How society controls us in times of courage

Social psychologists have postulated that the greatest fear of mankind is that of public disapprobation. Yet in truth, few of us will admit to that assertion for want of self-pride. Society can control us either malevolently or benevolently. It all depends on context.

The Purple Heart and Medal of Honor are bestowed upon those who exemplify extraordinary courage on the battlefield. The Medal of Freedom is reserved for our most stellar citizens through their meritorious contributions to the nation. In contextual terms, courageous acts of morality and ethics are not the same as courage on the battlefield. In fact, Robert Kennedy once said, “Moral courage is rarer than courage on the battlefield.” What is moral courage and how does society see it in everyday life?

A seventy-two-year-old man walking up Balboa Avenue in a bathrobe would be stopped by police but the same man in a bathrobe as a Buddhist Monk would go unnoticed. Society fears what society deems as inappropriate, unusual, and outside the norm. Predetermined stereotypes, stigmas, and twisted logic envelope the individual. Creative impulse, truth, and realty are a mere afterthought.

There is a thirty mile per hour speed sign plus multiple warnings to slow down traffic in front of a children’s dance studio on Garnet Avenue. Everyday with impunity, thousands of motorists drive like the mentally insane often exceeding the speed limit by thirty miles per hour. This is society. This is fear of being true to morality by way of the mob. The lone driver who dares defy the mob with civility and reason is cast as a lunatic.

Perhaps the weakest link in present day society, is the advent of the cell phone camera as a weapon in shaming, ostracizing and beating into submission those who differ in so-called normal behavior. Several years ago, I entered a different world of euphoric bliss and happiness. My body and mind were liberated to a degree unimaginable to a society run amok. No laws were broken excepting society’s moral code. I began wearing a yellow thong bikini while riding my Peloton Bike on my driveway in full view of gawking and angry neighbors. Context and my raison d’etre are everything. But all my neighbors could see was five inches of skin below the waist. Can you imagine this absurdity! People would drive by and harass me for years, taking my picture with their ubiquitous cell phones with the intent to shame me into submission. I lived in a hell on earth taking horrible emotional abuse from people with higher education. They would spew epithets and even call me the “N” word. It was the most despicable thing I had ever witnessed in a civil society.

All of my personal travails did not go unnoticed however. A film crew from HBO MAX in New York came to my home. They believed in me and desired to further my cause of a just morality in my quest for personal liberty and happiness. A masterpiece documentary was produced and its debut was this past March. It aired around the world with a resounding vindication of my lifestyle in a yellow thong bikini. Viewers called me from Poland, Finland, Sweden, South America and all fifty states showering me with love and praise. We reached over 8 million viewers worldwide and are being considered for an Emmy nomination. I have even profited financially with another film offer this August costarring with Irish American Actor John Cusac in Oklahoma City. Hundreds of magazines, newspapers, podcasts, and television shows across the nation have interviewed me. I have done over 300 videos on Cameo. A star is born. Be true to yourself. Never capitulate to a society when you stand on the right side of history. At first the emotional pain is unbearable than you enter into the promised land and stand with the titans who suffered your same fate before you. No amount of formal education can overcome moral courage. Just be yourself!

Danny