Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    13 Things You Can Do That Are Better Than Your Moral Outrage On Social Media That Will Also Make the World a Better Place
    13 Things You Can Do That Are Better Than Your Moral Outrage On Social Media That Will Also Make the World a Better Place
    13 Things You Can Do That Are Better Than Your Moral Outrage On Social Media That Will Also Make the World a Better Place
    Ebook149 pages2 hours

    13 Things You Can Do That Are Better Than Your Moral Outrage On Social Media That Will Also Make the World a Better Place

    By J. Matt Wallace

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Believe it or not, it's possible to make a positive difference on the world. While some are happy to spend their time proclaiming moral superiority or expressing outrage over another person's behavior, others would rather use that time to make the world a better place. This commentary provides some common sense options that are easy to understand, but often challenging to implement. If you want to improve the state of the world, this is a great place to start.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateDec 1, 2018
    ISBN9781543953886
    13 Things You Can Do That Are Better Than Your Moral Outrage On Social Media That Will Also Make the World a Better Place

    Related to 13 Things You Can Do That Are Better Than Your Moral Outrage On Social Media That Will Also Make the World a Better Place

    Related ebooks

    Personal Growth For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A Message To The Class Of 2020

      May 17, 2020

      A Message To The Class Of 2020
      6 min read

    • Article

      LAPTOP Love

      Feb 12, 2022

      LAPTOP Love
      9 min read

    • Article

      LAPTOP Love

      Feb 12, 2022

      LAPTOP Love
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Hierarchy Of Clicks

      Dec 20, 2023

      The Hierarchy Of Clicks
      3 min read

    • Article

      LAPTOP Love

      Feb 12, 2022

      LAPTOP Love
      9 min read

    • Article

      Agony Uncle

      Aug 14, 2022

      Agony Uncle
      3 min read

    • Article

      Lindsay Hunter Is Redrawing the Boundaries of Crime Fiction

      Jan 18, 2024

      "I believe in breaks, in fallow periods, in getting one’s bearings. But reading is my constant. I feel bereft in those brief moments between books." The post Lindsay Hunter Is Redrawing the Boundaries of Crime Fiction appeared first on The Millions.

      7 min read

    • Article

      How To Date Like It’s 1958

      Feb 10, 2021

      My therapist was talking about a game. Seated on the plush cream sofa in her office, eyes damp and stinging, I didn’t get what her gaming hobby had to do with me. “You see, Courtney, I enjoy playing and talking to the people I game with, but when it’

      7 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Thomas Beckwith

      Dec 15, 2018

      I found myself overwhelmed by the need to stop talking, by my sense that everything is now terribly, terribly loud. The post A Year in Reading: Thomas Beckwith appeared first on The Millions.

      3 min read

    • Article

      How to Be a Writer on Social Media: Advice from Roxane Gay, Alexander Chee, Celeste Ng, and Adam M. Grant

      Jul 10, 2017

      Before social media became the juggernaut it is today, countless authors were skeptical about how it could be, for lack of a better word, useful. Wouldn’t tweeting just be a time-suck? How could Facebook be anything but trivial? By now, most authors

      8 min read

    • Article

      How To Survive Twitter

      Jul 27, 2023

      WHEN PEOPLE ASK ABOUT THE repercussions of publicly refusing to believe in gender identity, the first thing they usually raise is the nastiness of social media. How, they wonder, do the abuse, pile-ons and occasional death threats feel? I flippantly

      5 min read

    • Article

      Is Any Conflict Unsolvable? This Author Doesn’t Think So.

      May 19, 2021

      In her book “High Conflict,” Amanda Ripley explores how forces that stoke conflict cast our adversaries as less than human. But there is a way out.

      6 min read

    • Article

      Why We Write

      Aug 12, 2020

      AND WHY WE STOP THIS kind of thing used to thrill me—a few dozen writers huddled in a dark bar, taking turns at the mic, hooting and cheering one another afterward. I could sense the way it felt to most of them—nourishing, holy, the air charged with

      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for 13 Things You Can Do That Are Better Than Your Moral Outrage On Social Media That Will Also Make the World a Better Place

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      13 Things You Can Do That Are Better Than Your Moral Outrage On Social Media That Will Also Make the World a Better Place - J. Matt Wallace

      Nullification

      WHY & HOW TO READ THIS

      I appreciate you reading this. With all of the amazing things that are available to us, your decision to even start this book is pretty significant. So, thanks!

      A good friend of mine recently was doing an on-line seminar discussing some things he has learned from years of counseling and study. My wife and I watched it, and I was struck by some of the profound truths he was unveiling for us. I use the word unveiling because I am quite sure we would not have come up with these insights without his help. That kind of new insight and thinking is really quite special. Authors and speakers who do that should be praised and compensated, so that they will keep doing that.

      Why am I bringing this up? Well, I do not put myself in the same category as my friend. What you will find in this book should be things you already know, at least, know in part. My hope is to illuminate some solid ideas and encourage you towards some common sense action. This raw list of 13 Things probably wouldn’t convey things effectively, since people can take the same information so many different ways. Therefore, this entire first chapter is about preparing you with context and background.

      You will hear this a couple of different ways throughout the book, but it is safe to say that these ideas are not new, but actually doing them can take effort. I hope to encourage you that the effort is worth it. This book may also provide you with a way to encourage others. That way it is not you telling them to change their ways; it’s a book that some other person wrote. My guess is that they know this stuff already, as well. Maybe you and I together can encourage them.

      Let’s be clear. I don’t have any formal titles, degrees or awards that would lead you to think that I am qualified to write this book. I don’t pretend to be a great writer or even a good one. I’m just a guy who offers a few things to consider. My hope is that you will read this, and the truthfulness of what is to follow will stand on its own. The list and its concepts will either come through as worth reading and pursuing or they will not. Actually, not being well known as an author should help ensure there are no silly external reasons for you to listen to any of this. Maybe. Only you can help me test this hypothesis.

      Truth be known, there are some who might say that our current culture seems to have a bit of a bias against listening to someone like me. I’m not sure if that’s true, but how could that be? Why? Well, let’s see. I’m old. I’m white. And I’m a guy. Even worse, I’m from the crazy (awesome) state of Texas. Finally, I would categorize myself as having a foundation in conservative principles. But there’s a big ‘but’ following that description. Some might say it’s a HUGE but. You can use your best Trump impression when saying huge if it amuses you. Please do! Here it is. BUT please be very careful to not assume that I am a stereotype of whatever you may guess are my leanings. I’ll give it to you that some of your assumptions may be correct. Just don’t assume too much. I request that you read what is written as objectively as possible. If you’re the combative or competitive type, then I challenge you. Please just read.

      In reality, I would consider myself progressive in my general approach to life with those conservative-leaning roots. Unfortunately, during the normal course of history, perfectly good words are sometimes hijacked, and I have grown to appreciate that I may not be allowed to use progressive in that particular way. Simply put, I might start from places that most would consider conservative, but I am all about changing things to make them better. In other words, you would find me not particularly fond of either of the two predominant political parties currently traipsing around the USA. Neither top political party seems to be interested in actually changing anything that might undermine their existing influence and income streams. Even so, I’m not really interested in making this book political. From time to time, some of my examples might tread on topics that are usually political or discuss people that are polarizing. But if you are careful in reading for my intent, I hope you’ll see that the points being made are not intended to push one political agenda over another.

      Even without political goals, I will have to admit there might be inadvertent traces here and there. Forgive me, and please know that making some political statement is not the intentional goal here. So if, in the course of reading this book, you are not sure about what I am trying to communicate at any point, please just assume it is not consciously politically motivated. Unfortunately, at least some of the people I hope would benefit from this list of 13 THINGS may be the same people who seem to want to make everything political. As you work through this book, I hope it will become clear that I would advise people against seeing everything through a political lens, even though I don’t overtly say that or talk in political terms. But, alas, one cannot make people change. One can only share what one will and possibly give others new and better reasons to make the decision for themselves. Or at least, that is what I think I believe.

      So, in case you missed it, my hope is that no one will make this book and the 13 THINGS political. If I have somehow done this, I’m sorry. I have tried to do my part. Now, it’s your turn. Please do not interject politics into this book where it is not stated or written. Hopefully, this important disclaimer and serious request will get us started in a good and helpful direction. Let’s begin.

      First, it’s important for you to know that this list will not hold up well if read out of context. Most lists have this problem. Therefore, this chapter is all about preparing you to ingest the list of 13 THINGS. To compound things, I admit that most people would characterize my writing style as wordy. I promise I have gladly utilized outside professional help to minimize this tendency. At the same time, every word and phrase is in here for a reason – at least in my way of thinking. Part of this approach is solely trying to make my points more conversational along the lines of how I would speak it. Many have confirmed that they can hear me saying some of the awkward sentences to come and they communicate what I want to convey in the manner that I would. This approach is for better or for worse.

      Let me offer the following less selfish or lazy reasoning for my approach to writing. As I take the advice of some of the professional writers I have studied, some of them have made it a point to encourage new writers to not let the editing process completely rob them of their unique voice. Edit yes. Fundamentally restructure, hopefully not. That is the tension, and it is most definitely real. So, if necessary, forgive me for my writing style, and please stay with me. If you happen to enjoy how I write, that will be encouraging for me to hear sometime in the future. Either way, this initial chapter should help you approach my 13 THINGS list in the correct context and mentality.

      MY PERSPECTIVE

      I am proud and blessed to be an American. Pointing this out is not an issue of patriotic pride. Yes, I do feel patriotic in appropriate and humble ways. And, yes, I just called my pride humble. And, no, It’s not really a pride thing. It’s really about context. My hope is that this short work will apply to people everywhere. However, I do feel compelled to acknowledge that this perspective may apply best to the culture for which it is written - my own.

      One thing I will do repeatedly in his book is make a comment on how I assume some of you will read or possibly interpret my word selection or examples offered. When my assumptions are correct, I hope that my follow up will address relevant issues. Otherwise, please consider my comments as bonus and not to distract from the primary points in the 13 THINGS. Here’s an example of what I’m trying to address.

      My guess is that at least a few people reading the first sentence in this section of MY PERSPECTIVE might have reacted to me identifying myself as an American. Why? Well, it is true that I was born on the North American continent. But, the way I used this sentence is in fact referring to myself as a citizen of the United States of America. People correctly point out that US citizens do not have the right to claim the title of American as theirs alone. I agree. And yet, I still used it that way. That kind of dissonance is part of who I am. My tendency is to acknowledge the function, intent, and possible benefits of more politically correct word choice. Simultaneously, I am constantly trying to find a balance and not being a slave to the heightened sensitivities to word selection that I am encountering in our society.

      So, in the spirit of this ongoing tension, I left that initial sentence in this text as it was initially written just so that I could use it as a talking point. The use of American is not to make a point of itself, but it serves as an example of the kinds of things that will creep into any honest dialogue. In this case, I would call it a mistake. You might agree with me and label it as a forgivable slip. Or you might label it as a grave and deeply hurtful gaff. You might have not even noticed it. Regardless, my hope is that you will acknowledge that these types of things find their way into discourse. When we allow such things to become the main point, I believe that we all suffer. Anyone who might retort, But that IS the main point needs to be reminded that they actually need to add three key words to their statement. They should say that In my opinion, that is the main point. In my opinion, when someone is speaking or writing, they should be able to designate their own main point. In this case, in this book, the main point is the list — a list of 13

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1