It is what it isn't

My daughter told me I was negative last time. This world can’t be that bad. Where is the good? My 30 thoughts were about what I see coming in 2019. In the end, I realized that I am a realist. It is what it is. I am a lacrosse fan. My team has a terrible coach. Is he really? The last three years have been 8-10. This year we are 3-2. Yet the two losses are at home. 8-10 is a distinct possibility. I’m a realist. It is what it looks like.

            Recently a law suit has emerged in America. (go figure). However, this one is interesting. Canada Dry sells its pop product in America too. They claim to be made with real ginger. It’s called ginger ale. At the top of the can it says “made with real ginger.” What came out of this was two things. One, there was relatively no ginger in the pop. Two, the language from the company suggested that ginger was present. Also, that it was a healthy choice in drink because of its ginger content. The company says the advertising was taken the wrong way.

            It is what it isn’t. Conversely it is what it is too. It is false advertising. Should we believe them? Should we trust the government to protect us? First of all, government is corrupt. All government? No, but more than enough. Are companies lying? No all, but more than enough. I started looking through the stores. A cheese puff bag says it’s made with real cheese. An orange juice label says made with real orange juice. It is what’s it’s not. Canada Dry is not the only liar out there. Is a bag of cheese puffs good for you because it says it’s made with real cheese?

            To me it’s like this. We can dump all the sexual misconduct claims together. All the big ones and little ones. What I fear is that a hand on the bum is now as serious as rape. It is what it isn’t. If we choose to go down the road of false advertising. Expect more government. The issue of misleading claims on packages is bigger than we can swallow. I worry that bigger government is the goal of government. It’s a bad idea to demand it. I fear rape is becoming smaller and misconduct is getting bigger. It’s becoming less and less about the victim and more about the movement.

            What does God have to say? Actually, God says a lot. He mentions tilted scales. He mentions false Christ’s. He also mentions not letting the left hand know what the right is doing. All of these things, and more, in Gods word point towards two things. One is that we should be looking and aware. People cannot play dumb. The Nazi party was active years before they took power. The people cannot play dumb on that one. Two is that God expects honesty. He never expects good government or powers at be. He does expect people who own businesses to be honest. He does expect people to play a role in integral community, government, and companies.

            It is what it isn’t. We should be protected by a health, food, and drug agency. However, there are millions of health, food, and drug items on the market. Did they all begin as safe and honest? Possibly they did. How can a government monitor millions of items? The answer is they can’t. Lucky for them we have consumers. We need to call these liars out. We need to take notice and do what’s right.

            Canada Dry was wrong. Now we know. I can see the labels. I need to be less stupid about what I’m told to believe. How to buy smart? First of all, buy less processed food. Call out companies and their false advertising. I have no problem starting a movement towards better honesty in companies. Just realize it might involve bigger government. It might become more about the movement and less about safety.

Back to my original thought. Is government corrupt? The leaders say no. It is what it isn’t. Isn’t it? Do we want more laws, controls, taxes, and restrictions? The answer is yes and no. it is a good idea to regulate. It isn’t a good idea to have bigger government. Something is needed. Yet, cooler heads need to prevail. To the problem of honesty in our products and actions, we need something. What is the best policy? It is right to go down this path, but I fear it isn’t.

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