Sunday Evening Thoughts

Today I posted a funny, but serious, meme on my IG page, talking about how there will be loads of people who will begin to instantly get on the concealed OWB bandwagon.  This was made in jest as I am probably going to be buying the RCS Perun OWB Glock holster when it comes out, specifically so that I can test it against the Blade Tech Total Eclipse and give both a thorough testing/review after using them for a bit of time.  I knew that people will take this funny, but serious, post negatively.  All well known companies/people have followings, and those followers are, by their very nature emotional.  I know this, they know this, but yet it does not stop people from having an emotional response to certain things.  Of course a bunch of people commented on the post, which is to be expected, some expressing concerns about perceived issues publicly, some DM'ing/emailing me directly to have a more serious conversation about the topic.  Though, someone decided it would be in their best interest to troll and bait me into an argument over something I have very little concern about. 

"...but you are writing a post about it?"

I almost got baited into an argument on IG over something which is not up for debate, but it seems that people in the 2A/gun/tactical industry do this on the regular, especially on the internet.  Once in a blue moon I see disagreements on the range and/or during a class, usually the person who has the most experience and/or the instructor quells it fairly easily.  The internet is, of course, anonymous and even though some people use their real names or post from company accounts, they seem to not understand that out of all industries in the US, this one is supposed to be the pinnacle of ethical and moral standards.  I would not go to a porn star convention and expect to have a serious conversation about monogamist relationships based in faith, and if they were to arise I would not believe the porn star speaking about it.  Yet there are people in the industry who are quick to take your money, but slow to conduct themselves in an ethical and moral way.  Ethical business practices, moral conversations with mutual interests are disregarded for those who can one up the other person, who can peacock the best, or who can attempt to "win" at something (an argument or otherwise), especially if they tens of thousands of bought IG followers.

If you frequent this site you know that I post, from time to time, about my personal experiences within the industry/about companies/people.  Seeing the way certain people/companies conduct themselves in this industry is completely underwhelming and missing the goal by more than just a few yards.  In my opinion it is unacceptable and the moment someone in the industry drops to a level of unethical conduct they should instantly be called out and ridiculed.  We should all share a common goal to further the development in the industry through innovation, mutual respect and cooperation for the community goal of making each other better people, more dangerous adversaries since many items in this industry are specifically designed to keep people alive either by direct action or by proxy.  We should be taking this seriously, not arguing about something on social media because an emotional reaction could not be contained.  

I almost slipped today.  Almost, but thankfully I caught myself.  After rereading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius recently, I can say that he was someone who knew far more truths about self control and discovery than many modern "experts" and he lived a very long time ago, far before our current predicament.  We should strive to be better people, not just for ourselves, but for our respective communities.  We should expect more from ourselves.  Arguing over pointless thing on social media is not going to get us there.