will be too uninformed to recognize what is happening, too distracted to care, or too busy fault-finding to notice. Too often, momentum is mistaken for meaningful movement.

Freedom and liberty hang in the balance, not only in America but everywhere. Don't give up your freedom by default!

How can the voice of the people promote the principles for which people gave their lives? Remember! Blood is not cheap! Mental and emotional anguish are not cheap!

Time to consider the value of governance, the role of citizens, and utilize democracy. Become informed. Ideas are powerful – change the world by discussing issues, researching across the spectrum of information, considering potential biases, and engaging with others in civil discourse (and please, keep it civil). Leave your imprint for good in this world!

#Choose to be a solution – it’s what a leader does.

#leadership #peace #sustainability #rise #stand #servantleadership #life