Category: free speech

Addiction, coaching, free speech, Motivation, parenting, Uncategorized, women

Why do people hate life?

Katrina Russell

I suppose a good place to start is to ask what is life? If you Google this question the first response is a dictionary entry

life

/līf/

noun

1.the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.”the origins of life”Similar:existencebeinglivinganimationalivenessanimatenessentitysentiencecreationsurvivalviabilityesseOpposite:deathnonexistence

2.the existence of an individual human being or animal.”a disaster that claimed the lives of 266 Americans”

I don’t really think that helps. I mean, I guess it helps to understand when life begins and ends, which people seem to have forgotten somehow.

When you ask people today about life you tend to get responses like, “Life sucks, then you die”. They actually put that on pins and bumper stickers. People commiserate with each other about how awful life is. They talk about how we spend our whole life working just to die. This is the general consensus.

The amount of Gen Z and Millennials who never want to have children is staggering, and they mostly blame the economy or climate change for this problem. Which is ridiculous when you think about the fact that people have been having children since people have been around and we are richer as a society than we have ever been.

People are putting gadgets and comforts before actual lives. And I don’t mean that metaphorically. Women are actually killing their children and most of the time it is over financial reasons. It may interfere with their career plans, or kids are just too expensive to begin with. In 2023 there were 1,026,700 babies murdered before they were even born. That doesn’t seem “safe, legal and RARE” as everyone used to claim they would be. This is a genocide People are purposefully killing unborn people for their own desires. Women are being taught that having a baby is not even one of the choices they can make.

Celebrities like Chelsea Handler make mock videos like, A Day in the Life of a Childless Woman in which they talk about doing the most useless and ridiculous things just to glorify this path. People are told that being able to travel is impossible once you have kids, but then people complain that they can’t travel anyway because they always have to work to support their lifestyle.

Now this lifestyle that they speak of isn’t the same as Chelsea Handler’s running off to Paris for the afternoon. No, it’s $10 coffee drinks, and $300 bar tabs, and takeout every night because cooking is part of the patriarchy. It’s the latest iPhone, and the latest shoe of choice (whether it be a Jimmy Choo or a pair of Nike with a celebrity name on it all of which cost more than my rent in the 90s). And none of this counts as being excessive it’s just “self care” . Which we can’t forget hair and nails done every week.. that’s what life is all about now.

People are being taught that human rights are not actually rights and that humans are the problem. They are being taught that free speech and meritocracy are the problem and that the only thing that is important is buying more things and not working, because working is the patriarchy. Which is ironic since it used to be that men did most of the work and women just lived life taking care of their kids and the home.. but that was bad too. Everything is bad.

If you have a bad feeling take a drug. If you have a good feeling take a drug. If you’re not feeling enough take a drug. If you’re feeling too much take a drug. But whatever you do. Do not go outside and get fresh air. Do not exercise. That is the patriarchy telling you how you should look and feel. Here.. have a pill instead and zone out on the couch watching other people live. Because life itself is the problem.

cancel culture, free speech, Homeless, Mental Health, parenting, Politics

School Choice is about the Parent’s choice not the Government’s choice.

Katrina Russell

I belong to so many Facebook groups it’s ridiculous. As a homeschool mom I like keeping in touch with other homeschool parents to see what kinds of curriculum they use, what kinds of activities they have coming up, and of course it’s a great way to keep up on rules and laws in the area.

I only started homeschooling my son last year, but I have been teaching homeschoolers on-line for a few years. I started right before Covid and have seen homeschooling explode since then. The more that I talk with people the more I see how many different reasons people have for choosing homeschool. Some people have had problems with their local public schools. Some people choose to include more religious teaching in their schooling. Some just live in communities that don’t have the best schools. And of course there are those who just feel that between school shootings and Covid schools are safer. Some just want to spend their children’s childhood with their children instead of sending them off for 7 hours a day.

Regardless of the reason for choosing homeschooling they are all happy that they had that choice. Which is why I think it’s so hypocritical that so many homeschool moms are against school choice. They literally made the choice to take their kids out of the public schools for whatever reason and now they want to make sure that other’s don’t have the same opportunity.

A lot of these moms use the excuse that they don’t want the government involved in their kids schooling and that places like California who passed their version of school choice now has the government all up in the business of homeschoolers. That is just BS. California also has homeless people crapping on people’s front doorsteps and shoplifting is no longer a crime. Just because one state is crazy doesn’t mean that every other state needs to be punished. This is the whole purpose of Federalism.

School Choice, real School Choice is about getting the government out of the decisions made about the schools. It’s about a family deciding that the government school is garbage and they want to take the tax dollars attached to the child and putting it towards whichever kind of education the family chooses. Maybe it’s a different town, maybe it’s a private or Charter school, maybe it’s a religious school, or maybe it’s homeschooling. The government doesn’t get a say in the education of the children just because they collect the money from the tax payers.

I don’t know when the American people started to think that the government was in charge. They literally work for us. We elect them. We pay them. They are put into office to safeguard against people who try to take away our rights and to enact new laws that coincide with what the citizens in the area need or want in their communities. Somehow people now think that the government is the boss of the people, and put in office to tell us what to do.

We need to stop telling each other that we can’t have things because the government will stop us. We have to start telling the government that they can’t have things or we will stop them. Our kids are just that… OURS. They are not for the government to raise. They are not for the government to control. Their education is our responsibility and if we CHOOSE to take the money that the community allotted to our kids and spend it on curriculum that we approve of the government just has to hand us a check and say, “you’re welcome”. Or they can find themselves recalled and we’ll find people who do listen to We The People.

cancel culture, free speech, parenting, Politics

Have you lost friends to politics?

Katrina Russell

OK, be honest, have you lost any friends or family members to politics in the last few years? This seems to be more and more a common occurrence. People are incapable of disagreement anymore. They can’t have differing opinions. They can’t have their opinions challenged. They just want to live in a bubble of their own making.

Before the internet people formed their opinions about life primarily from their surroundings. Their family, friends, schools, churches, and whomever else they spent their time with. Now people get their information from invisible entities behind a keyboard. Everyone plugs into the same mainstream media and downloads the same information into their brains without ever questioning who is giving them the information or if it makes sense. They just listen and obey and are told that anyone who disagrees with the mainstream narrative is the enemy.

Thinking for yourself or doing your own research is now considered evil. You are a racist, sexist Nazi if you read something that is not put out by the media which supports one leg of the government while at the same time being convinced the government itself is also evil because there are people in the government who don’t agree with the media. It’s a cycle of ignorance being camouflaged as information.

The best way to tell that something is probably wrong is if no one is allowed to question it. Facts and people who are correct have no problem being questioned because they have the answers and understand how to communicate their point. People who are brainwashed are trained to shut down and turn away from anything that is contrary because those in charge know how flimsy their ideas are and how easily they can be turned over. If you are being told by the people giving you information that questions are not allowed… that is a major red flag.

I have lost family and friends to this ideology, and the saddest part is that they can’t even understand they are being manipulated. My brother and I have never been on the same page politically. We have always had debates and talked about the reality of topics. We both agree on the facts, but just have differing opinions about what should be done about these facts. For instance I am pro-life and he is pro-choice. We both understand that the baby is a baby. We both understand that an abortion kills the baby. We both agree that we would never want our babies to be aborted. He just doesn’t care if other people’s babies are. He doesn’t like most people in general and doesn’t care if their are fewer of them. He thinks we should be able to abort adults if they aren’t contributing to society. I guess he thinks similarly to the Canadians view with “assisted suicide”. That yes, there is a life, but no, the life doesn’t matter. I’m opposed to abortion and assisted suicide and think that all lives matter. We agree to disagree. Facts are facts and we’re allowed to have different opinions on how they are handled.

On the other hand I have 2 Goddaughters who I helped raise. They have 2 cousins that I have known since the say they were born. I have a cousin that I was always there for and even babysat over the years when we were little. All of whom disagree with my opinions on things. I don’t really know which parts, because they don’t talk to me about any of them. They just stopped talking to me. No explanation , no discussion… just nothing.

I’m the same person that was there for them their entire lives. I’m the same person that they know is not racist, sexist, homophobic or a Nazi, but they can’t handle that I have a different opinion than what the screen tells them to believe. They can’t handle that I bring up facts that they haven’t heard. In fact, one of them told me that facts were racist. She’s also a person who has a Master’s Degree, which confuses me because if facts are racist how did she get a degree? Were there no facts in her classes that she had to learn to pass?

There is a whole group of people out there that literally can’t handle information that goes against the grain. They can’t handle critical thinking. They would rather reject and hate people who love them and have been there for them their whole life than admit they may not understand something or may have gotten something wrong, or, in the case of my brother and me, that they are allowed to have different opinions about. And I feel bad for them, because they will never grow as people and will never have real connections in life without being able to think for themselves.

cancel culture, free speech, Healthcare, Mental Health, parenting

When did victimhood become a goal?

Katrina Russell

Have you been on social media lately? If you haven’t, good on you, stay off. If you have you have probably seen the new trend of young people proudly exclaiming their mental illnesses. Everything from depression to turrets to being a furry is a new “identity”. Everyone has AHDH. Everyone is on the spectrum. Everyone has some sort of depression or anxiety issue.

The crazy thing (no pun intended) is that these people aren’t talking about the struggles that they have and how they overcome these problems with hard work and patience. They are not reaching out for help, or giving advice or inspiration to other’s on how they too can better themselves under these conditions. They are literally telling other people that they have to change their behavior to comply to the mental illness.

People have stopped trying to take responsibility for their actions. People are no longer looking to find ways to contribute to society despite whatever shortcomings or obstacles are in their way. These people are actually telling everyone else in society that problems are the most important thing about a person and that if you don’t have a major mental illness or a major tragedy in your history then you have no rights at all.

If you are a person who has a mental illness or tragedy in your life and have worked hard to overcome, and have made something of yourself then you are an even worse person than the person that never had any problems to begin with. It’s like you are a traitor because you managed to better yourself and being a regular society contributing person is the same as being a Nazi or a KKK member. It’s somehow hateful to those with disabilities or some kind of troubled past.

Victimhood is the new super power. Instead of Captain America or Superman the new heroes are people who medicate themselves into oblivion and yell at anyone who dares live their life without catering to the every whim of self declared victimhood. It’s sick, and we need to stop placating them because it isn’t good for them, and it isn’t good for society, and it sure as Hell isn’t good for the future.

roadway with end racism now title in town
bullying, cancel culture, free speech, parenting, Politics

Redefining Racism

Katrina Russell

racist

noun

  1. A person who believes a particular race is superior to others.
  2. a person with a prejudiced belief that one race is superior to others

That has been the standard definition since it was a thing. It is how slave owners felt. It is how KKK members felt, and much to Whoopi Goldberg’s chagrin, it is how the Nazis felt. Racism has always been about one group feeling superior to another group.

Racism is not when someone points out differences between groups. In fact, differences between groups should be celebrated not treated like an insult. It’s not racism when someone from a different group does, says, wears, or otherwise “appropriates” something from another group. If the person doing, saying, wearing, or what have you was racist they would think that the “others” group was inferior and NOT “appropriate” their culture. I guarantee you no Nazi was “appropriating” Jewish culture.

Racism is also not pointing out how different cultures have different values, traditions, and ideas. Such as some cultures value education, some cultures value religion, some cultures value violence and scamming the system. Racism is, however, claiming that someone from a particular race is unable to break away from their culture and adopt different values, and that the only way anyone from one group could possibly succeed is to either lower the standards or by way of help from the “better, more advanced race”. That’s just full-on racism in it’s true form.

Today people who believe the second version are doing their best to make those who understand the first version are the true racists. So, for instance, one group says, “Society has rules. They are rules that, as a society we have found better the life of everyone involved. If you would like to better your life, then just follow these simple rules and you too will see that your life is better.”. These rules have come from centuries of seeing how different societies all over the world have succeeded and bringing them all together to create something new.

The United States is a great example of this set of rules. They are considered “White” rules because the majority of people in the US are white, but in reality, a lot of these rules come from many cultures not formally considered “white” by traditional standards. Ironically, the racial groups not previously considered white actually can be found to be more successful, because traditionally they place a bigger value on family and tend to live together and support each other longer. In fact, “white” used to be only British people. As white only became a race in segregated America at a time when the dominant race was British. Even Italians, Irish, Germans were all different races in all other terms. But with segregation it was decided that there needed to be a term that separated ex slaves from the common citizenry. Thus “White” was born.

Now “white” is used as a synonym for success. Anyone who becomes successful is now either considered white or “trying to be white”. So, for instance, Asians are now on the hierarchy stage of being white adjacent because they are one of the highest earning groups in American society. They get into elite colleges at a higher rate as well, therefore a cap had to be put on the number of Asians allowed into the elite colleges because of course it wasn’t fair to those whose cultures don’t put hard work and success on the list of values to attain. And let’s not forget any black person that does rise to success and pay tribute to hard work and perseverance… they just “want to be white”.

Now it is the fault of the hard working that those who don’t work hard don’t succeed, because “everyone knows ‘those people’ aren’t capable of hard work”. This is the crap that’s being taught in schools. It’s being taught that one group is oppressed by the system because it is set up for those capable of hard work. The Smithsonian came out with a breakdown of “white supremacist” which included things like hard work and being on time. Groups are pushing to remove tests and having to answer questions correctly because it oppresses a whole group of people not capable of such feats. There are groups of people pushing to stop police from arresting those who steal because they’re not capable of doing real work to earn goods. Today Biden put aside $30 million to give crack pipes out to inner city black people in the name of equity. Because that’s what “those people” really want. There’s a reason why the new Black Heroes are all violent criminals, and people like Dr King and Fredrick Douglas are having their statues torn down.

Racism is alive and well in this country, but we have to call it out when we see it, and we have to use words properly. Racism is not understanding that racial/ethnic groups are different and have different values, traditions, and ideas. Racism is believing that people from one racial/ethnic group is incapable of being successful simply because of their racial/ethnic group.

close up photo of lion s head
cancel culture, free speech, parenting, Politics, Prayer

Speak your mind!

Katrina Russell

Yesterday I was teaching my Catechism class where we were talking about Daniel and Esther. For those who don’t remember Daniel was put into a Lion’s Den after he refused the King’s order to only worship the King and other false gods. Esther was the King’s wife who spoke to the King on behalf of her people for him to allow them to worship their one true God. Both of these people put their lives in grave danger for their faith.

After we finished reading and watching a video about them, I asked the children in my class how they felt about what these people did. I asked them if they thought that people have the right to be able to tell their King or government no and do what they believe. I wasn’t sure how they would answer.

This is a time when authority should never be questioned and what is “right” is listening and obeying what the authority deems to be true. When I first said to compare it to today in society there was a big moan of annoyance at the thought of what I may be asking about society today. I asked them, “With everything going on today, do you think that people have the right to protest the government about things they believe, regardless of whether you believe the same things that they do?”.

There was the one smart ass kid who said, “No, you must always listen to the government. They know best.” but seeing as how I don’t think this kid has ever listened to anyone in his life, I knew he was being facetious and stated so after his friend questioned him. After him there were many different responses ranging from, “of course the government is full of idiots” to “yeah, just because the government think they know best doesn’t mean that they do. In fact, of the 17 kids in the class every single one of them agreed that people have the right to criticize and protest the government.

This exchange has given me hope for the future. This was a class full of middle schoolers in a very Left state that truly believe in personal rights outweighing the collective. I wasn’t sure that was a thing anymore. These kids have grown up in a culture full of canceling anyone who thinks outside the box. The box constructed by a certain establishment. The fact that these kids were able to understand the significance of having not only their voices heard, but the voices of those they don’t agree with as well was quite inspiring. Maybe there’s hope for the future after all.

bullying, cancel culture, free speech, Mental Health, parenting, Politics

Why does fear trump logic in society?

Katrina Russell

I’m mostly talking about American society since that’s the one that a I live in. I just don’t understand it. America was always the land of the FREE and the home of the BRAVE. This is the one country that everyone came to that had nothing to fall back on when they got here. Or at least it was. Now it’s the home of “give me free stuff and if you don’t, I’ll label you the problem”.

I read articles and see news casters all the time talking about how they would never sit down and have a conversation with someone they disagree with. How you should never give them a platform or trying to get someone they disagree with platformed. I don’t care which side of the isle it’s on. I saw the same thing written about The View and CNN from the Right as I see about Joe Rogan from the Left, even before Whoopi’s ignorant racism and the evidence that no one at CNN can keep it in their pants.

I was amazed at how many people either quit or were dragged for not quitting during the Trump administration, because they didn’t like him. So what? You don’t like that man. That has nothing to do with your job. Go to work, do the best job you can and make the difference that you want to make. You like or dislike for your boss should be irrelevant. Imagine if all the firefighters who didn’t like their bosses just quit. The country would be in chaos. When did people get so soft?

The irony is that so many people think if these cowardice acts as brave. As if saying, “naa na nah boo boo, I don’t need to listen to you”, is brave. People have become so used to living in their own little bubbles they have no idea what reality is. They have no idea what true bravery is. Bravery isn’t banning together with a group of people who agree with you and prop you up at all times, while ostracizing anyone who dares have a different opinion that you. Bravery is having open dialog with someone that you disagree with. Listening to their perspective and possibly learning something new that may indicate that you are wrong. No one wants to do that anymore.

If you say someone’s opinion is wrong, it’s like you’re berating their very character. People all over the country are on anti-anxiety medication just because there’s a slight chance something vaguely uncomfortable may happen to them. There are entire internet posts that people share over and over about a thing that happened to them and they can never show their faces again, because they made a mistake one. A mistake. A normal everyday occurrence that happens to everyone. But no… a mistake is a sign of being less than. If I make a mistake, I must shut myself away forever, and if you make a mistake, I must make sure that you are shut away forever. You must never go to college, or get a job, or get married, or have children… or live a life in anyway, because only the perfect who agree with everything that my peer group agrees with and never makes a mistake has the right to live.

The most deranged thing is that this society is one that pushes inclusion and acceptance. We MUST accept everyone regardless of their differences, as long as they’re not different than me, or in any way considered to be better than me. We have to accept fat people but shun anyone who enjoys healthy living. We must accept POC but reject anyone proud of their white heritage. We must accept the LGBT>>> community, but ridicule anyone who believes in Judeo/Christian beliefs. The only beliefs that are criticized, by the way. If you’re Hindi, Muslim, Wiccan you are to be praised yourself for being so brave.

If you want to truly be empowered the key is not to block yourself off from disagreement or feeling uncomfortable; it’s putting yourself out there. Having conversations with those you disagree with. Test your theories. Hear other’s opinions. You never know, you may realize you were actually right after all, or you may realize you didn’t have all the information. Either way you can be proud of yourself for true and good actions instead of lying to yourself into placation.

black metal train rails
bullying, cancel culture, free speech, Politics

Whoopi another person cancelled

Katrina Russell

I really don’t know when this became a thing. People are literally not allowed to have conversations or be wrong. It’s amazing how not only does Freedom of Speech mean nothing to anyone anymore, but neither does human decency.

First the world went on a tirade against Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan who is the most respectful, mild-mannered celebrity probably in existence. That may have to do with his love for pot, but the point stands. Joe Rogan has made a career, a very successful and well-loved career, by simply having conversations with people. That’s it. He lets people talk and he listens and gives his opinions on what they are talking about.

This is a man who spent most of his life in comedy clubs and fighting rings. He has met all kinds of people and has quite the “lived experience” as people like to say. They also love to say that because he was a fighter that automatically makes him an idiot, but no one creates a business like his is an idiot. People say that you shouldn’t take medical advice from a comedian. Which is true. He doesn’t give medical advice. He sits down and has conversations with medical professionals. The same people who say they shouldn’t listen to him, or his conversations are the same people who swear by Rachel Maddow’s words… last I checked she didn’t have a medical degree either. She just talks to people.

The other day Whoopi Goldberg made an ignorant comment. Plain and simple it was strictly ignorant. She had no idea what she was talking about. She only knows what she knows, and that’s fine. In her lived experience there has been no other race issue other than Black and White. That’s fine. She’s allowed to feel that way. That is what she has been taught. That is what is preached to her every day in all the other media outlets. She should not have been put on leave. She should have been educated.

People today only want to destroy. They only want to tear things down. No one wants to learn or understand. When someone makes an incorrect statement, the crowds jump on them and insult and degrade them. When someone tries to explain something that another doesn’t agree with, they’re called some sort of ist… racist, sexist… No one can just have conversations anymore.

The irony is that when Whoopi was called out and suspended from her show her response was that she thought they were just having a conversation. That sharing her opinion was what the show is all about. Which it is or at least it was originally designed as different types of women who have different types of opinions. Now anyone with a differing opinion gets shunned in the least and ostracized at the most basic level.

People seemed to have forgotten what civil disagreements are. Now if anyone says anything that they disagree with, even out of ignorance like Whoopi, they are to be punished to the full extent. This Jewish race conversation was a perfect opportunity for a teaching moment. The View should have scheduled guests on that were Holocaust survivors and/or historians to speak to the women about the reality of the time.

Whoopi’s perspective is a very common one in today’s America. People only see history and the world through the small lens of current events. Race is about Black and White. There was no White race 200 years ago. There was barely one 100 years ago. There were Colored and not Colored in America but nowhere else was that in issue, because nowhere else were there so many Black people.

Most of the world consisted of English, French, German, Irish, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Persian, Russian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Egyptian, Libyan, Sudanese, Nigerian… and so forth, and of course Jewish who really had no home. Before that they were even more broken up into tribes within the countries. Everyone loved the movie 300. They know the phrase “This is Sparta!”. Sparta was just an area, a tribe in Greece, but they didn’t consider themselves to be part of the collective. They were their own people. Race is an ever-flowing construct. Usually based on the community that you live within. America is the first of its kind to be a true melting pot where every generation becomes more and more mixed. This is something people need to talk about.

Joe Rogan gets complaints because he lets people speak. He doesn’t take sound bites and create a narrative that supports his agenda. He has people, often from opposing sides, come in and speak together. This is something that we need more of. We need more open dialog. We need to see on more news outlets, longform conversations with people who have differing opinions on many topics. No one side is always right and no one side should have complete control over what is said.

This is the reason for Freedom of Speech. The good ideas will triumph over the bad ideas because of open dialog. People will have a chance to make their claims and give evidence to support it, hear evidence that goes against it and come to a general understanding of it all. Cancelling people who disagree with us creates an ignorant society. One in which people don’t know that the Holocaust was about racism.