No wait for words.

There are lots of things to read on the internet. Actually, “lots” is a gross understatement. The amount of information available to us is endless.

One of the newer stories breaking, is the quote from former Republican Michelle Bachmann, while appearing on FOX and Friends. Reportedly, she commented, “If we weren’t meant to own assault rifles then why did Jesus create them?”

Albeit, it sounds like something she would say, but it is NOT true. I wanted to act responsibly, so I looked it up on Snopes. And that is my early point here. We should not trust every little thing we read. Certainly when it comes from an unworthy and unstable wing-nut news source.

Perhaps, we should stay in the middle when we get our news. And check our sources. I will post a couple of good links (at the bottom), for reference, in case you care enough to be a good steward of the honest word.

Which brings me to this. I have a theory about the things that largely go wrong in our world. It is the lack of one word. Responsibility.

From the littlest personal things — to the largest of our nations. Or even to how we use our words — We often lack responsibility. Since we are speaking of words, let’s speak about those words. Right now, like never before in the history of mankind, we have tools available to us, which are beyond the scope of our use.

As I mentioned, the internet gives us the deepest well of information. It also gives us the tallest platform, to spread those words. In years past it was extremely different. You had to walk down the street, put a dime in a cranky-door machine on the corner, and IF the thing opened, you took out one newspaper. Only one. It was an honor system. Responsibility.

And then you would read the news from that paper. The writers were accredited journalists. The went to colleges and universities, to earn their degrees in journalism. They learned the Journalist’s Code of Ethics. They reported the facts. We still have those fine reporters. As I alluded to earlier, there are many accredited sources.

But back to the day. That newspaper in hand. And you, sitting there on the commuter train, reading. Suddenly, you disagreed with something on those pages. You felt the need to express your opinion about it. At work, perhaps you even talked about such things around the water cooler. But you had to wait. Until you got home that night. And you drew a pen from your desk drawer, and composed a Letter to the Editor, in hopes that your opinion would be printed in the next week or so, after you mailed it off. Postage stamp and all. And then you would wait. For that paper. In that machine. On the street. For a dime.

But. Today, we just hit a button on our phones, and our words reach the multitudes. Anyone can say what they want, when they want, and how they want. Including me, here in my little Kid Wednesday Corner. Poof. Like Magic. We touch thousands. We Tweet. We Instagram. We Snapchat and Facebook.

Is that a bad thing? Only, when it lacks responsibility.

Information is power. The more we educate ourselves, the better. The more we try to use this information for the good, the better. And all it takes, is a little responsibility.

 

https://www.snopes.com/

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“Honesty is the first chapter of the book wisdom.”
― Thomas Jefferson

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“Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking…”
― Leo Tolstoy

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“It’s discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.”
― Noël Coward, Blithe Spirit

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