LeBron James Is A Good Person
I believe that LeBron James is a good person and he should not “shut up
and dribble” even if it is your right to be a dick and say such a thing.
The evidence supporting this unnecessary, simple and
frankly inane statement, that LeBron James is a good person, is considerable,
so I wont bother to blather on about it too much. If you turn on ESPN at some
point today, you might just see a documentary about the school for disadvantaged children he just opened in his home town. Such a fantastic work
of charity is not necessary to be a good person. Rather, simply following the Golden
Rule usually puts one on the right path. And acts of bravery, selflessness and
charity certainly sweeten the pot.
There are many circumstances wherein one can be brave, some
more dramatic than others. It is brave for the agoraphobic to venture outside their
home. It is brave for the bystander to scale the precarious side of a residential
tower to rescue a child from falling. It is brave to speak truth to tyrants. Though,
historically, the more powerful the tyrant, the harsher the punishment for such
an act seems to be.
The Constitution of the United States protects first our
right to peacefully (but not always gently)
speak our minds. Our Founding Fathers knew all too well where government-led censorship
could lead, and the ease at which such an act can bolster the rise of a tyrant.
The Amendment’s numerical priority is no accident. The purpose of free speech
does not exist to protect the statements everyone agrees with. We’ve already beaten
McCarthyism and we would do well to leave it that way. Censorship and
groupthink should not be thriving on both ends of the political spectrum. These
are damaging conditions.
When the supposed Leader of the Free world uses his
authority to hurl attacks at the press and private citizens whose only malfeasance
was to speak their minds (or otherwise randomly run afoul of the rancor of an
increasingly unstable old man) it is time to worry. That is an act of a
would-be tyrant. And when the American President, our ultimate government authority
figure, de facto designates a demographic of humans to be the enemy, it is time
to worry even more, as that is how a tyrant gets us to kill and die in his name.
One of the worst people in modern history, Hermann Goering, knew that regardless
of the system of government in place, a nation’s citizens can still be dragged
into war (and consequently their own deaths) by following a simple formula:
“Voice or no voice, the
people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All
you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists
for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.”
Don’t believe the enemy is at the gates. Danger and tragedy
have always been a part of the human experience and will continue to be part of
it in our lifetimes, I’m sorry to say. The Bogeyman isn’t coming from abroad.
Rather, he is already here and has been since we walked on two feet. This is why
we have the next Amendments down. This is why we have 911.
We are all going to die one day. Let’s be good citizens of the world. Let’s live on our feet, and not
on our knees. Let’s talk to one another. More importantly, let’s listen to one
another… if that person isn’t screaming in your face.
