Response to Don's Threat to Shut Down Social Media
Aaron Wissner
What's on my mind?
Well, everyone, of course. I'm concerned with everyone's well being, their state of fear and confusion, their shutting themselves away from their community and isolating themselves into a filter bubble and echo chamber. I'm concerned about the children, all the children, but especially those in the "third world" "undeveloped" nations, where famine is already taking hold, and threatening to rip through, if we can not soon agree to reach out to them in the most unconventional and unexpected ways. I'm concerned for those who are losing hope, and faith, and confidence in the future; and who are taking their own lives because they have lost all hope. I'm concerned that I started too late to be able to help even a fraction of those that I might have been able to help, had I turned my attention in this direction earlier.
There is hope. There is a better future. A much, much better future. A happier, loving, equal, community supporting future ahead. Our ancestors survived every single thing the universe could throw at us. Volcanic winters. Asteroid impact. Economic collapses. Total societal collapses. War. Plagues. Locusts. Floods. Everything. And, we are the ones that are here all the same. We are incredibly resilient, more so than any of us probably has any clue about. And, we will make it through this, all of this, and the more we focus on that positive future, the more action we will take to get not just ourselves their, but our families, neighbors, and social networks as well
I would like to ask you, so kindly and so humbly now, to consider that one of your FB friends is already entering despair, and is close to the edge. Very close. Too close for you to know. Or, it may be their friend, who will be exposed to a repost of something that you might make. Before reacting, liking, commenting, or especially, posting something; ask yourself: is it T H I N K -- is it Thoughtful, Honest, Intelligent, Necessary, and Kind?
Most importantly, is it necessary given that the FB algorithm only shows your posts to those inside your filter bubble, who already think like you (and share your fears and concerns and political leanings and perhaps world-view and life-stance)? And, is it kind, as in, is it something that has the potential to push one of your friends, or a friend of a friend, deeper into depression and despair?
It is not called a "depression" just because a depression is a hole in the ground. The people jumping out of the windows in the 1929 were not just depressed because they lost everything in the stocks. The years following were filled with those who lost the support of their families and neighbors, and spiraled down into the void, tugging many in the same direction as they made their exit from the world
I know people don't have the time that I do, most of them anyway, but if you are falling into despair, I've made several videos addressing despair and grief. One was with Rae Sikora, the most recent one, where we discuss "Staying Positive in Times of Change". I recommend that one first, as it is "short" at only one hour.
After that, I recommend the mini-magnum opus that Nicole Foss and I made on Monday, "Facing the Fear of Death in the Unfolding of the Future". This one is really outstanding, and explains the predicament we are all in; in the most in depth way that you will ever find short of some genius novel that has not yet been published (to my knowledge). There are challenging ideas in there. "Turning to Wonder" may be necessary. Taking breaks will absolutely be necessary. And above all, patience will be necessary. But if you want the biggest picture, not only of the challenges ahead, but also the vision of the positive future beyond, omg, so clear a vision, then turn your attention to that one; and don't be freaked out by the duration/length; you do not have to watch the entire thing for it to help, just give it a start and some patience, and if you trust me even a little, then spend some time with that conversation that Nicole and I shared about facing fear and facing death itself
My best wishes and love to you all
Truth is power, but ONLY when shared (and sometimes that means a long post or video!)
Love is unlimited, but ONLY if freed (meaning, not just your friends, but your "enemies" as well, and everyone in between)
We are One (meaning, that we literally are one people, all related by genetics that are 99.9% identical with one another, and susceptible to the exact same freeze-fight-flight instinct, tunnel-vision tendency, herd-behavior, confirmation-bias self (and etc, too!); and when we recognize that we are all one, and when we try to love ourselves, and allow that feeling to be non-specific, but just "love" in a non constrained "universal love" sort of way; and when we see that we are all together, we are all one with Earth, with the living world, then, and only then, can we become the forces for positive change and leadership that we are capable of being)
I love you! xo 
:-) --- aaron
:-)
And my most recent posts here, which are public:
https://www.facebook.com/aaron.wissner.9
Thank you everyone, for everything you do, every day, to help to move us in the direction of the vision of a positive future :-) ~ Aaron