The Grandfather Clause

At a restaurant dinner with friends recently, I was asked why I write these articles, most times daily, always for free, and while I went through some history, I was somewhat uncomfortable. In a social setting, I prefer humor, pleasantries, and casual conversation. In these cases, I do not know if a person is simply interested, wants more information, or is asking for a debate, or argument but it’s really unsuitable, and at times impolite, in a public setting. Further, I do not want to be reduced to an acrimonious, close-minded, cerebral being that is formed closely or solely by philosophical, economical, or political convictions.

I was recently perusing through some local high school yearbooks from a few years back. One year the graduating class was asked whom they most admired. The majority of answers were about their parents with the half-hearted joke “because they had to put up with me all these years.” There were others naming a good friend or a popular student, and still, others identifying celebrities or sports figures, but the one that caught my attention was perhaps the simplest, yet most noteworthy of all. An obviously thoughtful young lady wrote, “I most admired my grandfather. He told great stories and he loved with all his heart.”

I would much prefer to be remembered in the future as that grandfather rather than that resourceful, studious, and reflective guy who knew and wrote that anthropogenic climate change would one day be incontestably and incontrovertibly disproven and invalidated. But as for delving and writing into my research and chosen subject, it is what I can do to hopefully alleviate undue hardship and suffering should the draconian climate change policies constantly being proposed become reality.

The late Andrew Breitbart who died in 2012 at the age of 43, was a writer, columnist, journalist, and publisher who created both the HuffPost and Breitbart News. He coined one of my favorite phrases, “Walk toward the fire. Don’t worry about what they call you.” This quote is the exact opposite of a phrase I coined for several people I know, “Don’t make waves, make friends.” In writing or posting, I am compelled to always follow my mind, my principles, morality, values, and, at times, but more seldom, my heart. That may not always coincide with the thoughts or ideologies of family, friends, or acquaintances, but I do not write my general commentaries for their likes, affable comments, or acceptability and approval - group thinks and conversational clambakes are just not my thing.

You will rarely see me putting up cutesy, ornamental adages, platitudes, or placards made or written by others – these all have a tendency to surround pretentiously artistic slogans or sayings, agreeable to the user, but without any factual meat behind them. “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”, was originally coined by Alexander Hamilton, an American statesman, one of the founding fathers, and a Secretary of the Treasury. He was killed in his late 40s in a legendary duel with Aaron Burr.

This quote doesn’t mean that one should always take the stance opposite of the majority – it means, if after weighing the facts and evaluating the truths, and wholly believing in that path, then accept and take the journey, irrespective of the bumps, potholes, and rough patches along the way. Stand for your principles, ethics, and as I saw engraved on a nameplate on an elderly accountant’s desk, years ago, “DLTBGYD”. If you are unfamiliar with the words that form those initials, perhaps ask a friend.

In my writing, I do not wish to be anyone’s protagonist or paladin. I just want to be someone that is a free thinker and analyzer of facts and truth, and at times, a shit-kicker of fiction fabricated mostly by the pompous, the pretentious, and the self-centered elite. Imminent Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson once said, “It’s not safe to speak, but it’s even less safe not to speak”. I willingly choose the latter. I refuse to be silenced or consent to policies, rules, and regulations that are leading people down a road where freedoms are continuously vanishing while natural rights are set adrift . . .

. . . but mostly, I still want to be the grandfather that told great stories and loved with all his heart.