•  

With your permission, may I take a moment to scare off a few liberal antagonists? 

 Trump.

Now then, we can settle in together, share some thoughts, and have some fun.

People of conscience, maturity, character, morality, sincerity and a decent work ethic are surrounded these days by what the brilliantly predictive mind of Dr. M. Scott Peck revealed as “People of the Lie.”

These negative, nasty, and narcistic manipulators are dominating our society with the tenacity of hungry snapping turtles. 

Like any self-respecting demon bent on dark mischief, they are cloaked in smiles, pretense, and confidence.

These folks can be spotted in two ways – their behavior and their eyes.

“You shall know them by their deeds” is a dependable Biblical truism.

Forget their words. Focus on their actions – not what they say they’re doing, but what they’re really doing.

The eyes? Look closely and you will see that most have what I call “dead eyes.” Their face may smile, but their eyes are dull.

Mind if I spotlight a few of this fear, cheer and tear crowd?

People who haven’t defeated their demons (tear) — We live in a time where obnoxious virtue signaling enablers are more prevalent than this summer’s cicada population. Sorry guys, it’s not that easy. To be truly good, you have to do battle with your dark side. Angry, negative, critical, violent, and obsessive people demonstrate they are not even in that fight.

The pharmaceutical industry (cheer) — Don’t you just love those medication commercials? People with their grandchildren in a sunshiny park romping like newborn colts. That’s right before the ad tells you, “In rare cases CONISON can trigger cancer, heart attacks, brain erosion and testicular atrophy.” Their target audience is not physicians – it’s those who think we can cheat mother nature with man-made fairy dust.

The dollar over quality crowd (tear) — Once upon a time in America we prioritized quality. Today it’s about money. How many refrigerators, heat pumps, hot water heaters, mattresses and the like have prematurely failed on you? They know how to make all these things last a long time, but don’t — and it’s not because you and I are unwilling to pay for quality. It’s because built in obsolescence generates dollars for the super-rich, bean counters and MBA’s shallowly running America.

Political hacks (cheer) — Though cynics exist in all political parties, nobody does it better than the Democrat Party. What they did with The Big Man (adult protective services should have been called in on his inauguration) and Kamala (the depth of a plastic kiddy pool) is nothing short of remarkable.

NATO and Europe (fear) — By now you’ve heard the Atlantic chorus boldly declaring “America is no longer a dependable ally.” That’s code for we are no longer willing to feed their economies with one-sided tariffs; defend their countries at the expense of our budgets and young; or pretend that their crazy immigration policies and betrayal of the liberties and futures of their citizenry is European sophistication. At least for now, they’re half right. Under Trump, we’re no longer a dependable dupe.

Walmart (tear) — The Chinese Communist Party’s primary marketing outlet is warning they’re going to dramatically raise prices. This on top of self-checkout, already raised prices, dirty stores, and nobody to help you. We’ll survive being unable to afford things we mostly don’t need.

 Nightly news (fear) — If you like being informed, please carefully choose your news sources. Most are just liberal propaganda outlets (yes, that includes WLOS and The Citizen-Times) doing their dead level best to scare you to death so you’ll come back for more. When fear doesn’t work, poking your anger, victim or entitlement button also serves nicely.

Entitlement addicts (cheer) — Whether it’s those who delight in milking their fellow man or politicians who delight in manipulating voters, making people dependent on government is all the rage. Making people dependent on the least dependable thing in the world is wicked. Look at the growing wealth of our two favorite socialistic politicians – Bernie and AOC – for the truth behind this snookery.

The rich (tear) — To their credit, there are come leaders who want the ultra-wealthy to pony up. Hell hath no fury like the Republicans and Democrats alike declaring this will “kill the job creators.” Businesses and companies create most jobs. That’s why the effort to reduce our business tax is good business. The personal income of gazzillionaires is another matter. Any cursory look at the economic demographics of today’s America versus earlier periods of middle-class fulfillment demonstrates we have sacrificed our fairness equation. 

Illegal drugs (tear) — It’s fascinating how many people can’t function without getting high. Illegal “not-weed” weed outlets are winked at all over town. Anything else you want is available and usually with home delivery. Why? Because the number of teachers, politicians, attorneys, community leaders and voters who use drugs assures that nothing is done.

What’s a good person to do? The same thing good and noble people have always done. Accept your minority status and stand for what’s decent and right versus easy and convenient.

Delta-8 and Kratom don’t qualify.

 •

Conserve [v. kuhn-surv] To use or manage wisely; preserve, save...

•

Carl Mumpower is a practicing psychologist and former member of Asheville City Council. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .