A good example?

"Set a good example" is what my dear, sweet mother (God bless her soul) used to tell me. I'm sure she thought she was encouraging me to play the game, to toe the line, to fit in, to not make waves, to not draw undue attention to myself, or maybe even to brave the ire of my peers while reaping the acknowledgement of TPTB. I don't fault her for it. She, like most of us, was a product of her times. It was good to obey. But, as we found out later, those giving the orders were not above reproach. As we've moved down the historical timeline, we've found out as well, too many of those who have the say should really not be saying anything at all.

Nevertheless, since I've been encouraging everyone else to speak up, to get involved, to start thinking about what is and is not important to them, it seems only fitting that I make a start. That is the "good" example I will set. Here's a partial list, of course in no particular order and linked to key words which are simply a shorthand for the issues involved, of things I cannot abide:

• hypocrisy - this is really nothing more than a double standard; if what you think/believe/want/do is not what everybody should think/believe/want/do, give it up; this also includes (along with "dishonesty" (see below)) "underhandedness";
• dishonesty - which may be a combination of everything listed thus far, but it does have the added dimension of lying to ourselves as well as to others;
• intolerance - which applies across the board (gender, lifestyle, political persuasion, culture, "race", etc.), and if you don't know the difference between "tolerance" and "acceptance", you need more help than I can give you;
• violence - domestic, legal, psychological, foreign-policy, yes, the list is endless, are all the same; if you think any kind of violence is OK, you don't understand the concept;
• obsequiousness - (I know, I know, a big word ...) that is, easily yielding to and fawning over (self-chosen) authority; emphasizing the "rules" and a "law-and-order" mentality should be included here;
• cowardice - which, of course, includes being silent when one should speak up, not speaking truth to power, sitting on your butt when you know you should be doing something, and more;
• egotism - which has, in these times, mutated into a kind of "autism", one that insults real autistic individuals; you're just self-absorbed and you're not that important; in fact, you're not important at all;
• greed - that is, simply thinking you are entitled to more than anyone else; also thinking "having" is more important/better than "being"; and
• exclusionary faith - if you think you've got the right one and everybody else doesn't, you don't have any faith at all; you're most likely just being hypocritical on top of everything else;

Now you know. What more can I say?