Those of you have visited this blog on a regular basis know that I don’t write exclusively about photography. I often write about politics, religion, social issues and more. My point of view generally comes from a conservative philosophy rather than liberal. I use those “labels” only because it would otherwise take a paragraph to explain what I have been able to say with one or two words. Labels can be appropriate and very functional in both writing and speech. The danger of labels however, is that if I say I make conservative political comments on this blog, many of you may think that you can predict what my take will be on any given issue from that label.That means that you do not know me very well. Where I fall on one issue, has little to do with where my opinions will rest on another. While I remain consistent in my morals and beliefs, (hopefully) every issue is addressed on its own merits.

Recently they finally officially changed the name of Mt. McKinley in Alaska, to Mt. Denali. I had forgotten that it wasn’t already called that, as most people have used the Native American word rather than the presidential one, for many years. I have no issue with the change. It was a presidential decision, and one of the few in recent years, that this President had the actual authority to do. I think the Native American name is more appropriate than the presidential one, but my main reason is that almost everyone already calls it Denali. The name of the national park where this mountain resides, is in fact, Denali N.P.

Art Wolfe and Brenda Tharp both made Facebook posts recently, singing the praises of the official change. I clicked like to Brenda’s post. To my surprise, her post was greeted with much disdain as most thought the change was silly. I think they overreacted. In the end, I found myself on the side of liberals (labels) rather than conservatives. I could care less.

We spend too much time today worrying about who shares our opinions, and if we will remain on the side of those we normally agree with. One reason why our news media is so liberal, is that over the years, newscasters with a conservative bent were afraid to be different from the others in the newsroom. Eventually, they became the bunch of clones that they are today. Flip to any channel except one, and the point of view is the same, and yes, all news is delivered from a point of view. The same thing exists in our schools, and in Hollywood.

I would rather die than stop thinking for myself. The unwillingness to exhibit independent thought is exactly what’s wrong with party politics. Among other things, we expect minorities all to follow party politics and the social opinion line that they are assigned by those self-appointed “masters“ of the race. Everyone should meet (and thank) Sheriff David Clarke of Milwaukee, County for being a champion of independent thought. Thank God for the occasional off the wall comments by Charles Barkley. Every person of color who doesn’t always agree with those self-appointed masters of the race, owes a debt of gratitude to Clarence Thomas. People like those mentioned above help bring sanity to a crazy world. They are the truly brave ones. Anyone can follow the “party line”, and make sure they please the right people.

I am just an average Joe, and of course the opinions (and information) from others affect what I know and what I think. That is always true. That having been said, I never forget that we live in a world full of biases and I take that in account when I form my own opinions. My last act before writing or speaking my opinions is to ask myself, if they are truly mine. If the answer is yes, then and only then I share them

Be true to what you believe, no matter who it pleases, or who it doesn‘t . Long-live independent thought.

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Soon I will grace these pages with my thoughts about what is happening in America with respect to the police and members of the black community. I will tell you what I truly believe, even if it means that both sides wind up hating me.  I truly don’t look forward to tackling this issue, but I can’t stay quiet any longer.

I will say this right now. There are those in this country who benefit (power, power, power) by promoting unrest and discord. They are of varied colors and race and their fingerprints are all over what’s happening, and if I can uncover proof, I will name, names.

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This is a quote from the late Wayne Dyer. He is telling us to think good thoughts. I would add to think honest thoughts even if they aren’t all warm and squishy. An old adage is, we are what we eat. I would say, we will eventually become our thoughts.

“You become what think about all day long, and those days quickly become your lifetime”. Wayne Dyer

Have a great day,                                                                                                                              Wayne