Ant Trap

All summer I have had an ant trap in my kitchen. Hundreds of ants killed yet they keep coming. Last week I decided to take away the ant trap because it is trending towards Fall. Next Summer I am thinking about not having an ant trap out at all.  

Here is why: I am suspicious that the ant trap attracts ants that otherwise would not come to the kitchen, that they would stay outside. Maybe 90% of them. The ant trap doesn't kill the ants immediately. Instead, it takes time and allows the ants to communicate that there is an apparent food fountain in my kitchen. A Death Pool more like.  

This has a parallel to social media. I know I have been on a jag recently about this but I am trying to figure out how to respond to ignorant and uneducated comments on social media by the hordes of smart asses, both Right and Left.Who are brazenly confident in their obvious ignorance to anyone who has any amount of real learning about a topic.

Some dude commented yesterday that my B.A. in Political Science must be "meaningless" because I pointed out that the Iroquois Confederation was an inspiration for our federal form of government. That is not my opinion, this is a well-documented historical fact. My initial comment was to a snarky Matt Walsh tweet posted on the College Fix Facebook page asking about historical contributions of Native Americans (in light of Columbus Day). So, I pointed out one...

Let me step back a bit and explain what drives my proclivity to engage such statements: Silence is interpreted as assent by these people. So, either someone who happens to know better says something or these individuals applaud their apparent superiority. 

Being of fairly recent German ancestry (my dad's parents immigrated to the U.S. after WW I) I am well aware of what happens when lies and fabrications are allowed to replicate like a COVID virus in the fat cells of the lazy body politic. It goes undeterred until the organs of sanity shut down. 

So, do I keep the social media trap out?

My new policy is still to respond. But if a commenter is out and out insulting, derides my education and  knowledge incessantly, and crows aout how damn smart they are (usually implied) I just block the person and hide the comment. Maybe I should  leave the ant trap out and let them chomp away until their belly full of poison explodes. I am usually able to silence all but the most shameless of the crowd. But then I worry some unhinged psychopath or sociopath tracks me down and puts a bullet in my head.

These modern day Brown Shirts are all to willing to use violence when all else fails. So, it seems like a no-win situation. But, I will continue to take the insults and abuse (I rarely reciprocate unless the person is a 100% Trumper. Ridicule is the only legit response. Nothing else shus them up). I see it as my civic duty.