#FakeOutrage
I’ve been on a hiatus from blogging because I’m trying to take my own advice regarding my belief that everything that comes in your head doesn’t have to come out of your mouth. The hiatus is over.
I need people to stop with the fake outrage. I need people to stop pretending to be offended by things that they really don’t care about or that they perceive is disrespectful only because it’s the ‘in’ thing to do. The most current event that has solicited these angry feelings, or what my husband has coined as ‘fake outrage’, is Colin Kaepernick not participating in the national anthem. Why, you may ask, do I think the outrage and backlash are superficial, at best? Well, let’s see…he’s not the only one doing it! There are many people at those games who aren’t standing during the national anthem. Some of the same people who are ‘outraged’ are tweeting, Snapping, and Facebooking about their outrage during the national anthem. That makes ZERO sense.
Another reason this fake outrage is a problem? He wouldn’t have to do it if there was truly ‘liberty and justice for ALL’ in this country. He’s peacefully protesting against social injustice. He wouldn’t have to if the Pledge of Allegiance was actually being lived out for everyone. It is not.
At this point you’re asking yourself, ‘Well what should I have real outrage about Ms. Blogger Lady?!’ Let me help you: underfunded public education, lack of support for those with mental health issues, the stigma those with mental health issues face, children born into poverty, decreased funding for social services for those in dire need, the expense of cancer medications, the lack of a cure for cancer, the cost of a college education, and on and on and on. There are millions of basic rights that people aren’t getting or that they are getting the bare minimum of that should cause us to have real outage. And yet people are ‘outraged’ because someone is using their first amendment right to raise awareness of social justice issues.
The irony is not lost on me.
Until next time…