Rhoneisms

I just want to point a few things out…

• The irony should not be lost on the fact that it sounds exactly like the other side did with very similar theories exactly four years ago. All you are doing is proving such ideas and tactics acceptable and furthering the distrust that leads societies to crumble.
• Kamala Harris conceded. Period. The moment this happened it does not matter how or why. Donny, even in that face of indisputable loss, never did.
• Let’s just game this out… Let’s say you’re right and evidence is found that without any shadow of a doubt the machines were rigged and the election was stolen and Harris won and every court in the land rules that’s the case… Then what? Do you honestly think the current president will just give up and walk away? How did that work last time? Do you think his supporters will be there at the capitol steps again? Like, seriously. What is the purpose and the point? How will this play out? Think this through.
• There is overwhelming evidence that not only will nothing come of it but that he will do anything including using the military to ensure it. Game out all plausible scenarios and you’ll find yourself trapped with nothing more than your righteousness to cling to.

Note: That’s it for now. I may have some other points to make later so consider this an ongoing list.

My shirt today (courtesy of my wife) while they were cleaning up the mess on my truck.

What we believe in.

Most see this phrase and think of campsites. They think of nature. It’s a good rule to follow there for sure.

I choose to think that it can apply to more.

Did I leave my house better than when I found it this morning?

Did I leave my kids more loved, more cared for, more seen? What about my wife? My friends?

Did I leave my work in a better position or my task list a bit more manageable?

There is nothing in our lives that could not benefit from the spirit of this motto.

Something I’ve been thinking about for a while yet I’ve not found a “long form essay” way to spell it out so I’ll put my brief and disjointed thoughts here as a place holder and to spur further discussion…

• Culture change is very slow. An event or policy or law may be a trigger — a starting point — but the actual change is a process that often takes generations.

• We often like to believe that an action or a law comes as a result of a societal change. That somehow passing a law makes everything suddenly better. When, in fact, the law is simply a step that is generally near the start of the journey. A road that will take many generations to walk. Also, that road is not a straight line. That journey is a wave. It is often two steps forward and one step back or worse — the converse of that.

• Racism didn’t end with Civil Rights Act of 1964. We are now 3-4 generations past that time and still fighting many of the same fights with things often seemingly getting worse, not better.

• Segregation did not end when Ruby Bridges crossed the threshold of that school. Even with laws in place, we largely in American culture and society still segregate ourselves willingly despite it.

• All culture change is performative… It is all “fake it until you make it”. I would make the argument that most laws and policies are in place to force the faking.

• So, it should be no surprise when a company that was doing DEI way before it was cool can suddenly turn on a dime and decades of DEI policies and practices suddenly disappear or go in reverse. They were faking it all along and, you know what? That’s…

• Well… How it works. That’s how culture change happens. It happens by faking it until it just becomes the thing we do and it has been so long that people have largely forgotten that it wasn’t always this way or look at the way it was as completely abhorrent to who we are as a society and culture now.

Like I said, many of these thoughts are still forming into a more logical “Rhone Unified Theory of Culture Change and Societal Progression” but I’ll leave these here for now and welcome any feedback or further discussion.

Update:

I received a wonderful and important comment on these ideas from someone who wishes to remain anonymous but has allowed me to include it here:.

imo the missing idea here is that people create social change. It does not happen simply because a law was passed, or even that some people decided to fake it for a while. Social change is about the dominant culture changing, and culture only changes because people help other people change their beliefs or actions (or they are replaced in the culture by others). It’s people changing others that creates the change:

There are two types of activists: One who believes their side is right, and therefore banishes anyone who doesn’t yet agree. And one who believes their side is right, and therefore tries to convince anyone who doesn’t yet agree. I’ve lived in both camps. The latter is tougher, but it’s the one that fosters social change.

Of course, it’s never all of the culture that changes. Just the dominant part, the right now part, which is why that can shift over time. You can pass laws or change policies but not complete the necessary social change, and—bam—things can revert in a hurry in response. Faking it isn’t enough; if you’re not changing others (or keeping them changed), then the “other side” can do the work of changing others, and unwind the change they want.