Don’t expect acceptance

While the will of the majority might have taken many hard knocks over the past few years in the United States, make no mistake, it’s still the driving force in a majority of ways.

Just ask Anheuser-Busch and Target. I don’t care how big a corporation is, losing about $20 billion in stock value as Anheuser-Busch has and about $15 billion as Target has obviously amounts to a big, big deal.

As the late comedian Chris Farley might have said, “that’s gonna leave a mark.”

Sometimes I begin to lose hope for this country, because there so many ridiculous things happening simultaneously that try to steer us all away from what most of us know is right and good. But then something like the plight of these two companies occurs that makes me wonder if it’s not too late.

Deep inside, I guess feel like it really isn’t, and it’s still possible for people to grab ahold of their own destiny and shape it themselves, rather than be stuffed into an unwelcome, objectionable mold crafted by overbearing, self-righteous – and even demonic – architects.

The situations being experienced by Anheuser-Busch and Target are prime examples of how most Americans really do recognize when something isn’t right, and how they’ll react strongly to protect their values, and maybe more importantly their children.

Yep, you can try to force people to accept fringe ideals as “policy,” but you’ll run into serious opposition if you go too far.

You can try to make the agendas of special-interest minorities into mainstream codes of conduct, but you shouldn’t assume people will tolerate it.

And you can try to take away the freedoms we all love and appreciate, but not without a fight.

What is most surprising to me about this whole subject is that the folks trying to force-feed their nonsense to the rest of us don’t really seem to care what we think. I’m telling you, that’s a dangerous mentality, and one that usually leads to failure.

Why? Because people hate it when their gut feelings and are portrayed as erroneous and inappropriate, and they won’t stand for having their core beliefs depicted as misguided or unacceptable.

No, you can’t just take what’s been recognized for a long, long time as wrong, use fancy (but often mean-spirited) wording to dress it up as right, and expect people to simply go along for the ride.

Another thing I find surprising is how offended some people get these days when they don’t get their way. Look, nobody is trying to stop anyone from doing something they want to do or being someone they want to be. It’s just that most people dislike the way stuff is being shoved in their faces and how they’re being expected (or forced) to act like they don’t mind.

Anyway, I feel like there’s a tipping point for all the strife and animosity that’s so prevalent these days. I’m not sure how far things have to progress to reach that point, but I believe it could be pretty close.

I also believe that the American people have a collective and instinctive way of knowing when that time has come, and the repercussions of their reaction could be monumental in scale.

Examples already exist, and I think we’re going to see more – maybe sooner than later.

Doug Davison is a writer, photographer and newsroom assistant for the Houston Herald. Email: ddavison@houstonherald.com.