Birds of a feather flock together

In my quest for information and knowledge, I often find myself in corners of the internet that are…different to say the least. Nothing indecent or illegal of course, just weird. I then immerse myself fully in that world and if you are around me, you can generally tell what type of content I am consuming during that time by the things I keep bringing up. 

This is something that hurt me in the past because I was just consuming information and these different ideas were affecting the way I approached certain issues, and it took burning my fingers a couple of times before re-evaluating the way I went about looking for information and the type of information I entertained. I now try to consume content that’s consistent with my values and avoid any that conflicts with them, and when I do go to the dark side, I do it fully aware that I am in the valley of the shadow of death so I always have my flashlight with me. 

One way to evaluate a position I hold, or that I am looking into is to see with whom it most resonates with. If the people that the position/ideal most resonates with are people I, personally, would consider moral infidels such as alternative right-wingers and extremists, then I need to look within myself and question what I have in common with these people that brings us together on this subject. If I consider these people to be so immoral, what is the immorality that unites on this matter and how far does it reach. Sometimes, the type of people that get moist about certain subjects is enough for me to decide to not entertain the conversation any further. This is a vetting technique that can spare you and your loved ones a lot of pain and discomfort. Sometimes you are not being “edgy” you are just being an ass. Just because you are not aware of an issue doesn’t mean it's not there and you not realising that you are a misogynist, racist or homophobe does not mean that you aren’t one. If you are somewhere where everyone else is a racist/misogynist or homophobe and yet you feel right at home, buddy I got news for you. 

This applies to all forms of rhetoric, even that of my very own. With whom my words resonate tells me more about my message than my intentions. There is often a discrepancy between intentions and actions that needs to be recognized and reconciled. If the people that like my message are not my intended audience then I need to revisit that message and see what about it resonates with them.
This is especially evident in politics because if someone claims not to be racist, but racists feel represented and emboldened by them, then someone is fibbing. That was a dig at Trump by the way, and any other party or politician that uses the same rhetoric he uses but waves the white flag the same way he does. The flag you are waiving is stained with the blood of the innocent and we aren't buying your lies.  

Everyone hates clichés but they are clichés because they are true, and whoever said birds of a feather flock together was telling the truth. It would serve you well from time to time to look at those around and you and see if they are still consistent with what you believe to be inside you.
 

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