By Douglas V. Gibbs
The opponents of President Donald J. Trump want you to accept what they say, believe what they claim, and hate Donald Trump without knowing anything except what they are screaming. When we ask an enemy of President Trump “why” they feel the way they do, they can yell a few surface answers, but they have no deep understanding. They don’t know the context regarding the situation that made them mad in the first place. Of course, they don’t know the context. Destroying the context is one of the most effective tools used by the leftwing bloviators the mindless screamers are listening to. They deny history, deny the original intent of the U.S. Constitution, pull down statues, change the names of anything that reminds us of history, and they’ve even gone so far as to seek to exterminate anything that reminds us of the history of Indians in our land claiming cultural appropriation as their excuse. They don’t want you to know the whole picture. If you understand the context, you will recognize the folly of their positions.
Navigating the world without context is like a naval vessel navigating the oceans without a Quartermaster (navigator) and without a set of rules for the crew to follow. Those rules, the nautical charts, and the understanding of different potential weather conditions and pathways are necessary to ensure the vessel follows a reasonably planned course and does so safely and effectively. Without context the crew is unable to recognize obstacles, take advantage of the currents and winds and other phenomenon that may assist, and properly aim for the desired destination.
Context is the structure – the frame within which we interpret reality. It tells us what things signify. It helps us discern truth from deception and profundity from triviality. Fundamentally, people crave order. We want to know where we stand, what our responsibilities are, and how to aim our efforts effectively toward something worth pursuing.
Our culture and society have been shaped by history and individual experience. An expression verbalized by a person is not simply arbitrary symbols strung together. The components of each word communicated carry layers of meaning – shaped by history, investigative research, culture and our experiences in various situations. Sentences spoken in isolation might mean something utterly different from similar sentences spoken in the midst of a heated debate. If we don’t account for the various factors that make up the context we will operate at only a fraction of our potential understanding. All of the context is important, and to deny some of the context of a situation is a dangerous place to be. When people fail to understand context, they become susceptible to manipulation.
Context allows us to build competence. We can’t just do things – we must understand why we are doing them, how they fit into a broader structure, and where doing those things might lead. When we grasp the context of history and our endeavors today we are no longer blindly reacting to the world – we begin to engage in a meaningful and powerful way. Rather than being reactive to everything we encounter, we become responsive.
To operate effectively, be it individuals or entire societies, we must develop the ability to see the entire picture, not just isolated fragments. We need to recognize the framework that gives meaning to what might otherwise look like chaos. Without context, we are lost, unmoored, and unable to guide our lives through the waters we journey through nor locate and arrive at the destinations we desire.
This political battle we find ourselves in, among other things, is about context – understanding the Common Sense Revolution begun by President Donald Trump when he grabbed the tiller of the United States with the intent to navigate the country through treacherous waters back to greatness and prosperity. History, the Constitution, and looking at the complete picture is necessary to understand the context of what President Trump has been attempting to accomplish, and from there we can then reasonably make our decisions about what we see and if President Trump’s actions are a positive or a negative for the United States in the grand scheme of things. We must understand that the global waters he is navigating are perilous because of a world convinced that it must embrace Marxism and stand against any American leader who refuses to assist the world in placing hurdles and barriers in the way of America’s best interests.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
