"Just a Peep"

 I did it. I made a mistake I haven't made since last December. I signed into Facebook to peep for a quick second. After the horrible assassination attempt made against former president Trump, I knew my very polarized friend group would be exceptionally active. And as not to disappoint, it was.

Three things I am constantly reminded of when I sign into Facebook.

1. I shouldn't have signed into Facebook.

2. The hypocrisy is strong with the two polarized ends of my friend group. Each vomits excrement out of their mouths about the other; blaming each other for deplorable behaviors, while not recognizing they are doing exactly what the other group is doing. They're blind to their hypocrisy. 

Hubris, self-appointed moral high-grounds, elitism and ignorance abound. They scream into their echo chambers behind their closed private Facebook accounts thinking they're "doing" something, seeking the validation of their carefully curated audiences who think what they think, do what they do, believe what they believe. 

Most of them unfriended anyone with dissenting opinions, or cancelled those with even the most minimum opposing views long ago.

There truly are two Americas. The extreme left, and the extreme right. It isn't because of their numbers. It's because they're small, obnoxious, and vicious.

So where do centrists go when there's nowhere for them to go to?

I believe the vast majority of us want to get along with our neighbors, friends, and family. That while we may have differences of opinion topic by topic, most of us wouldn't destroy each other for them; that we can find ways to coexist even on issues we can't see eye-to-eye on. 

"Compromise" is the key to any successful free society. Talk about a word that's fallen off the national stage.

We centrists keep our heads down, focus on those who matter most to us, and the impacts we have where we can control some semblance of power.

We're quiet. 

The extremists want us that way, because as long as we are, their voices drown out reason and logic. They know we know anything we say "can and will be used against us." I personally learned the hard way they can't wait to pounce. 

That's what extremists do. They drown out dissent or independent thought. Only their group think is acceptable.

And so here we centrists are, watching Rome burn around us, afraid to say it's on fire. All because we fear those "friends" who would cut us out of their lives in a second, without regret or a second thought, if we dare step outside their lines.

Maybe it's time for those of us who can still think for ourselves to make a little noise back.

They're bullies. And bullies only fear one thing. Those who stand up to them. 

Make no mistake. Rome IS burning. And if we centrists don't put out the fire, the extremists will take delight in burning it to the ground.

3. I shouldn't have signed into Facebook.

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