Changing my mind

It is rare that we change our minds about fundamental beliefs.

For some, change can’t happen because our beliefs can be, understandably, an important part of our self-identity. Remove the source of someone’s political, philosophical, or spiritual faith, and internal crisis can strike.

Others simply don’t pause to think long enough or hard enough.

The last year, many of my assumptions about the way the world works have been pushed to the brink of annihilation. 

A quick example. I’ve always been an intensely patriotic person. I love America and have never been shy to share that I believe it to be the greatest country on earth.

To some extent, that is still largely true.

On the other hand, I’m more inclined to believe now that America as it was intended by our Founding Fathers was the greatest country on earth. We are a far cry from that today.

We have an ever-growing Federal government promoting poison in our foods (seed oils), subsidizing drug companies that benefit only from our sickness (“free” COVID vaccines), casually manipulating our most critical marketplace (the market of money, via the Federal Reserve), taxing citizens at every turn (income, property, sales, estate taxes, licenses, etc.), operating the largest Ponzi scheme ever devised by man (Social Security), and wading into dangerous water around a conflict (Russia-Ukraine) that, practically speaking, doesn’t involve us, but does benefit the some massive lobbyists – the military industrial complex.

I don’t suspect George Washington or Thomas Jefferson or Alexander Hamilton or others who risked their lives for a freer nation – a government by the People and for the People – would approve.

My allegiance to America “because we are the greatest” has wavered.

I am still grateful for what freedom we have, though it is less than most people believe.

I am still grateful for the people who have fought to allow me a better life.

I even still believe, generally, that America has been predominantly on the right side of history. But I anticipate that this has become more of a gray area, and that we aren’t headed in the right direction.

This has been a massive shift for me. I was the American flag-waving, Fourth of July-celebrating, “‘Merica”-shouting”, patriot that would simply shrug some of these major imperfections off.

Some reading and podcast listening and research has begun to change that over the last year.

My point isn’t that the conclusions I’ve reached are right. It’s that changing your mind is hard. 

Sometimes, though, it is worth the identity crisis or pausing to think long and hard about something.

Don’t gloss over questioning your big beliefs. Sink your teeth into them and come up with the best answers you can.