Micro values for a Macro society #Mic4Mac

From the current government and its tentative (at best) dealings with the european bureaucrats, to the selective blindness of our police when the enforcement of the law will implicate certain groups and ideologies. From the teachers who refuse to stand up when their colleagues were fired for telling inconvenient truths, to the journalists sacrificing the real reporting for what will get more hits.

Exempt from the above are the types who do what they do purely for the money and use the figures to justify what they see in the mirror. Those types will never learn until (hopefully) their corruption sends them behind bars.

I hope a fair portion of those who do these things, do them because they are; concerned with relations over their firm stance, concerned with painting all of minority groups in a bad light. Worried over being there for keen learners so you can get through the fewer and fewer valuable messages you can teach them, worried over being taken seriously via fame before then reaching a platform where you can report some home truths. 

These motivations are born out of good intentions. But these good intentions are overly spoilt with worry and concern. Two things that already exist in a high enough dose to precede the good intentions we have. Not to go overboard on the chemistry metaphors, but one ingredient missing is self assurance and knowledge that those you are speaking to someone with thick skin.

Of course there is always room for misunderstanding but provided reasoning behind the actions is ready for clarity, there should be no issues. Clarity such as; we are an island we should make our own laws, that same law does not discriminate (or give special treatment), these are facts I am teaching on the curriculum subject and if I'm a good enough journalist then I will make it to the top and either way the truth will prevail.

Where, on the way to "the top" did we lose this self assurance and thick skin? I think the answer lies with how out of touch these people have become with everyday people. 

We've seen how catastrophically out of touch higher ups have become with the results of democratic elections being so apart from projections in recent times. See the protest vote and Brexit. Here's what we do to get back this basic lesson we somehow lost along the way:

...don't worry you won't have to re wire your living room, fix a faucet or even hang wallpaper

1. Raise your kids in a way that allows them to differentiate between when you're being serious and when you're having a cheeky go at them.

2. When doing the above, mix up your name calling and avoid profanities until they're mature enough. The mixing up of the odd "go on little un, need me to get a rocket up yer backside for you to clean yer room" with "if you wanna live at a tip you can head on down but under my roof I'll not have any rats runnin about...get it cleaned. Now" the mixing up prevents not just it coming across as bullying but pure monotony. Groundhog day becomes tedious quickly in real life.

3. If you're too old or have no kids, spend a Sunday or a non working day with a family and put yourself in the position of the stars on the old "roasting of" tv shows. You're buying and you're not allowed to leave until the family deem you are able to laugh at yourself and can give the same banter back without getting vindictive (or repetitive).

4. Put up a photo/poster/billboard where you'll see it everyday that has every jibe you learned, personally bantering (not attacking) you.

5. Encourage your peers to do the same until every town has a billboard with it's own homegrown jibes and these are celebrated by the people living there.

6. We have a competition and everyone admits northern banter is the best :)

#Mic4Mac