It’s been common to say that those whom we disagree with are spreaders of lies. Especially when it comes to matters of social justice and politics.

In the States, there is this fiery line between Fox News and CNN with little space for no-man’s land. And then those who try to make space are often shoved or are pulled to one side or another. For awhile, I tried to remain in the balance between by listening to many pod-casters who I considered to be more rational and sensible.

But … let’s just say that all the conservative networks I love have made me cringe more these days than Fox News or CNN ever could.

Turns out this COVID-19 pulled out a lot of disappointing rhetoric from people who claimed to be liberty minded and for limited government.

Thankfully, I never obsess over anyone so much they become such an idol so when they fall so do my beliefs. No, I will still be able to listen to Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens, and they will remain two of my favorites, but I’ve also learned they aren’t as Libertarian minded as they had originally claimed to be. Or maybe, just that we have some major disagreements that are kinda disheartening.

But more than that, I learned that CNN and Fox News aren’t quite as vicious as people like me would believe. They spout bias, yes. But is that truly a lie? The real lie to me, is when we each claim to know the only truth there is to know and thus are incapable of being biased.

No. I will readily admit that I am biased. Yes, I have agendas and beliefs that rule what I say and even how I say what I say and what I present to back up the words I speak.

This bias is what makes my ideas my own.

I am biased in that I believe certain things to be inherently true. That life is of absolute value, that liberty is essential, that man can not infringe upon another because of possible wrong-doings, but that wrong must and may only be addressed after it has been committed. I believe government should be limited for this purpose; so that they do not interfere with lives, nor prevent living, but address issues that demand an outside intercessor.

Bias is impossible to escape. It must be understood and embraced. Once it is I believe we can watch any and every news network and garner truth from them.

Because, even if I were to only watch CNN, knowing what my bias is, and being able to ascertain their bias, I could lay those aside and see the bare bones of what is being told.

And after this rather long preface, I want to speak of cops and statistics and such heated issues that have somehow stolen the spotlight though they have been issues fighting for attention for years.

Statistics do not lie. But people reading them can read them according to their own either twisted or justified bias.

These are just a couple of the common statistics one can easily access on many trusted official sites.

These are true facts interpreted from the above charts influenced by my personal bias:

• Police shoot people, often unjustly, and often without repercussions
• More white people are shot than blacks (but compared to our populace percentage, the numbers from our black community is still staggering)
• There are more men in prison than women—shall we talk about #femalePrivilege for a moment ;b
• One third of men in prison are black
• 76% of the US population is white
• 13% of the US population is black. This may seem like a low number at first until you understand it’s one of the largest ethnic percentages in the States, even over Native Americans
• Native Americans don’t even make up 2% of the US population, which I find amazing, as they’ve been here much longer than we have. Part of it may be due to the fact that many that are “white” are mixed from all of the diverse groups that we have, part of it may be from high mortality rates among the tribes, and part of it may be that on average, more white ethnic groups have moved here and have been quicker to procreate and keep their young than many other groups of peoples
• Yes, what I just said sounds controversial. It is biased. But look up the rate of abortions according to ethnicity

• Blacks are more prone to abort their young than any other ethnicity according this chart. And this lies in accordance with the purpose of Margaret Sanger, the woman behind Planned Parenthood.

Back to the original statistics, it is clear that blacks are predominately high in just about every atrocity this country is faced. But is this a sign of prevalent racism, or of something else? I would argue that it has instead to do with two main facts.

1. It is a matter of class, not of skin color
2. It is a matter of corruption, not persecution.

Let me expand on both of these. Yes, there are racist people and, yes, we have a system that feeds on blacks, and though there are often individuals working in that system that are racist, this does not mean that we are a nation of systemic racism. Racism is real. And corrupt systems are a fact. But the two are loosely connected only by association, not by design.

Corruption does not care to prey on black or white, women or men. But it has created crimes out of non-issues, and those who are in certain classes are prone to fall into the traps more than others.

It is proven that most of those white and black men and women who fill our prisons, are killed by cops, or choose abortions are from poorer class structures. They are victims, not of race and religion, but of a hindering system that helps only those who help themselves, and even then, the help is a dark lie that pretends to stand by the sweet, old adage of the American Dream and of the pop-philosophy of, “Follow your heart.” But none of it works, for even to follow your heart and to understand the American Dream often involves doing something that is now classified a crime.

And no, I am not speaking of drugs. I am speaking of having to own a license to run a business or own a car. It is so expensive to simply receive the permission to exist that many poorer people don’t even see it as an option and turn to easier avenues.

This is where Bernie Sanders says, “It is a matter of health, not crime.”

But how has this worked? We know that the majority of our poor class is supported by welfare. Medical care doesn’t keep their business going, it doesn’t protect their land, and their liberties.

Sanders saw an issue and mocked at it with such an unrelated solution that he has further offended the poor communities of all races.

And now, to speak of the popular proposed defunding of the police. Let’s list a few things I consider to be facts.

• What do you mean by defund? What most people mean is actually a transfer of funds from the police to the medical industry. This will do no good. Welfare has not improved the black community. More free stuff isn’t going to change this cycle they are in. What they need is this: the absolute freedom to pursue their liberty, as long as it does not hurt another human being. Allow them to follow their heart and find the American Dream. Without licenses and insurance, without permission. Allow the poor community to find motivation and purpose.
• And yes, defund police. But don’t transfer funds toward another corrupt system. We need a Sheriff, but we do not need career police. We need a community that will stand with their Sheriff. We do need less crimes, less laws, less use for police. Which means less money. But the focus shouldn’t be defunding, disbanding, deweaponizing, etc. Rather, all men ought to have a gun and most laws need reversed.
• It’s not about furthering the injustice against cops, but stopping any more injustice from happening to anyone.
• It shouldn’t be BLM vs #blueline. I say throw out both movements. It’s not about race. It’s not about cops. It’s about so, very much more.

The other day we went to see a neighbor who had recently been robbed. He said he’d called the Sheriff’s office. “But they are useless. I had pictures but they would hardly look them over. The guy left a stolen truck at my shop and they would’ve returned it to the owner without finger printing it if I hadn’t called them out.”

The man said, “There are two things I hate; politics and taxes. I just want to be left alone. But it really annoys me when all these people say defund the police. Because who we gonna call when they rob from us?”

I said, “But did they really help you when you called?”

The man grinned sheepishly, remembering his previous frustration. “Well, they showed up.”

“But is showing up enough?” I asked.

He said, “But can we just take the law into our own hands? It was a good thing I didn’t see that boy …”

My dad shared his own stories of how he’d been robbed. Once his office had been broken into and $30,000 of tools had been taken. The cops did nothing. Dad found the guy and the tools by visiting pawn shops. Another time his truck had been taken. Again, the cops were useless. He drove around town until he found it at a hotel parking lot. The cops came and treated Dad like the criminal, hardly reprimanding the actual man who stole. Another time a man chased my dad around town trying to kill him and threatened to rape his family. What did the cops do? Held the man in jail for a weekend.

In the “meme” above, I didn’t think the men were even worth answering. They couldn’t even stand by their own analogy. Personally, I’d call my entire neighborhood before calling the police if I were violated in anyway. As for robbing? I don’t see the point in even getting the police involved, unless it’s a trusted Sheriff.

Yes, we need order. But we shouldn’t live in fear of breaking a law just for living, marrying, and having children. These are basic rights that the government should have no say over. They do not license American Dreams. They are ours to pursue alone by the sweat of our brow.

Here’s one last statistic for you to mull over.

Land of the free?

I might not believe in systemic racism, or full-out police brutality, or free-health care and education. But this doesn’t mean that I’m ignoring the staggering statistics. They are real and they should concern all of us. But … just why they should, that’s the real question.

What exactly is at stake?

I say liberty for every man and woman and child of every color and religion. It’s not that it’s not about racism. No, it’s so much bigger and encompasses everyone.

And I say we lost it long ago when we signed over our rights to exist and allowed the government to dictate every aspect of our humanity, from the birth certificate to the death certificate, with the marriage licenses, social security, driver’s licenses, and property taxes dehumanizing us all throughout our lives.

How do you read these statistics? What issues do you see, and what would your solutions look like?

I think we all can afford to give a little and learn a lot in order to build a better solution that benefits all involved.