My latest piece for The Spectator Australia “Double Standards Dan Strikes Again” linked here: https://spectator.com.au/2021/02/double-standards-dan-strikes-again/

My latest piece for The Spectator Australia “Double Standards Dan Strikes Again” linked here: https://spectator.com.au/2021/02/double-standards-dan-strikes-again/

Music is an incredible thing. It is much more than just sound and rhythm. It is something that speaks to us, makes us feel. It brings out all sorts of emotions. What emotions arise of course depend on the type of music we choose to listen to. Indeed, we may select songs that we can connect with at certain times in our lives. When we’re feeling sad, we might listen to a ballad of heartache or despair. When we’re happy, we might choose an upbeat pop song or the like. When we’re feeling energetic, we might go for a song with a strong beat, something that pumps us up. And then there are times when we might just play any song we feel like to accompany something that we are undertaking (I say this as I listen to a whole range of songs while I write this piece). Music is probably one of the most powerful things in existence, and we are truly lucky to have it. So, I thought it was past time I wrote a piece on it. Let’s explore the power and impact of music a little more.
Music brings people together. A shared love of music can truly unite people, no matter their differences. They could be from different backgrounds, different nations, or of different beliefs and values. But despite the opposition they may hold to each other in the day-to-day affairs of the world, music can bring them together, even if just for a fleeting moment. Some may also find other like-minded people with a similar taste in music, something that no doubt they will be able to bond over. Even if you don’t share the same musical taste, you could still find yourselves moving along to a good beat, a good rhythm. There are a whole range of examples where music has united people as one. Some memorable ones, some of which overlap with the next point on the healing power of music, include charity music events like Sound Relief (for those affected by the 2009 Victorian bushfires), America: A Tribute To Heroes (9/11 Memorial Concert), Live Aid (for those starving in Africa), and more recently One Love Manchester (for the victims of the terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena) and Sound Relief 2020 (for those affected by the 2020 Australian bushfires). All these events brought people together under the unifying banner of music to help those who had been affected by tragedy, disparity, and heartache. The unity seen in these cases was phenomenal. Despite their everyday differences, millions of people rallied together around good causes to help those in need. It just shows the power music has in our world.
That brings us to the healing power of music. Now this is really something. There are times in our lives when each of us face trials and tribulations. We may be struggling mentally; we may be physically hurt. We may be experiencing a loss, heartache, loneliness, anxiety, depression, illness, pain or suffering of any kind. We may be facing down something of disastrous proportions. We may be dealing with something that is overwhelming to us. We may even be connecting with the pain and suffering of someone else in our lives. During these times, things can get dark. It might feel as if storm clouds are constantly sitting right above you, keeping you on edge, unable to focus, unable to contend with the demons you face, unable to heal. Yet oftentimes music can cut through, even if only for a moment. Music can give us that desperately needed relief we crave. Particularly in times of crisis, it can be somewhat cathartic. Throughout 2020, I think many of us would have listened to a lot more music than we might usually do. Being subjected to lockdowns and isolation, music may have been our only friend at times. Indeed, it may have helped us get through these difficult times. Sometimes when we are at our lowest, music can pick us up, even just a little for a few moments. I know for me personally, music has helped me to get through some of the hardest times in my life. It has given me an escape, something that I’ve needed just for a little while, when I’ve been at my lowest, and on occasions where I’ve found myself experiencing a little more anxiety than I would like (sure I’d love none at all, but it lets me know I’m human). I know that even in our darkest hours, when we face the worst, music allows us to just have on moment away from it all.
To demonstrate this, I would like to detail an experience my family had last year. Just before my Pop passed away just over a year ago now, on his last night on this Earth before he left us to go up to Heaven, his kids, obviously all adults now, were gathered in his hospital room keeping him company as he slept. Knowing he was unlikely to make it through the night, they decided to play his favourite song for him one last time. So they put on The Gambler by the late Kenny Rogers, sat with Pop, and listened. In that moment, despite the sadness they all felt knowing their father would only be with them for a little while longer, they found some sense of comfort in the music, in this song that Pop loved so much. Whenever I hear that song now, I think of Pop, I think of that night, his final night here on Earth, with his family surrounding him, I think of the memories we had, and I remember his voice, singing that song he always loved to hear.
And that brings me to my third and what I think will be my final point in this piece on music: memories and emotions. I have decided to combine these two because I think they are linked in nature. Memories evoke emotions. Both are linked directly with music. Sometimes a song will bring forth a memory, or even a range of memories, which in turn bring forth a wave of emotions. Depending on the song, we may find ourselves remembering a moment in which we experienced great joy and happiness, or maybe one where we felt excited. We might recall a memory where we felt sad, or one where we felt nervous. Our minds may then go deeper, remembering certain people, places, and events that occurred. We might also associate a song with a person we know. A song may remind us of a certain person in our life and may bring a smile to our face when we hear it and think of them. As I mentioned before, whenever I hear The Gambler, I think of my Pop. And whilst there is a little sadness still there knowing he is no longer with us here, I still find the hint of a smile showing up on my face, knowing he is looking down on me smiling and singing along. And so I sing along too, knowing he is with me in my heart. Sometimes when I hear different songs I think of moments from my childhood, from my time at high school, from times I have spent with family and friends, and even from times I have spent by myself. Just to give another example, whenever I listen to songs that I would listen to while studying, doing schoolwork in the mornings before school, walking up to the bus stop in my senior years, walking home, and songs I would listen to on the bus, I remember those times like they happened yesterday. Memory is an incredible thing, and music is a powerful trigger for it.
The power of music is truly something special. It brings people together. It motivates us. It provides comfort and healing to our lives. It evokes memories and emotions within us. We often find songs that have great meaning to us. Some of us may even write and create our own (which can be very therapeutic). To some degree, music is like a universal language of the world. No matter who we are, where we’re from, what we do, or where we are at in our lives, music persists and unites. It is always there with us on the journey we call life, and we are incredibly lucky to have it by our side.
Every now and then something happens in this world that changes the game. If you have been keeping up to date with news over the last few days, you likely would have heard about what has been happening on Wall Street with Gamestop stocks, known shorthand as GME. The situation at hand is both amusing yet groundbreaking. It has exposed corruption on a massive scale, to the point where it is now widely known that the Wall Street stock game is rigged in favour of the elite. But before we get to that, allow me to explain exactly what has occurred that has caused absolute chaos and a lot of laughs.
Likely over the last few weeks, hedge funds, in particular one called Melvin Capital, have been engaging in what is called ‘shorting’ of various stocks, the main one being Gamestop (GME). For those who do not know what Gamestop is, it is a retail chain in the United States that buys and sells video games and the like. It is basically like EB Games. They haven’t been doing great lately, essentially starting to fail, and as a result, their stock price has been falling. This is where the hedge funds saw an opportunity to profit. So, they used millions of dollars to ‘short’ the stocks. ‘Shorting’ in simple terms means they bet on the stock price to continue to fall. As they did this, GME fell from $20 to $10 to $4. It was working for them. They kept shorting more and more of the stocks. They knew they would make millions, likely even billions of dollars’ worth of profit, even though this would probably run Gamestop into the ground. But then something really funny happened that brought the entire profiteering scheme crashing down (and yes, it was hilarious).
So, here is what happened. A user on a subreddit called WallStreetBets (which is on a social media platform called Reddit, basically the garbage dump of the internet) noticed that the hedge funds had allowed their greed to overcome them and shorted 140% of the stocks in GME. That means they were shorting stocks that did not even exist (a crucial error that would be their downfall). Now WallStreetBets is a group on Reddit that looks for stock opportunities, mainly in what are termed “meme stocks”. These are stocks like Tesla and Gamestop. Now what is important to note here is that Tesla has previous been a target of hedge funds for shorting. So, when this user announced to his fellow Redditors that hedge funds were at it again, this time with GME, they saw their opportunity to make the lives of these elites miserable. So, what did they do? They all started buying up every GME stock they could, in an effort to push up the stock price so that the hedge funds would lose money. The reason it is so amusing is because it actually worked, and left elites all over stunned and scrambling. The collective efforts of a large group of people on Reddit increased GME from $4 to around $320. And the hedge funds started losing billions.
To give you a better understanding of what happened (in particular for those who, like me, are not exactly familiar with stocks and how this whole thing works), here is a simple analogy that I came across when reading about this situation:
Let’s say 5 bananas currently cost $10. One ape on the market has 5 bananas. A snake comes along and asks to borrow the 5 bananas for a little while, but rather than holding onto them, sells them thinking the price will go down soon (this is called ‘shorting’). The snake thinks he will be able to buy the bananas back later for less and give them back to the ape, so that he makes a profit on the difference. But then, a group of apes notices what the silly snakes are doing and decide to buy all the bananas on the market until the snakes have no other option but to buy from the group of apes in order to return what they borrowed. If the group of apes stay strong, the banana price will increase.
Now let’s substitute in the real-life counterparts of these animals. The bananas are obviously the stocks, in this case the Gamestop (GME) stocks. The snakes are multi-billion dollar hedge funds that have shorted Gamestop (betting the stock price will go down). The apes are regular people on WallStreetBets who noticed this and told everyone that if they buy Gamestop stock, the hedge funds will lose billions of dollars. This is what is called a ‘short squeeze’ and, to the delight of everyone who loves the free market, it has actually happened.
The fallout of this group of people playing elites at their own game is astounding. See, when the hedge funds started losing billions, in particular Melvin Capital who lost at least over 10 billion, they began floundering, looking for a way to save themselves from the grips of bankruptcy, to which several of them were headed, almost a certainty for Melvin. So, what did they do to try keeping themselves afloat? They teamed up and doubled down. Another hedge fund, Point57 injected 3 billion into Melvin so they could continue their efforts. Then they all went to town on GME, attempting to short it so much so that it would crash, and they wouldn’t have to lose all that money. But the resolve of the people was too great. They just kept buying, so that they could watch the hedge funds burn. In fact, even Elon Musk got involved, tweeting out “Gamestonks”, which led to an even greater push from the people getting the price back up again significantly. Elon is what would be referred to as a “whale”, in that he is a billionaire investor. These sorts of people often have bones to pick with hedge funds, and this was no different. After they had attempted to short Tesla on multiple occasions, Elon seized the opportunity for a bit of revenge, and probably laughed it up when he saw what it was doing to them. It was truly something when hedge fund managers got on media programs displaying their dismay at regular people beating them at their own game, claiming it was unfair. Some even claimed it was “market manipulation”, ironic for a reason we will get to in just a moment.
So, what happened next? Well, after I had seen what had occurred and read all about it, I knew these hedge funds would be saved, but not by themselves. I could already tell the Government would help them, essentially bailing them out. There is an obvious reason as to why. The Government is now controlled by Democrats. A lot of the Democrats’ top donors are on Wall Street, including these hedge funds. In fact, one by the name of Citadel, linked with stock buying app RobinHood, is directly linked to the new Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, who was paid over $800k by them for a speaking event. Just as predicted, the very next day after the chaos had occurred, chaos that the media unsurprisingly put down to white supremacy and Trump supporters (completely contrived nonsense), the elites started to make some progress on saving themselves.
A call to Wall Street got the GME stock, as well as others like AMC, stopped, so that the hedge funds could figure out what to do. Just around 24 hours after RobinHood had helped thousands upon thousands of people buy GME stocks to the great detriment of the hedge funds, they turned on their customers, preventing them from buying any more stock and only giving them the option to close (or sell) their stock. This is what is referred to as “market manipulation”, and it is a criminal offence. But RobinHood didn’t stop there. They went even further, crossing a line that was almost unimaginable, one that would be considered suicide for their business. As if they had not engaged in significant market manipulation already, they started selling people’s GME stocks for them without, merely sending them a message to let them know their stocks had been closed considering they were volatile. What they did was illegal. But it was all to bail out the hedge funds. It would be unsurprising if the hedge funds returned the favour. The irony in this is that they called themselves RobinHood. I remember when Robin Hood used to steal from the rich to give to the poor. Now they are stealing from the poor to give to the rich. Something is rotten in the state of Nottingham.
What happens next is really anyone’s guess. This sort of thing does not happen often, so when it does, it is quite something. Wealthy hedge fund managers have been caught out by a bunch of people on Reddit of all places, and it has upended the whole system. Now these Redditors have shown they are not to be trifled with. Indeed, they did not stop at GME. They went even further, buying stocks in AMC Entertainment (that’s the cinemas), Blackberry (yes, that’s right, the old phones), Nokia, and the piece de resistance, Blockbuster. You would be forgiven for thinking that Blockbuster went out of business over a decade ago. It mostly did, except for one store in Bend, Oregon that remains open and fully staffed to this day. In addition, Blockbuster Liquidating Inc. is listed on the stock market, to the delight of Redditors who decided they would attempt a revival in the wake of their success in creating chaos for the wealthy. While this is virtually impossible, they managed the next best thing, with BB Liquidating Inc.’s stock increasing from $0.0033 to $0.20 in just five days. That is an increase of 6060%. That is the power of the people right there.
Now this is going to go on, and it is probably going to continue as a game of chicken, where the hedge funds will try to get the people to sell their stocks, and the people will try to hold them for as long as possible. The elites put the buying of stocks in GME, AMC, and several other stocks on hold. The people of WallStreetBets may stand to lose what they have invested in bringing down these hedge funds, but to them it was probably worth it, considering many of them have nothing to lose in pursuing this. The hedge funds stand to lose billions, considering they have to cover the loans they took out to short the stocks. But no matter the outcome, there is a significant lesson to be learnt from this situation.
The lesson is this: the game is rigged. It always has been. Donald Trump tried to open everyone’s eyes to it when he was President. He warned us all the elites were rigging the game. But people didn’t believe him. But now, in helping the hedge funds to smite Main Street, Wall Street have exposed themselves as part of a game of corruption, where the elite always win. When regular people who gamble on the stock market lose, Wall Street could not care less. But as soon as it affects their own, the rich elites who are worth millions, if not billions, then they throw a tantrum, shut down the stocks, and do everything they can to manipulate the market back in their favour and prevent major losses. What they cannot fathom is that the people managed to bring them crashing down, even if only for a few days, but the only way they know to get back up is to cheat. In doing so, they have created a class-war, where they only believe the elite should be able to win. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
I know some of this piece has been about having a laugh at the misfortunes of the hedge funds at the hands of regular people. But I did not decide to write this just for amusement. I decided to write this because there is a much greater importance to what has occurred with the stocks. The people actually did something that has rarely been done before, and it scared the living daylights out of the elites. The fallout of this has been tremendous, and it may continue to be so. But it does not only go to rich elites on Wall Street. It goes to politicians on Capitol Hill. I have already mentioned the new Treasury Secretary’s links, but there are more. For example, it has now come to light that Press Secretary Jen Psaki has a brother who works for Citadel. But that is probably almost nothing in comparison to the wrongdoings of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. See, in December, Nancy Pelosi invested heavily in Tesla shares. In fact, she bought around 2500 shares at around $500/share. Fast forward to a month later. Biden has been sworn in as President and begins signing way too many Executive Orders (he has signed 40+ in his first week in office, and Trump was called a dictator for signing a bunch of reasonable Executive Orders). One of those EOs just happens to make it law that all Government vehicles are to be electric vehicles. Tesla just happens to produce most electric vehicles. So, what happens? After Biden signs the EO, Tesla’s share price skyrockets to around $850/share. Nancy Pelosi made $825k in profit thanks to this. Coincidence?
But back to the point here. The elites are ruled by money and power. It corrupts their lives. Yet they worship it as if it is all that matters. Regular people, however, are not ruled by such superficialities. They know what hard work is. They know what it is to live a life without riches. But riches are not the be all and end all of life on this Earth. What really matters is happiness and freedom, so that we can live the best lives we can. You can have all the money in the world, but it will never make you truly happy. That is something only the middle-class and lower-class can seem to understand. The elites fail to comprehend it, and that will be their undoing. What happened to Wall Street was incredible, because it showed that a collective of regular people, some with barely anything, some living paycheck to paycheck, can take on the elite and win.
That scares them. There is a reason politicians on are keeping the walls up around Capitol Hill and forcing the National Guard to stay another month and a half (at least). They fear the people. I remember reading a quote once that stuck with me. It went like this:
“A single bee is ignored. But when millions come together, even the bravest run in fear.
The one thing the Government fears is the day we stand together.”
What the people of WallStreetBets did was a show of unity. There are around two million users on that subreddit, and they banded together to take the fight to the big guys, even though they knew they could lose all they had. What they did was nothing short of incredible. I salute them for it. They have taught us that if we stand together, if we unite, we can bring the elites crashing down hard. Remember, in unity there is strength. The war on Wall Street was a show of strength. Now we must take a leaf out of that book and stand up against governments that seek to control every aspect of our lives. Big Government has become a major problem in the modern world. It is on us, the people, to show that we will not stand for their overreach of power. It is on us to show that we will defend our freedoms. We must show these people in power that they are there on our terms, that their power is a gift given to them by us, that they serve us, not the other way around.
The elite have an agenda that they are going to do everything they can to push over the next year or two. They will try to take even more power than they already have by taking even more of our freedoms. They will try to control all that we do. The only person of notable power that stood in their way has now been removed. And just a note on that. I know people still don’t believe there was significant fraud in the election. To those people with doubts about this, I ask a simple question: If they can rig Wall Street, what makes you think they can’t rig an election? Now that Trump has been removed from power, there is only one thing that can possibly stand in the way of the elites and their self-serving agenda: Unity. To beat them at their game, we must be united. I have written about how important this is before in pieces about division and unity. As WallStreetBets have taught us, only a united front will work. We must now endeavour to follow in their footsteps and unite against those who seek to control us.
The War on Wall Street was only the beginning. It was only the first of many battles that will likely ensue. And it should give us all hope that the little guys did so much damage, so much so that it spooked the big fish. The message here is simple: Unity is key.
The next phase of the Culture Wars has officially begun. With the inauguration of Joe Biden comes what are likely to be the most turbulent times in political history, something that will quickly seep out into the world, causing a devastating effect. The once great nation of the United States of America is now divided and under socialist control. This does not bode well for anyone. America plays a major role in international politics, being one of the great superpowers in the world, but now it will become a shell of itself, sold out to other nations in the name of greed. The Biden Presidency was exactly what Leftist elitists needed to activate their agenda. Trump was the only man standing in their way. And they toppled him. But in reality, it’s not Trump they were after. It was all of us. And now they will do just that.
What is important to understand is this: Politics is a dirty game. Corruption runs deep. Many politicians in the modern age do not care about their constituents. They put themselves and their own interests first above all else. It may appear as if our nations are democratic just because we the people get to vote and elect our politicians, but democracy nowadays has become tainted. They say democracy dies in darkness. This is true. Democracy in the United States has fallen apart. And it is about to get a whole lot worse. In fact, the Democrats will not even need to “find” votes next election. Instead, they plan to grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. This is not a show of generosity. It is a strategy for increasing their voter base. It is also likely they will destroy the integrity of the Supreme Court by packing it with more Justices until they get a Liberal majority, in which case they will not only control the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate, but also the highest Court in the land. With power like that, you can do almost anything you want. It’s dangerous.
On the first day of his Presidency, Joe Biden signed 17 Executive Orders. Now let me put this in perspective. If Trump had signed 17 EOs in one day, he would have been labelled a dictator by the Democrats, the media, and basically anyone on the Left. But when Biden did it, it was celebrated, and the media praised him. These are the double standards of the Left on full display for everyone to see. There is an apt saying that goes: If the Left did not have double standards, they would have no standards at all. There is no doubt about this. Within hours of signing an Executive Order for a 100-day mask mandate on Federal property, Biden was caught not wearing a mask at the Lincoln Memorial, which is indeed Federal property. If Trump had done such a thing, he would have been dragged through the mud for it. It probably would have been a major story. But when Biden does it, the press could hardly care less. One reporter asked Biden’s Press Secretary Jen Psaki a question about it, and she put it down to a night of celebration. Now imagine if Trump’s Press Secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, had given such a response. The media would not have let her off the hook so easily. They would have hounded her for a proper answer. Was Psaki pursued for a real answer? No. She was let off the hook. In fact, the media have already been cozying up to Biden, with the Political Director of CNN saying that the side lights on the National Mall were like “Extensions of Joe Biden’s arms embracing America.” This should tell you all you need to know about the media. The lack of trust in mainstream media in particular has just continued to increase. I have no doubt there will be an apparent lack of scrutiny of this Presidency as compared to the Trump Presidency. In fact, any criticism of Biden will be but a small drop compared to the ocean of criticism Trump faced on a daily basis.
Now I think it is important that people know just what Executive Orders Biden signed on his first day. They are the following:
You will notice there are several distinct patterns in these Executive Orders. First, they undo a number of the Trump administration’s achievements which put America first. Thus, second, they put America last, selling out to other nations and organizations. The Paris Agreement and the rejoining of the WHO sells America out to foreign bureaucrats and other elites for personal gain. But the third and most consequential pattern amongst these Executive Orders is this: The vast majority of them are based in identity politics, a political style which seeks only to divide. Of particular concern is number 8. In fact, I would say that one sets the precedent for the direction in which socialists wish to take the world. That route leads directly to Communism, and Communism leads directly to pain and desolation.
Equity is by far one of the worst concepts to ever come to being. The basic explanation of equity is this: People may need different treatment to make their opportunities the same as others. Now allow me to make something clear here. Equity is NOT the traditional equality of Western Civilization. It is instead a deformed version of equality that tears society apart. Classic equality constitutes two types of equality: Equality before the law, and equality of opportunity. To ensure we are all on the same page, the definitions of the above are as follows. Equality before the law denotes that every citizen is subject to fair treatment by the justice and judicial systems no matter their status in society (ie. Race, gender, ethnicity, wealth, etc.). Equality of opportunity is predicated on the concept that talent amongst society is widely distributed, and that some people are better than others at doing certain things. Essentially, it stands to reason that it is in the best interest of everyone that those who are talented in certain areas are given those opportunities so that it will benefit us all. Thereby, no one should be denied such an opportunity that would allow them to progress for reasons other than those which are related to their competence. So, for example, if a position within a company became vacant, but the company rejected the application of a highly capable individual simply because they had the “wrong” or were the “wrong” gender, this would be denying equality of opportunity. Indeed, this line of thinking, one that goes against equality of opportunity by introducing things such as gender quotas or the like, can cause a business to take a backwards step, and by extension can lead to regression in society. And this leads us to equity.
Equity is predicated on a terrible idea, that the only true measure of equality is outcome. This is further broken down into social, educational, and occupational outcome. Essentially, those who push this ideology make certain assumptions that are based entirely on identity, rather than merit. To explain further, because it is important that everyone understands exactly what this is and why it is a terrible concept, this is the breakdown. Within every organisation, there are hierarchies, each containing various levels. At each level of a hierarchy there are various positions. Those who push equity believe that all these positions at all the levels of all hierarchies of all organisations must be filled by a proportion of the population that is exactly equal to that same proportion in the general population. If this does not occur, they assume the reason for this is systemic racism, sexism, homophobia, or the like. They also believe that those perpetrating this systemic prejudice should be punished for it (even though this prejudice simply does not exist). This doctrine is, in every sense of the word, absurd. It is practically impossible to implement such an ideology given there are far too many identities to sort in the way in which they demand to achieve “equity”. Equity essentially treats people differently in order to force their opportunities to be the same. It is a doctrine highly associated with Communism.
Biden, or at least those socialists controlling him, wish to implement racial equity, something that would only end in disaster. But that is not all. The Executive Orders also go to a range of other policies based heavily in identity politics. For example, the tenth one listed, “Strengthen workplace discrimination protections based on sexual orientations and gender identity”, practically erases women. It allows for those who identify as a different gender to be in that gender’s environments. That means that if someone born male was to identify as a female, they would be able to participate in women’s sports, enter the women’s bathrooms, and if they were a criminal be sent to a women’s prison. This is generally unfair to women, but also dangerous, considering any man could just pose as a woman with bad intentions. After decades of progress for women, this is a major backwards leap. It is regression of the worst kind. There is a certain irony to this considering the same party that has made a big deal out of having the first female Vice President, and their supporters, are now enacting and supporting policy that destroys the progress made.
In addition to this, Biden’s Executive Orders allow full access to illegal immigrants, to which his administration will now move to grant amnesty, allowing those who enter America illegally to commit criminal acts to become citizens of the nation. With these kinds of policies, crime and terrorism is likely to increase in America. Jobs will be taken away from Americans. But this will also provide millions more votes for the Democrats, considering these immigrants typically vote for them come election time. American citizenship will be degraded for the purpose of profit and power.
Before the Election, Biden promised several things. One was a plan for COVID-19. Within days of assuming office, he has told the nation that there is nothing the government can do about it. Biden’s position on fracking also flip-flopped during the run up to the election, with Kamala Harris tweeting out that “Joe Biden will not ban fracking. That is a fact.” Again, Biden has gone against his word, banning fracking on federal land. And in the final Presidential debate, Biden said he would end the oil industry in America, one of the nation’s biggest commodities. His campaign spokesperson covered for him in the days after, claiming he would only end subsidies for oil in the United States. But as is clear in his first 17 Executive Orders, Biden has torn apart the Keystone XL Pipeline, bringing the American oil industry to its knees and destroying thousands of jobs. In fact, 71,000 jobs were lost in just 72 hours of Biden’s Presidency. That is almost 1,000 an hour.
But to top it all off is the Biden administration’s blatant disrespect for the military. The National Guard, after being used by the Democrats for the Inauguration out of fear of an insurrection (when, in fact, the only violence and destruction that occurred on that day was in Portland, Oregon at the hands of Antifa), are not being permitted to leave DC. In reality, this had nothing to do with fear of insurrection and everything to do with the Democrats putting on a display of force, using the military as props. After being used, these soldiers were tossed aside, left to sleep on the floor of a Senate parking garage, when all they wished to do was go home. Republican Governors of Florida and Texas, Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott, have moved to pull their National Guard members out of DC and bring them back to their home States. This is a show of real leadership. In fact, DeSantis went so far as to say that the National Guard “are not Nancy Pelosi’s servants.” In addition, freshman Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn visited the soldiers, taking them pizzas and offering his office to them so they could at least be more comfortable. But while Biden and Harris will not utter a word on this egregious matter, there is still one President that will stand by the military and support them in whatever way he can. After seeing the terrible way in which the National Guard were being treated, President Trump expressed his disgust and offered the soldiers free accommodation at the Trump Hotel in DC. That is the leadership of a real President.
The carnage just continues. It is unlikely to stop anytime soon. All the Democrats are doing is undoing everything that Trump did to make America a great nation again. Biden has essentially been rescinding Executive Orders President Trump signed, including one that lowered the price of insulin for low-income diabetics, and one that established the 1776 Commission to ensure the young people of America are taught about the things that make their nation great, that they are taught to love and respect their country. Now one can only wonder why Biden would increase the cost of insulin when the Democrats have consistently said they want free healthcare for all. It does not line up with that policy. And as to the abolition of the 1776 Commission set up by President Trump, the reason for this move is clear; The Democrats want young people to hate their nation, to hate all the things that make the United States of America great. Because hate fuels a certain type of passion, one to abolish all that makes a country like America the great nation that it is, or at least now that it was, and replace these things with others in the name of a false utopia. This line of ideological thinking is what leads directly to a hellscape like that of the Soviet Union (which some people shockingly still think was a good thing).
What is important to understand is that there will never be a utopia on this Earth. Utopia is not possible, because there will always be something wrong. There will always be someone who is dissatisfied. Like it or not, evil exists in this world, and it is something that will never disappear. Now you look at someone like Joe Biden. He has said several times that he will be a President for all Americans, that he wants his Presidency to be one of unity. But that is not going to happen. On one side of the playing field, you have those who voted for him and believe everything he does is incredible. On the other side, you have all those who voted for Trump, at least 74 million, many of whom believe the election was stolen, and most of whom do not support the policies of Joe Biden and the Democrats. And then in the middle, you have those who are either indifferent, willing to give this Presidency a shot, or indeed Biden voters who are having a lot of regrets about their choice at the ballot box. Under this Presidency, there will not be a unity like the one Biden is hoping for. The Executive Orders he has signed are divisive in nature, so he cannot expect unity.
But there may yet be some hope for unity in the nation. In fact, there may yet be hope for unity amongst those watching from around the world. I have said in recent months that everything happens for a reason, that there are always much greater forces at work in the world. After seeing a number of people over the last few days who voted for Biden expressing dismay at what he has done, expressing feelings of betrayal, I am beginning to see that there may have been a reason that Biden became President. This may have been necessary for people to understand that certain politicians do not have their best interests at heart. Instead, they only care to serve themselves. They will make promises, but many career politicians, particularly ones like Joe Biden, only make those promises for the sake of obtaining power. Once they do so, they break those promises, and end up tearing people’s lives apart, even those who voted for them. The Unions are learning that now that the Keystone XL Pipeline is no more. Women are learning that now that they have practically been erased. Workers are learning that now that their jobs have been taken from them. By extension, their families are learning that now that they are facing instability. Instead of helping people right now, the Democrats are more concerned about impeaching a man who is no longer the President of the United States. Rather than challenging the Executive Orders Biden is bringing forth and signing to rescind Trump’s EOs, Republicans are standing by and allowing him to undo all the good that Trump did. Why? Because these Establishment politicians do not care. They likely wanted Trump gone just as much as the Democrats. Now DC can go back to being the “swamp” that it was before Trump came to power. But with people waking up to this reality, it seems like unity might still be on the cards, just not in the way Democrats have been talking about.
As America faces great hardship, so do we all. The impact of the Biden Presidency will be felt not only in the United States, but all over the world. In my view, the next two years will bring with them the most turbulent times in political history, and the fallout could be immense. There are certain people in positions of power that seek to push forward with their agenda, but with more and more people waking up to power-hungry politicians and bureaucrats, they might just have a fight on their hands. What happens in the next couple of years may just determine the direction the world takes.
It is so important that more people, especially those who care about their freedom, about living a good life, fight to protect that. We must not be afraid to use our voices, to stand up and speak out. Conservatives in particular need to do more of this. The Left have an advantage in this area, especially in the realm of writing. I write articles like this to do my part in fighting for the good in this world. Although I know it is difficult to get your work out there, to get people to read what you write, I would encourage any Conservative writers out there to put pen to paper (or keyboard to laptop) and get writing. I know it can be hard to put yourself out there, to put your thoughts and views into the public arena, but think about the impact your words could have. Words have so much power. They can change the trajectory of the world, of our lives. In the final installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Albus Dumbledore, ever wise even in death, says to Harry: “Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it.” Words being used by those falling victim to evil are inflicting great harm upon their nations. But those of us who fight for good have the power to remedy that harm with our own words.
Like in Harry Potter, the battle we face now is one of Good vs Evil. In the Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzenhitsyn wrote, “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either – but right through every human heart… even with hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains… an uprooted small corner of evil.” There is a battle between good and evil that takes place in the hearts of each and every one of us. There is hope for those who have succumbed to evil, just as there is the potential for those who do good to fall to evil. Each one of us controls the never-ending battle within our hearts.
We can choose to feed the good or the evil. It is up to us to decide which side we are going to take. I, like many others, can offer advice, perspective, and encourage you one way or the other, but I cannot make this choice for you. You are the only one who can make this incredibly important choice. Consider it carefully. You really do not know the difference you could make.
Life is a precious gift. In the grand scheme of things, each of our lives is but a short chapter in the story of the universe. So, it is only right that we live them to the fullest and make the most of all that comes our way, especially the good, and the opportunities. Sure, it’s not always going to be easy, sometimes it may take courage to take an opportunity and use it to better our lives, to draw out the good that is there even when it takes some effort to get to. So how do we do all we can to truly live our best lives?
First, we must always be willing to adapt and make the most of whatever is thrown our way. I think many of us would agree that last year in particular was a challenge and changed the course of each of our lives. But that doesn’t have to throw our lives off kilter. It all comes down to how we react, how we deal with these times, that shapes the greater course of our lives. These are the times when we must be open to exploring new paths, with our core intentions being to pursue happiness and to grow as a human being. We should also be gratuitous for all the things that really matter to us. Sometimes it’s worth just taking some time to reflect and focus on all that life has given us, being thankful for these amazing parts of our lives. There is something truly eye-opening about reflection. It puts everything into perspective. Often we can get caught up in the rush of the world, so just slowing down for a bit and reflecting on our lives and all that surrounds them can help us to recognize what really matters to us.
It is also important that we are open to new opportunities that may present themselves. Sometimes it can be daunting to try something new, to venture into the unknown, to take a risk. That is perfectly understandable; after all, we are all human, and fear of the unknown is something that affects most of us to some degree. But taking advantage of an opportunity and venturing into unknown can be life changing. It can open up worlds that we never imagined, or only ever dreamed of. We might meet new people we never would have met if we didn’t take a leap of faith. And we might just create a better life for ourselves with all the experience that we gain from going for it. We can never be certain what lies ahead on our journey that is this life, but if we are willing to embrace new opportunities, to embrace what the world throws at us, it can truly enrich our lives.
We cannot live our lives in fear. This only leads to a life of misery, and that is no way to live. This kind of follows on from the previous point. Life is full of risks, that’s just the way of the world. But we can deal with those risks, we can manage them. If we just submit to them and let them control us, we are only limiting our lives, limiting our potential. We will never get anywhere in life if we don’t take risks. There are times in our lives when we want to do something, but uncertainty and fear of negative outcomes can keep us from doing so. We might even find ourselves becoming self-conscious (trust me, I’ve been there), but pushing past that can be so rewarding. Yes, it can be nerve-wracking, but you never know what might come of it. It could just be the greatest thing you ever do. There is no point living in fear of the unknown when that unknown might just be one of the best parts of your life just waiting to enter.
Another important factor in living our lives to the fullest is spending time with those we care about, those in our lives who matter to us. Life can get busy, but it is important that we don’t forget our family, friends and loved ones. We should take the time to talk with them, to see them, to spend quality time with them. Too often people let the constant hustle and bustle of life get in the way of seeing those they care about, and those who care about them. As I said at the outset, life is short. So, we need to make sure we always come back to the things that really matter, and the people that really matter to us. There will be people in our lives who will always be there for us no matter what. Of course most of the time this consists of family, but sometimes it will be friends, and, on rare occasions, it might be someone truly special who comes along and brightens up your life. Make sure you spend time with these people and form incredible connections.
Now there are probably a whole bunch of other points I could make, but I’ll finish off with this one: Always do what makes you happy. This seems like a pretty obvious one, but it’s one we can easily forget with all the pressures in this world. Everyone has something that makes them happy, or something that they can pursue that will make them happy. It might be a dream you’ve had for a while that you want to chase, or it might be a hobby you have that you want to take further. Maybe it’s a job you want to get, maybe it’s a job you already have. No matter what it is, if it makes you happy, do it. Too often outside pressures can put us on a path that we really don’t want to be on, one that makes us unhappy. This can easily lead to a range of problems, becoming detrimental to our mental health, and by extension affecting our day-to-day lives (eg. Mood, motivation, etc.). Life is far too short to be doing something that is not fulfilling, something that doesn’t bring good into your life, that doesn’t bring you happiness. So, set your sights on what makes you happy and go for it.
As I mentioned, there are probably a multitude of other things I could discuss here, but I think the points above are the most important ones. Recently I finished reading Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules For Life, and it was probably one of, if not the best book I’ve ever read. I would highly recommend it to everyone. In fact, I’d say it’s a must read. I suppose the above points could be seen as my own rules for life, or at least rules for living a good, fulfilled, and happy life. Life is what we make it. It’s up to us to take ownership of our lives, to live the best lives we can no matter the circumstances or what might be thrown at us, to take time to reflect, to show gratitude for the people and things that really matter to us, to spend time with those we care about and the people that are always there for us, to take risks, to leap at new opportunities, and to always do what makes us happy. Make sure you live a life that you can look back on with no regrets and only gratitude for every moment.
Life is a truly special gift. Make the most of every moment.