A blog about random nonsense

Like most in the country the senseless killing of Charlie Kirk has weighed heavy on my mind. As if death isn't enough, I've seen the reactions online and been saddened even more. Sometimes I think the country has numbed to this kind of violence. The average person moved straight to criticism. Is it not enough to simply mourn a man's death? Is it not enough to just be upset and angry that this sort of thing happens? Unsure what I might write about this, the word that kept crossing my mind was... intolerance.

As a society, it seems we've become increasingly intolerant. Republicans are intolerant of Democrats and vice versa. Viewpoints are dismissed if they don't align with our own. Very often we don't take the time to try to understand the roots of where "the other side" is coming from. They're just labeled as crazy, immoral, ignorant, etc. It's human nature to compartmentalize - especially things we don't understand. Followers of Charlie Kirk connected with the man on a deeply personal level. He spoke to them in a way that legitimized how they felt about a range of topics. He made people feel more human about how they saw the world - and that's ok even if you didn't agree with him. He worked within the constraint of how a large percentage of Americans understand the world around them. If you didn't agree with Charlie, that's also ok. There are many public speakers and influential characters that I'm sure will align with your views.

The point I'm trying to get at is... We live in a very diverse society. Not everyone thinks like you and that doesn't make them wrong necessarily. With enough dialog, you may even come to understand someone with different viewpoints as your own - even if you don't agree with them. Keep the dialog open, but forget the intolerance. You don't have to agree with everyone but at least allow them their views. It's no one's job to "convert" anyone to "your side." We get ourselves in trouble when we start thinking "I'll show them how foolish they are!" It doesn't work. It never works. The best we can do is attempt to understand why someone has the other viewpoint and say "duly noted." In this humble writer's opinion, that's the only way we truly avoid turning every issue into a war and it's the only way we'll ever find common ground.

This is not so much a post as just a blurb and a bit hypocritical really. These days I find myself thinking about life before the internet a lot. I tend to be a bit nostalgic in many ways. It's part of how I cope with the modern realities of societal dysfunction. I suppose we all yearn for a better, simpler time.

This post is hypocritical because I'm typing this on the internet as we speak and I'm a web developer professionally. Like everyone else, I rely on technology in my personal and professional life but I do miss my "analog days." Still, I firmly believe there's value in pre-internet tech and older ways of doing things.

So again, what would you be doing without the internet today? You may spend more time with your family, call someone on the phone, read, write, play music - who knows? With the absolute trash that exists online these days, nearly anything would be better than doomscrolling. Let's do it!

Before you read any content on this site, it may be of benefit to know a thing or two about me. My name is Devin Williams. I live in Humble, TX with my wife and two (adult) children. I was born in Port Arthur, TX and raised in Nederland, TX. I'm a software developer by trade and primarily work with Python and Javascript for web development. I'm a middle-aged Gen X'er who - quite frankly - struggles with the world I find myself in at the time of this writing.

There are a few things you may need to know about me before pre-judging anything I may write here. I am not particularly liberal or conservative. I'm independent of a political party. I'm ambidexterous. I'm neither predominantly left-brained or right-brained. I'm strongly ADHD if not mildly autistic. I'm saying these things to help the reader understand that I'm open to new ideas and at least attempt not to fall for modern propaganda. I suspect I don't think quite like the average person.

In this age we find ourselves in, most would consider me to lean liberal. That is to say, I still have empathy for others - even people I don't know. I still believe there's value in the human emotion we call empathy. I see it as a strength - not a weakness. I don't consider money, power and status to be the goal of every move I make. I refuse to cede my own personal sovereignty to any individual person or entity.

In some ways, I'm a walking contradiction. I'm a computer programmer, but I kind-of hate them - or at least the way they've come to consume our lives. I want to see progress in the world, but believe there's room for tradition. I despise the way modern politics have turned into a knee-jerk reality TV show drama, but I tend to be glued to it anyway. I have a damaged, goofy arthritic back but I'm into fitness. I love my family and my family life but lament that I stay busy all the time at work, commuting or working on broken things around the house.

Enough about me. Just don't take anything I say here too seriously. I'm just a slightly old guy rambling on a blog about nonsense. I doubt much of what I write here will be read anyway. If you do wind up reading what I post though I hope you enjoy it. In the future, I'll create a forum for discussion if anyone has commentary or wants to discuss anything further.