Objective Jerk
Catholic Army Veteran, uses MIC / Platform as a form of "Therapy", no schedule, no script, no pressure.
Objective Jerk
JESUS OVER ALGORITHMS: Reshaping My Digital Life
I'm working to break free from social media addiction and political obsession by refocusing on my Catholic faith and what truly matters in life.
• Struggling with smartphone notifications and the constant pull to check social media platforms
• Finding certainty in Catholicism after exploring various religious traditions including Protestantism and Islam
• Shifting away from political content consumption to focus more on spiritual growth
• Observing generational differences between my desire for independence as a teen versus my son's contentment
• Discussing the Portland coffee shop controversy where neutrality was misinterpreted as discrimination
• Reflecting on how America's political pendulum swings while faith provides consistent grounding
Turn off those notifications, focus on your personal relationship with God, and remember that the political drama is temporary but faith endures.
Again, thanks for hanging out with me!
Please feel free to comment or send an email to theobjectivejerk@gmail.com
What's going on? It's the Objective Jerk, that jerk. How's everybody doing? Hope, everybody is doing well, and you know, having good times going to work, making money, paying bills, living life, going to church If you don't believe in church, then getting some exercise at least, right, staying off social media a little bit, man, yeah, it's a killer, right, I'm really trying to stay away from.
Speaker 1:I mean you know I'm always trying to stay away from. I mean you know I'm always trying to. It's hard though. You know it's like Smartphones, man, they just suck. They're awesome but they suck.
Speaker 1:And you know you try and avoid some things, but it's like it's right there, You're on your phone doing something else and you see the notification. You gotta just turn off notifications, I guess, turn off your notifications and everything. So that way you're not, you know, if you're doing other stuff, you won't just kind of see it and be tempted. Oh, let me check real quick. Just check it when you know, whenever, because, yeah, I just don't think it's healthy to be just, you know, checking your stuff multiple times a day and whatever. So, yeah, I'm trying to. I have some of my stuff turned off, but I should just turn off a bit and I don't always check. I'm pretty. I'm not like a huge, you know. I try and let things go for a while, at least a few days, before I'll open up an app and see what notifications although they're all you know, it's like the only. I mean like Twitter, I don't get on Twitter at all. Basically, I get on there to post stuff real quick and that's kind of it, because there's just so much information, some of it's misinformation and some of it's just fear-mongering and stuff, so I just don't really get on there. I'm glad that Musk bought it and everything and it's, you know, not controlled by liberals and the blues controlled by conservative, and it's like not really, I mean, I guess technically, if you want to say that, but it's just it's more free, right, so so, because that's the thing.
Speaker 1:And then there's a lot of, there was a lot of censorship for people who had conservative opinions. You know, like on Facebook, man, I used to get hit with what do they call it? I forget now All the time, and then I would lose this or lose that. It doesn't happen anymore, you know. I mean, I guess maybe you could say I don't post as much stuff, but I didn't really post that much stuff, then either. But if you said anything that was like, oh Biden sucks, oh whoa, you know, I mean I have my friend, that kind of does that He'll get on there and be like, oh, what about? Although he hasn't really commented in a while either, but again, I'm not posting, so I'm kind of trying to. So this is what's going on with me, right, I'm really trying to Be a good Catholic Christian.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to Live that life. You know, we go to Me and the wife At minimum Go to Mass every week. Usually the family's there. We went yesterday, um, I'm currently in a praying the rosary every day. Um, which is good.
Speaker 1:Like before, like I, when I, when I first, when I first, I don't know I guess you could say converted, because I went through a whole. You know, I went through, I went through, not at all, but I hate to talk about things I've talked about before, but I guess that's the way it is right. But yeah, you know, I decided I needed God in my, my life and then it was like okay, so which God? What am I going to do? So I researched and I I tried a few different. You know, I tried Islam even. You know what I mean, um, I got the Quran and and a book on Muhammad which I didn't read because I stopped, I don't know, I don't remember how long. It was like I was actively researching and reading and I was doing the five prayers, the Salahs, salah, right, but it wasn't working. If you want more details on that, I have other podcasts. I don't know if you want me to talk about it more again. I don't want to turn this into an hour-long podcast. Actually, I don't think I've ever done an hour long.
Speaker 1:Once I felt I did praying and I'm not going to get into the details, but I found that Jesus was the way you know. At first it was like I was trying to like, okay, how do what, what, what? What religion doesn't involve Jesus? Right, I don't know why, but and then so then it was basically like Protestant, you know. So I was reading the Bible and and doing the thing and, you know, learning how evil Catholicism was and all this kind of stuff. I mean, I wasn't really. I was just like, okay, whatever, but then it was like I started catching some people that were in the Orthodox you know the Orthodoxy, you know the orthodoxy, the, you know the other kind of Catholic and so then, anyway, so you know, I went through this whole path and found myself on Catholicism, and the whole time I was on that path I felt unsure or I felt like, okay, I'm trying to figure it out, whatever. But once when was it or how, I don't remember exactly but once I figured it out and once I landed on Catholicism, it was like, oh well, this is it. It's like it's been right here in front of my face the whole time. I've just been avoiding it. And then I have like I have no doubts. Now you know what I mean. Anyway, that's enough of that. But there was a reason I was talking about this but I forgot Crap, oh gosh, oh, okay. So yeah, I'm trying to be a good Catholic, right, so it's, you know.
Speaker 1:And, like a lot of people, I got pretty into, you know, the politics and following the politics and this and that and just being. But I'm slowly getting to the point where it's not important, I mean politics, it's not important, it isn't. It's not important. It isn't. What's important is God and your relationship with God and everything. Really, that's what it is. I mean, I don't, you know. But so I'm trying to focus just more on that, not worry about who's the president, who's whatever, this and that, Because when the time comes, none of that matters. None of it matters. The only thing that matters is your devotion and your belief and everything. So I'm slowly kind of getting there.
Speaker 1:I stopped following not all, but just a few, a few political individuals that are nothing but politics. Like I watch some content creators that do a little of everything, or some that just focus strictly on politics and and it's just you know, and they, even when there's nothing going on, there's breaking news, you know, and it's just like that's kind of I don't know, I just don't. I don't want that to be my focus, I don't want that to, you know. I mean, so I'm still gonna pay attention, but it's just not gonna be, you know. So, yeah, so I actually haven't.
Speaker 1:I haven't posted anti-liberal stuff and you know like most of the time I would just post kind of jokes. You know I'd post something that's like pro-Trump or something, just to kind of make my one friend, I guess, I don't know, it's funny because you know there's only like a few people, I don't know, let's see, maybe like a handful. I mean, I don't really have a ton of interaction anyway, I don't have that many friends because I got rid of my original Facebook a few years ago, so I don't actually have that many friends on my Facebook. I don't have many. Well, that sounds bad, but it's true, though. Actually I don't have many friends either because they're all in the States. And yes, there's man, I'm going all over the place, but yes, there's man, I'm going all over the place, but yes, there's.
Speaker 1:You know you have Skype or whatever you have. You can talk and this and that, but the time difference makes it just kind of hard to do it on like a regular basis. I guess you know People got their lives going on Me I'm just sitting here doing whatever, and so. So my friends are basically my children and my wife. I have my mountain bike friends and stuff like that, but you know it's rainy season right now, so nobody's riding their bike too often, so I haven't really seen them much. So, yeah, I've just been going to the gym With my son and everything, but anyway. So, yes, even before I made the conscious Decision to Cut back on political posts, you know the quote-unquote censorship like completely stopped.
Speaker 1:You know there was, you know there was a time where, like every other post would get like a thing or oh, hey, that's not you know, and it pissed me off because it's like whatever. See, it is straight up censored, because it's not like I was saying. You know, joe Biden was caught, you know, doing something Like it wasn't like a complete lie, it was actually actual truth. But then they try and like, oh well, no, that was. They try and spin it to like, they pick, like, maybe the date was wrong or something, and they'll say, oh, that's false information. And then the reason was because, oh, it's because it was light blue, not blue. You know what I mean? It's like, well, it's still true, so you know. So they would do stuff like that. It was just annoying and then, so, that would piss me off more.
Speaker 1:So then I would want to keep you know like, and it's like for what you know that's, I don't know, it's just dumb, so anyway. So maybe it's easier because you know the guy I voted for is in office and I feel like things are going well, is in office and I feel like things are going well and yeah, I guess it is easier than when it was Biden, and every time you just look at the grotesqueness that was the Biden administration, anyway. So, yeah, so I'm trying to just you know I can't like nonstop everything God and Jesus and the Bible and everything like that. I mean, I have lots of books too, though, like I got books that I'm reading about how, you know, the Vatican became the city, the Catholic headquarters, you know, instead of Jerusalem, you know the whole history of how that happened and all that kind of stuff Just different books on that, talking about the popes the first, you know five popes and yeah so, and then try and focus on watching things about you know the faith, because it does make me happier, I do feel better.
Speaker 1:And you know, I stopped taking all of my meds. Now I mean, I take, like you know, tylenol or whatever. I'm taking blood pressure medicine because I'm always told, oh, you can't just stop it, which is true, but I think I'm alright, I think I could probably get away with taking it, but I'm still taking it until I can get the doctor. I gotta just get in a little bit better shape. I'm getting there. Getting there, not really, but Um, yeah, so that's it. Okay, that's enough of me.
Speaker 1:Man, I hate when I ramble on about myself, so I mean, but that's kind of the point, one of the reasons why I do this just to kind of share stuff, I don't know. Let's see, today's the first day of school for my kids, so my wife dropped them off, so my wife dropped them off, and then my son, he starts college like in a week or two or something, and he's all nervous, which I guess I would be too. It's so funny, though, how like just different he is compared to me. I mean, we're very similar in a lot of ways, but we're also very different. You know, I, and it's kind of it's just the generation thing too. It's not so much me, but you know, it seems to be kind of like my generation.
Speaker 1:You know I, I was never home as a kid. You know what I mean Was always running around the streets with my friends right the streets with my friends right, and then, when driver's ed happened, that was the only class I ever got straight A's. Like I got 100% great on everything, like I could pay attention and I was focused because I wanted to drive. You know, I wanted to be a good driver and you know I wanted a car, I wanted that freedom, and then, as soon as I was able to, I moved out with a friend. You know I wanted to get out on my own.
Speaker 1:It's different for, like my son, like he's completely content being here and he's not really big on trying to. He never wants to drive. We have like an electric golf cart that is basically like his mode of transportation, that he drives around, which is kind of nice, because you couldn't do that in the States, you know, because we drive on the road. When you have people in these golf carts they can go 20 miles an hour at most driving on the highway. You know it's like it's just crazy, but I don't know.
Speaker 1:I was just when I was his age man, I would have been like I was bugging my mom let's go drive, let's go drive, let's go somewhere. You got to go somewhere. I want to drive. We don't want to have my permit and stuff, and he's just not the same.
Speaker 1:We live in a small town, so a car is not a requirement. He likes to walk and you can walk anywhere in our town within 15 minutes. Ish. Then you have the tricycles, you can ish so, and then you have the tricycles, you can get a ride. So I mean it's just not required unless he had to go, you know, unless you got to go to the next town or whatever, which originally he was going to go to college in the closer, the bigger city. That's close by. So he would have had to take like a bus or he's gonna start driving and stuff, but, um, he ended up going to the college that's here. So it's close by, it's just. You know, it's just a, I don't know. Maybe if, maybe if we were in the states, it'd be different, but I don't know, he just, you know, it's not, it's not his priority. For me driving was a priority. Getting my license, getting a car, yeah, but he's just like me. I just find that weird, um, but so he's doing that, um, and that's kind of this. Well, that's what's going.
Speaker 1:We got my wife bought a car, or we bought a car, but it's for her Little Mitsubishi Expander X-Force. No, cross, yeah, cross. It's a pretty nice car. We've had nothing but used cars here, which is nice because it's like no car notes. But it's just like every month we have to, you know, you got to work on it, you got to get something replaced, you got to get something fixed, and for me that's fine, like for my, you know, but it's like when both our vehicles and you know there's been a couple, couple times where we didn't have a vehicle because you know, one was being worked on and this one, something was wrong with it, so all we had was like the little talk talk, the indian bajaj talk, talk, which is, you know, that thing's pretty cool, man, um, because I mean we bought it brand new so it's reliable right now, but yeah, it's nice around town.
Speaker 1:And then plus, you know, it has that manual start. So if you leave, like the line on or whatever, and you kill the battery, it's got that little hand like crank thing so you can just. So it's like, it's like, it's like, um, you know, when you would drop the clutch, when you push start a car, a manual, it's the same kind of thing you just pull on it and it kind of kicks it on and then it'll charge the battery and so basically the tock tock has been the little like jump starter too for my other car. So if one of our cars is dead, I have jumper cables in that and that's what I use to to jump start the car, you know. So it's like a little portable car charger, whatever jump starter, battery, car charger, and plus I drive it to the store or whatever, I don't know. But then again, because it's rainy season, I you know I drive a little bit less, um, so, but anyway, so you know, she, she got that vehicle.
Speaker 1:So we got a new vehicle. Plus, it's a seven-seater, we can go on little trips and, and you know, don't have to worry about any kind of thing breaking on it, um, but then we have a car note, you know. But it's, it's not, it's not too bad. So, and so now, what was our main vehicle? The truck is now just like my vehicle, so, just kind of, now it'll just sit there and then I'll use it when, you know, I go mountain biking or something or whatever, or if I gotta go to the dump.
Speaker 1:Oh, man, I was gonna do that today. I was gonna take some trash to the dump. I'll probably do that tomorrow. Yeah, I'll do that tomorrow. Um, I gotta plan it though, man, I gotta do my to-do list.
Speaker 1:Okay, man, you know what? I'm almost done with this episode, and I haven't even talked about why I was gonna record it. Just in your jaw, jack. Okay, I don't know, but a part of me doesn't want to talk about it, because it's like I talk about it and I'm just kind of tired of it. Well, I won't talk about it much. It's like I talk about it, I'm just kind of tired of it. Well, I won't talk about much, I guess, anyway.
Speaker 1:So I just saw a thing it's like in Portland. First of all, portland is is a shit show, dude. It's just crazy there. Um, I remember, even when I was younger and I was a quote-unquote liberal, portland felt weird. You know, I mean weird people. Just I felt like it was just very hippie-ish. You know, dreadlock, stinky, don't shower, don't shave, armpit, very liberal, you know what I mean. Like I had some friends that lived there and they'd be better at you know, um, what do you call it? Talking about what it's like to live there. But I mean they lived there for at least a year. I want to say it was longer than that, though. Man, I don't even remember the why too. That was kind of crazy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember they moved there, so I used to go and visit every I don't know twice a month. Maybe I'd go down there, hang out for a weekend or something, and yeah, it just felt it just had this. It was just different. You know what I mean so, and Portland's always been like that. I think the last time I was in Portland was we, or was it me, or did just my wife go. I think my wife just went. Yeah, my wife went because she went for work and she stopped off at some donut place in Portland that has really good donut, yeah, so I didn't go anyway.
Speaker 1:Um, so there's a coffee shop there, I guess in north north Portland, you know, and this owner I want to say it's called cathedral coffee and people probably think like, oh, he's christian or whatever, but it doesn't matter. So the guy has a coffee shop, he's got a business right and his employee in portland, as you know, is very, very, very liberal. Um, and so some of his employees, I guess, put up some pride flags in the coffee shop and he took them down because he has no flags. You know he's trying to just I'm not here for just anybody, I'm here for everyone. You know what I mean? Wait, did that make sense? You know he just says he wants the coffee shop to be accessible for everyone. You know, for Muslims, christians, gays, straights, republican, democrat, it doesn't matter, just you're there to get coffee, okay, and it's a smart way to do business.
Speaker 1:You know, these businesses that focus on certain demographics or certain political ideologies, they never last, they don't? You see them all the time. Oh, here's one that charges extra for men to come in and then they're out of business. It's just stupid, it's just not good business. And so this guy's smart.
Speaker 1:So then so people are like, oh, I don't want to go there because he doesn't like the. I mean, it's probably a lot smaller percentage of people that actually feel this way and, for all I know, the one person that they talk to is the only person that feels this way. But it's just, it's like come on, man, it's just, it's just common sense. How are you going to be? Just because he doesn't have the pride flag, so you want me to put up a nazi flag? Uh, uh, black lives matter christian. You know what I mean. Like every kind of flag. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:It's like, no, no flags, that's a policy. And it's smart, you know. I mean it doesn't even have like an American flag, I don't think which. That's the only one that you should have. But it's like. It's just dude, we're not here to sell coffee, you know. So it's like yeah, maybe you know, during the Biden administration.
Speaker 1:If you had Rainbow Cafe it, I feel like I was like Stevie Wonder, right there, I was trying to pop my head oh, there we go. You know, it might have been popular for a little while we go. You know, it might have been popular for a little while, um, or even right now, if you had maggot cafe. You know, in certain places it might be popular, but it's it's not going to stay that way forever, you know, because the the landscape is always changing.
Speaker 1:So to sit there and pick an ideology and use that as, like a marketing strategy is just stupid. And then so, and then people are like oh, it's not inclusive, what do you mean? It's the most inclusive, it's for everybody, it's like it's just, it just, I don't know, it just kind of bugs me. And then, like, I saw some clips which I thought was funny. You know how, like they're liberals who are like oh my gosh, there's just the Democrats and liberals are just going so far left, crazy that they're. They are, you know, they're pushing a lot of a lot of who were once liberals, and they're not even pushing anybody. It's just because it's going so far left that now if you're, you know, just a regular Democrat. You're looked at as almost conservative. You know what I mean. But like I keep hearing this where people are like, oh my gosh, the you know the Democrat Party or the Liberal Party, it's driving me nuts.
Speaker 1:It's just like and I'm a liberal, you know I grew up this and that I recycle it's like everybody recycles. Since when did what? I don't understand the recycling thing. Is it because of the global warming thing? Everybody, who is, anybody, it doesn't matter what. Whatever they recycle, you know what I mean. They don't like to live in trash and filth and even though recycling is kind of not like, people recycle way more products that they're able to recycle. You know what I mean. So a lot of stuff ends up getting thrown away anyway. But the thing is you know you pick up trash and you recycle, you do your part and that's fine. But it's like that's not a liberal thing, you know. I mean you have people that throw trash and litter all the time. That doesn't make them conservative or liberal, just makes them lazy. I can't stand people that do that shit.
Speaker 1:I don't recycle. I mean kind of I separate our stuff. Like we have plastics and cans and some trash and I take it to the dump, but then they just have us dump it. It's kind of weird, but we just dump it and I think they go through it. But I'm just like, why don't you guys have an area for it and I'll dump it there, for you know? I don't know, I feel like I'm doing work for nothing, but I still do it. I don't believe in global warming, it's just climate change. Yes, climate changes, but it changes regardless if we're here or not, you know. So it's like I'm not saying, you know, we should just be dumping oil in the ocean. No, you know, it's like I don't know the whole thing with that's just some of that stuff I recycle. It's like, dude, everybody recycles. That's not. That doesn't mean anything. And then I guess oh man, I'm already at 29 minutes, damn.
Speaker 1:I was going to talk about New York and how it's kind of getting to the point and some of the cities are getting to the point of how New York was back in the 70s when it was like a shithole, and now it's back again right hole, um, and now it's back again right. It's like we're in this, we're. We were in the 70s when there was the gas, prices were crazy and then gas lines and just shit was nuts and crime. So that's the thing is like dude.
Speaker 1:Liberalism is, I mean, you know, you know you gotta have it. It's not. There's lots of good things from it, it's just, man, it's just gotten crazy now. But you can't have, you know, defunding the police. You can't have soft on crime stuff. You gotta be somewhat strict, because that's why shit is the way it is, you know, because, oh, if you steal $999, you're not going to be charged with nothing. So then that's why you got catalytic converters and just all kinds of stuff and people leaving their windows open so nobody breaks their windows and all this kind of. You know, it's like people. Just they forget that the city was like this before and they fixed it. They got it better, they cut down on the mob and made stricter. You can't have a liberal district attorney. You know what I mean. There's just certain things that you got to be strict on. Let people do their jobs, let them, you know, and then save the liberals the liberalism for for other stuff. Man, it's like I don't. A world filled with conservatives wouldn't work and a world filled with liberals would definitely not work. You know, you've got the balance, you've got the little give and take and everything, but it's like each side really wants to just take over. You know, and it doesn't matter because, like I said, catholicism is what matters.
Speaker 1:You know, america, some people say America was doomed from the get-go because of freedom of religion and various things. Because look at how. You know how crazy it is. You know, and I kind of tend to agree with it, that I mean, even though America was formed on Protestants, protestantism, whatever, them, you just can't have. You know it should be.
Speaker 1:If you want to come to America, great, you go through this system, but it's like you can't bring what you left with you. You know what I mean. It's like people don't like where they live, the country, the politics, the religion, whatever and then they come over to the States but then they continue pushing all that crap. You know, or maybe not so much religion. You know you have Muslims that want to come to America and make a better life, but it's like you need to. You know, just letting all these mosques and everything, and it just doesn't work. It just doesn't work. So it's like I kind of yeah, it's like, and you know, liberal conservatism, they're all from the same puppeteer. You know they really are and it's and you really notice that too, like when you just see all these old presidents you know, you see the debates and they talk so much crap about each other and this and that, and then when one person leaves and all of a sudden they're friends and it's all. Just, it's all theatrics for us to think that we're making a difference by voting when you're not. We're not.
Speaker 1:Yes, you know, trump is the administration you know they built, they stopped the illegal immigrants coming over the border and did some various things. But it's going to come back again, maybe in 20 years, 10, 20 years. It's going to come back. And the same thing, it's like the needle going from. You know, being moral to immoral is always. It's always chugging along, but it's like when, when, when you have an administration like biden, it's going faster.
Speaker 1:So now, now with Trump, it's like okay, it stopped for a little bit, but it's still slowly kind of going. We're never going to go back, it's just going to continue to continue and then eventually it is going to be a shithole. You know, it's just, it's not going to work. But you know by then I won't be here, but anyway. So it's just, you know it doesn't matter. What matters is Jesus, god, you know, and just living by the standards that Jesus set, you know that's. And Catholicism because that's the church that Jesus set, and Catholicism because that's the church that Jesus created. Yeah, anyway, that's it. I've been talking for 34 minutes. I think this might be the longest one. Anyway, no, what Anyway, no, anyway, no, oh bueno, I just made up. Anyway, thanks for hanging out, appreciate your time. Uh, let me know what you think. Uh, god bless, and I'll see you guys next time. All right, bye.
