How To Deal with People Who Are Saying Silly Things and Asking To Be Taken Seriously

All Art Copyright 2023 Mike Oppenheim.

It's 2023, which means if you have any connection to American media, your head is whiplashing between vitriolic poles of extremism, and the rules of the game say that if you aren't loudly and proudly taking a side, you're "literally worse than Hitler."

Which is weird, since most of us were raised to believe that we should follow "The Golden Rule," which doesn't mention punching up (or down), writing off people who don't think like you, and arguing with strangers and/or family, publicly, online.

OK, Old Man Oppenheim, you've clearly got a bug up your ass, and you want "society" to get off your lawn, but aren't you also a mouthy, opinionated dummy with an agenda? Touché, snarky reader, but at least I have a solution to what plagues us!

I've recently noticed something about "arguers," (which includes me), so true to my title, I've been casually testing my causal observations in groups and one-on-ones, and I'm ready to reveal a solution to the title of this essay that I don't want to retype.

One caveat: I believe when two humans argue, regardless of "why," there is a sticky exchange of unpleasant energy in this conflict that mentally-healthy people prefer to avoid. It's not that we can't have opinions, it's just that we'd prefer to get along.

But, as the intro said, it’s no longer OK to 'agree to disagree,' (even to avoid conflict), and worse yet: there’s lots of money to be made if you promote extreme opinions and "influence" others to use your logic as a heuristic to skip their own critical thinking.

Thanks to data tracking, we know that most of us are tickled by OPD (Other People's Drama), but hypocritically offended and upset when drama comes to us. Yet, thanks to social media (and a (false) sense of self-importance), we're investing in this as a culture.

So the real issue with conflict is why we buy and sell it, not what it's about. And my theory is that our culture has decided that if something provides revenue, it's OK to promote it. If the clicks/views/shares say “yes,” the media will promote any concept.

My solution? Relax. We're all silly hypocrites, cherry picking "What we'd never do!" while avoiding facing “what we do.” We talk about other people's rehab while sipping a beer and we gossip about another's divorce after a day of fighting with our spouse.

None of us are holy, and if you think you’re "holier" than another, that’s unholy. Add that to the fact that if you’re chasing self-perfection or demanding it from another, you're in for a lifetime of suffering. That’s impossible. Life is a process of decay.

I know this isn't what most people want to hear, but it’s the truth, if you actually seek an end to what “makes you suffer.” It's you. It's you, over and over again, telling yourself (and perhaps others) that ‘you know what’s best.’ You don’t. I don’t. We don’t.

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This week we feature Nicole Kerr, an Award-winning health expert, public speaker and author. When she was a 19-year-old cadet at the United States Air Force Academy, she had a terrifying Near-Death Experience and when the memory of the crash returned 20 years later, it spurred a 20-year transformation. Listen here!

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