I actually started it nearly ten years ago, just as the housing crisis was hitting full bloom. Back then, I was still in the brokerage business, and still writing daily economic commentary for my firm. So I was watching the numbers every day, and breaking them down. (Yeah, I'm one of those people who thinks that's fun. Wanna party with me?)
But it was also an election year, and there was a new kid on the political block. One whose inexperience concerned me. Feel free to disagree; it's okay, and it has no bearing on the reason for the Curmudgeon. (By the way, the name comes from the fact that, at the time, I'd been pretty bearish on the economy for quite some time, so it only seemed fitting.)
I gave it up for quite a while after I left that world, but I picked it back up not too long ago. Why?
Simple. I have political views, as do most people. But I get sick and tired of reading political crap on Facebook. Show me your puppy pictures, your grandkids, your flowers, what you ate for lunch. Tell me what's going on in your life. Just spare me the Occupy Democrats memes, or the lengthy comments on the latest Trump conspiracy, or the relentless name-calling.
But I wanted to voice my opinions as well, especially to refute so much of the nonsensical misinformation out there. However, I wanted to spare my Facebook friends who lean left having to read my political views, because I assume they'd no more want to do that than I'd want to read theirs (even though some of them still do post their views on Facebook, and that's okay with me - they're my friends, and my mouse wheel scrolls pretty fast).
So I decided to voice it here instead. This is my space, and you're invited in - heck, argue with me in the comments, even. I try to use reason (laced with sarcasm, as is my wont), and to actually read the source documents in question, like a proposed bill, rather than reading some biased news source's interpretation of it, and accepting that as gospel. Hopefully some find value in that.
Now, I do post links on Facebook to most of my blog posts. I do this because not everyone who wants to read the Curmudgeon's ramblings knows how to follow the blog, and because a good friend specifically requested that I post the links on Facebook. And I've actually had a few hundred people read some of these posts, and several of my friends share them with their friends.
If you don't want to read my views, I figure it's easy enough to just not click the links and read the blog posts. (Hint: if you lean left, you probably don't want to read this blog.) Just scroll on by, like I sometimes do. That way, my friends who see the world differently can still see my puppy pics (and trust me, the grandson pics will be coming soon), but they don't have to read my political views.
So why am I explaining this?
After my last post (the one about the Huffington Post article), I received the following comment on the Facebook link:
"I am disappointed that someone of your intellect, integrity, and education could hold these views. I am going to have to say goodbye to you as a FB friend. Wish you the best."
(Note: I only added the italics because another FB friend suggested that it's easier to see something I've called out in quotes if I also put it in italics, when perusing FB on a phone screen. I mean no disrespect to the commenter by using italics.)
I deleted the comment out of respect for that person, because frankly, I thought it made them look bad. It basically reinforced everything I said in the blog post about intolerance of views different from one's own, and I didn't want to invite any further comments making that point.
A second reason I deleted it is that I find it rather undignified, if not downright sophomoric, to turn the process of unfriending a person on Facebook into a public event, inviting all the world to spectate. Hey, you want to unfriend me on Facebook? By all means, feel free. Just go ahead and do it, though; no need to announce it to the world. If you must, send me a private message first, explaining to me why you're doing it.
I promise I won't be offended, nor will I lose a nanosecond's sleep over it. After all, it's Facebook, it's not life. And besides, if our relationship was that tenuous, we never really had one to begin with.
Finally, and on a related note, the parting comment, "Wish you the best," seemed ... well, disingenuous, given what preceded it.
So there you have it. I hope I can spare anyone else feeling the need to sever our Facebook relationship - publicly or otherwise - over the fact that I may see the world differently. So again, if you've read this blog, and don't like what you see, and we're connected on Facebook - just scroll past the blog links I post, and focus on the puppy pics. In fact, if you're in that camp and you've read this post, let me close with one:
(Charlie loves everybody, no matter what their political views are. Maybe there's a lesson in that for all of us.)
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