Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/585465
6 OCTOBER 14-20, 2015 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM "What's it all about, Alfie? Is it just for the moment we live?" As the old song goes, I had a long conversation with Alfie and he explained the meaning of life to me. Accordingly, like Ricky Ricardo once told Lucy, I got some 'splaining to do to you, gentle reader. Alfie says that "Yes, it is just for the moment we live." Once that issue is settled, it is easier to figure out what's it all about. I am a recent newcomer to the curious world of Facebook. Young folks have abandoned Facebook, leaving it to the old people to work out their political hostilities leavened only by cute pictures of cats and puppies. After spending time with Facebook, I have come to realize that Facebook is like a simpler version of all Gaul. Facebook is divided into two parts instead of three. There is no middle ground or Middle Earth on Facebook. You either love the President or hate the President. You either think the answer to mass killings is no guns or more guns. The Tea Party will save America with its patriotism or destroy America with its burning desire to shut down the government. It's like Johnny Mercer's lyric, "Don't mess with Mr. In Between." There is no room for compromise on Facebook. Can opposites be true at the same time? Being puzzled by the schizophrenic quality of Facebook politics, I retrieved my file of quotations to try to make sense of it all. Herein follows an avalanche of aphorisms guaranteed to satisfy no one. If you want to be satisfied, stop reading and go get a barbecue sandwich. Ponder an offering from our old friend and eternal optimist Frederick Nietzsche. Fred cleared it up saying, "There are no facts. Only interpretations." The Left and the Right can look at the same situation and come up with diametrically opposed interpretations. Is Hillary really the anti-Christ or will she save us from President Donald Trump? Is Kim Davis Satan's spawn bigot or a Joan of Arc religious martyr? On Facebook, you get to spew political venom on your friends from either the Left or the Right depending on your interpretation. Fred foresaw Facebook when he wrote: "Insanity in individuals is something rare — but in groups, parties, nations and epochs it is the rule." The alchemy of Facebook brings out the insanity in people. It is quite colorful to watch. Willie Yeats addressed the lack of a middle ground in his poem, 'The Second Coming," in which he noted, "Things fall apart: the center cannot hold;/Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world;/... The best lack all conviction, while the worst/ Are full of passionate intensity." There is a large, smelly heap of political passionate intensity piling up daily on Facebook. The rigid political statements by Left and Right do not tend to convince the other side. Upton Sinclair predicted this when he wrote, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." Jonathan Swift hit the same note writing, "It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he wasn't reasoned into." Facebook politics are like road rage and instant coffee. Just add water and poof: angry words roll out of the keyboard like floods in downtown Charleston. Instant anger boils over due to some imagined slight. That guy cut me off when he pulled into my lane. I have to run him off the road to preserve my manhood. My childhood friend's opinion about Syrian immigration is insane. I don't want to have anything to do with him ever again. Let us toss out years of friendship like a baby with the bath water. My theory of dealing with Facebook politics comes from Mark Twain who said, "Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference." In order to keep my friends of both political persuasions I read their screens but quickly forget their postings. I like my friends more than their politics. So far, I have been able to keep most of my friends despite Facebook. It's a talent. As Tennessee Williams once said, "What is talent but the ability to get away with something?" If you can be on Facebook and keep your friends, you have talent. Let us close with a thought from Tennessee Williams, "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go." I go now, my absence thus creating happiness. For Whom the Facebook Tolls by PITT DICKEY PITT DICKEY, Columnist. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910.484.6200. • As a full service dealer we have over 50 trailer units for sale in various sizes, colors and options for any of your hauling needs. • Elite dealer for Forest River Trailers as well as other brands like dump, enclosed, pull behind and many more. 910-424-7660 910-424-7660 needs. Est. 2011 www.diamondtrailersales.com • We also have trailer tires available for your trailer needs. Bring in this ad or mention it to receive