Personal Power Part 1 (Of Many...)
I am not suggesting, by any means, that voting is the big solution. I am not suggesting that we can vote all of our problems away and we'll be in one big, happy funland. I'm not a fucking idiot. What I am suggesting is a mind shift toward real and present solutions that take into account how our system presently works and let the pendulum swing the other way. That's what pendulums do.
Hopelessness and cynicism erode our abilities to connect with others, to organize and muster up a will to fight. The cynic is, by and large, a pussy. I say that having been one myself (recovering). The cynic hides behind these declarations of frustration and superior intellectual ability and uses those things as reasons not to engage. The cynic doesn't want to lead a losing charge. The cynic is easily manipulated into thinking that most battles are futile and full of hypocrites and jackasses.The cynic will spout off and maybe instigate but will never be a leader. It takes an optimist for that task.
Unfortunately, we have an infestation of cynics in this nation. A wave of them washing over our shores and pulling our optimists out into open and lonely waters. Mind you, I think the cynics have a place and have a vital role in society, but we are out of balance. Just look at the incredible numbers of disapproval for the President and yet he keeps getting away with this shit. Why? Because we've all fucking given up.
So I've heard this shit about razing the current system and rebuilding it and that there can be no blueprint because these things must grow organically. I agree, it is fucked up, but how can something grow if we don't plant it? Maybe you don't want to dirty your hands in its destruction and reconstruction? Let someone else do it? Is that really the only way? Come on! Don't the previous labor movements, the civil rights movement, and sufferage in this country mean anything?
Now, my personal opinion is that the framework of the system is open enough to manoeuvre inside it. This idea tickles me, actually, because it seems tangible and real and like a game. I love games. The issue, as I see it, is that we have all splintered off into little groups with our little demands and have failed to unite under a common cause. Numbers. Numbers. Think fucking numbers. I believe the next fight should be against the corporate monolith that is sucking this country dry. Everyone wants to do something, but it seems too large a fight so we just throw up our hands and say aw- fuck it.
An individual may not have much pull, but an individual that is PART of something DOES.
Quite being alone.
Hopelessness and cynicism erode our abilities to connect with others, to organize and muster up a will to fight. The cynic is, by and large, a pussy. I say that having been one myself (recovering). The cynic hides behind these declarations of frustration and superior intellectual ability and uses those things as reasons not to engage. The cynic doesn't want to lead a losing charge. The cynic is easily manipulated into thinking that most battles are futile and full of hypocrites and jackasses.The cynic will spout off and maybe instigate but will never be a leader. It takes an optimist for that task.
Unfortunately, we have an infestation of cynics in this nation. A wave of them washing over our shores and pulling our optimists out into open and lonely waters. Mind you, I think the cynics have a place and have a vital role in society, but we are out of balance. Just look at the incredible numbers of disapproval for the President and yet he keeps getting away with this shit. Why? Because we've all fucking given up.
So I've heard this shit about razing the current system and rebuilding it and that there can be no blueprint because these things must grow organically. I agree, it is fucked up, but how can something grow if we don't plant it? Maybe you don't want to dirty your hands in its destruction and reconstruction? Let someone else do it? Is that really the only way? Come on! Don't the previous labor movements, the civil rights movement, and sufferage in this country mean anything?
Now, my personal opinion is that the framework of the system is open enough to manoeuvre inside it. This idea tickles me, actually, because it seems tangible and real and like a game. I love games. The issue, as I see it, is that we have all splintered off into little groups with our little demands and have failed to unite under a common cause. Numbers. Numbers. Think fucking numbers. I believe the next fight should be against the corporate monolith that is sucking this country dry. Everyone wants to do something, but it seems too large a fight so we just throw up our hands and say aw- fuck it.
An individual may not have much pull, but an individual that is PART of something DOES.
Quite being alone.
posted by Bree O'Connor at 8:46 AM
10 Comments:
But I like being a cynic. It's fun. When things go well I get to be pleasantly surprised, and when shit goes tits-up I get to enjoy the sense of smug satisfaction. It's a win-win situation.
My word verification is "bibika"
Let me get this straight, in this scenario "tits-up" is bad? I'm unfamiliar with the vernacular...
Smug satisfaction? You must a fuckin' hoot to be around.
Bingo. Think cow tipping.
I have other ways of making friends... mainly buying beer and cigarettes for the kids who hang out at the bus station.
(Normally one would probably insert a smily/winky face here, but I really hate that shit.)
Death to the smily/winky. He is a lackey to our corporate overlords.
I'm so not fucking done with this conversation.
Okey dokey. How many labor strikes have you personally been involved in? Civil rights demonstrations? Women's rights movements? And all these things are a-ok hunkey dorey right now, aren't they? And people's voting choices in elections have really made a difference in these areas.
Opinion, the power of the people does not lie in the voting booth, but in the streets.
Knock yourself out. I'm just having a good time.
Damn, us cynics really are instigators. Oh well, someone's gotta do it.
Jake, I'll give you the point that there is power in the streets- although you sound a bit sarcastic. How do you think power manifests itself from the streets to the legislature? Awareness is raised, people start to see Civil Rights, or labor or women's issues as something that needs to be addressed and they VOTE FOR PEOPLE THAT REPRESENT THEIR VIEWS! Over the past century, people have made a difference this way. Did you use a Whites Only bathroom today? Do you think MLK Jr or Malcolm X walked in to every public toilet and changed the sign and then personally policed it to make sure it didn't go back up? The mob doesn't just waltz in to the Senate chamber and start writing laws and budgets! Don't be simple! A movement needs engaged members to move forward and make their voices heard. How do they get heard? They utilize the media, they take to the streets and they get out the fucking vote.
And you have got to get used to dissent. You won't always get your way. It's kind of embarrassing to hear grown ups say "But my guy NEVER wins!" and watch them pout like spoiled little 3 year olds. DUH. But your opinion never hits the fucking radar if you don't vote. A family of four with only one bathroom in the house has to figure out how to use it efficeintly in the morning. So you'll have to save your jacking off for the afternoon. The system needs to work for others, too. We are out of balance. Shift, shift shift...
Aw, shit. Someone out there is going to point out how I misrepresented the views of Malcolm X by suggesting he would have ripped the Whites Only sign off of a bathroom. I'm in a Benadryl haze, so please excuse those miscalculations. That aside, my point still stands and I'd probably make another one here if my brain was working.
As always, Gamma roolz, Beta droolz. A true statement for the past 14 years.
Post a Comment
<< Home