SAY WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY - FULL OPINION ARTICLE

Excerpt from Sumpton’s Gold Rush Gazette - Friday 15th of March 2024

OPINION - Daniel Sumpton

I have both liberal and conservative friends. Those who accept differing views and are willing to have conversations about them are the people you want in your life. DO NOT make the mistake of thinking that the people who prefer the suppression of beliefs are the “moderate” ones.

Example: I have found the prolonged resentment people have toward each other as a result of long ago COVID debates to be particularly hilarious.

When COVID happened, I was actually a relatively tame voice in the conversation. I thought, and still think people can do whatever they want with their own bodies. I just didn’t, and don’t want strict mandates or lockdowns. A position, which after the media propaganda hell storm blew through, has become pretty commonplace.

Although this is true, I remember how insanely adamant people were about taking people’s freedoms away to an extent unlike Australia had ever known.

They were so angry toward the “other side.” It’s funny how those conversations so long ago still leave a bad taste in people’s mouth. I continuously catch many of those people who attacked me for my COVID era stances lying about Sumpton’s Gold Rush Gazette, and impacting many more people than myself who work on the paper, and finding anything they can to slander me or the publication. It’s an extremely high-risk aftermath to what were, in reality, pretty boring policy debates.

It is IMPORTANT still though that both I, and you reading this, remain unafraid to SAY WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY. Say what you believe. You have a duty to this for your entire life. This will reveal people who cannot stand differing beliefs than their own. These people are not good to keep around. You do not want to bother pandering to them, they will turn on you as soon as they hear something they don’t like.

MY RECENT EXPERIENCES WITH THE DECEIT OF OTHERS:

I have become less forgiving with age. If I catch someone being deceitful in any way about the paper, I tell them exactly what I think of them. Whether they are a “COVID-era” individual or not. In a more recent instance, it ended with death threats against me. The death threats made me know for sure I was doing something right. If someone is so nasty that their family is entirely indulged in a culture of violence to that point, then why on Earth would I want that person to accept me or be “on my side” ? In another example, I caught someone publishing that there was “no newspaper,” in town. I have found this person to be lying about this fact more than once and they were forced to apologise at one point for the extent of which they were spreading misinformation. What was their response after I caught them out lying this time? They told me they could lie as much as they want, and it was none of my business that they were publishing it on a widely read forum. Why would I want someone who openly admits to lying on my side, and then brags about their ability to? These are not good people.

I have stated many times before that I am willing to have political or social debates on any topic that I am well versed in, and no matter the outcome of the debate, I will have no hard feelings. It is ridiculous I have to say that. Funnily enough, I am not even that much of a political person. I write these articles because it’s my job, but I go home, crack open a drink, and collapse to the TV like anyone else. Politics or social issues are just that, and shouldn't be taken to heart in a civil conversation. On the other hand, if someone grows so bitter as to resort to personal slander or libel years later because of stupid political debate years ago, I will tell them exactly how I am feeling. That's fair. I am more patient than most in the journalism industry. It’s how I have lasted so long.

With these words, I hope to inspire even one person to speak up on issues they are passionate about, and understand that those who express hatred for it are not worth pandering to.