Common Sense

Who are THEY?

THEY say a lot. THEY say if we don’t wear a mask we will get the coronavirus. THEY say if we don’t wear a mask we will give the coronavirus to others. THEY say our flimsy masks cannot filter the virus. THEY say we should avoid social gatherings. THEY say if we wear inadequate face coverings but wash our hands more, we can stop the spread of the coronavirus (okay, THEY didn’t say the inadequate part, but the face coverings are incapable of filtering a virus). 

THEY say an awful lot, but does anyone know who THEY are? All my life I have heard the different things that THEY say about different things. I have always wondered, and asked, everytime someone said THEY say… Who are THEY?

THEY seem to know everything, yet none of us know who THEY are. THEY tell us which foods are best for us, then THEY say the opposite. THEY tell us which cars are the safest, then THEY say there is a recall. THEY tell us to eat more fruits and veggies, then THEY say it is contaminated. THEY say drinking alcohol is dangerous to your health, well, unless you’re 21 years old. THEY say wine is beneficial to your health, but only in the right amounts and THEY know how much is good for you and how much is too much. THEY say you should drink more water, then THEY say the water bottles are destroying the planet. THEY say if we pay a carbon tax we can pollute, but THEY don’t say how tax money paid helps the planet rid itself of the dreaded pollutants. THEY tell us how much sleep we need, then THEY tell us we are sleeping wrong. THEY say electric vehicles will save the planet, but THEY do not mention where the additional electricity load will come from. THEY tell us medicines will help us live longer or a better life, then THEY say those miracle cures were doing more harm than good. THEY say pesticides will help you control pesty insects, then THEY say it pollutes the groundwater. 

The point is, THEY tell us a lot of stuff over the course of our lives. THEY doesn’t always refer to the same person, organization or group, but there sure are a lot of people quoting what THEY say regardless of the validity of the information. Our world is filled with information. It is up to us, as thinking individuals, to take the information available to us and determine if it applies to us, if it truly benefits us and what the possible long term effects might be. Whenever THEY tell you anything, consider the source, consider the implications, consider the underlying agenda and consider the ulterior motives that may be involved.

THEY say a lot, I said that, and no, THEY did not tell me to say it. I am not THEY. Or am I? Are we all?

Jerome Atrick