Actually, scratch that. Personally, I find it fabulous to be me. I love me. I really couldn't ask for more from me than I already am without being ungrateful and, frankly, unobservant. I'm a helluva a guy and I'm on top of the world, er... from my own point of view.
But it actually is hard to be me from one particular standpoint, which is: there don't seem to be many people I can talk to. I know this is going to sound horribly elitist but, I haven't learned anything new and interesting - about people, about life, about fun and profit or loss and misery or even just about how-to-see-the-world-in-a-new-and-different-way - in the longest time. And that's not like me. My learning is stagnating.
But don't get me wrong, though. I do have wonderful people in my life (and quite a few not-so-wonderful ones as well) and they do share experiences with me in their own various, entertaining ways. They tell me all about their views of the world and what it means to them. (Mostly indirectly, I should add.) And I love them but... I've tapped them out.
Let the pomposity not escape your attention as I claim: I have reached a state in my knowledge and maturity where I now operate exclusively as a resource to everyone around me. I give and I give and... I still have more to give even though every audience I have at my disposal is already completely saturated. I have more to give than I know what to do with. So... I write.
And yes, I have written other blogs besides this one. (Nothing you would have heard of, I promise you.) Some of them have themes of a sort, while others are primarily free-form randomness. (Or at least as close to "random" as my mind will let them be.) This blog, however, is going to be different.
This blog is where I get to discuss, analyze and critique American policy and culture. America, after all, is where I live and who I observe. It is mine to lambaste any way I see fit. America is also what I understand and who I care about. Well, for starters anyway...
But don't get me wrong... at least not yet. As you'll soon see, I am almost the complete opposite of "patriotic". America? I'm not a fan. At least, not yet...
That's part of why I'm writing this blog. This country is screwed up. SCREWED UP! And we're helping to screw up the world even faster with our unbelievable pride and unrelentingly selfish corporate/consumer culture. I intend to open a few eyes as we go; eyes that are not only currently shut, but also have hands clasped tightly over them whose owners are currently chanting: "I see nothing!" like a mantra.
Awareness is why I'm here. Awareness is, after all, the key to all change. And change - which is required for all progress, which is exactly what we need the most right now - is exactly what is being resisted the most as well.
Right now there is a HUGE subculture of anti-progress in this country. I intend to burst their bubbles. I intend to "out" their collective sins. I intend to make them - and you - aware of big picture and the true cost of this magical-thinking, ignore-it-and-it-will-go-away mindset that, quite literally, threatens to doom us all. I'm going to make everyone see the same picture in the hopes that once we're all similarly aware, we can finally all work together to make the meaningful, sustainable changes require to keep this world alive (and hopefully healthy).
And that really is the other reason I decided to write this blog; somewhere in my jaded heart I still believe that buried out there somewhere (presumably in a "bunker" of some sort) there is an America that can be great once more, an America that really can be catalytic for the survival and progress of the world, an America that can be saved... from itself.
But, maybe I'm wrong...
And maybe no one will read this blog, or share it, or talk about it with the people they know. Maybe nothing will come from this effort besides me getting a chance to organize my thoughts and make an honest attempt at aiding people that I will personally never know. If that is how it turns out, so be it. I will be able to accurately say: "I worked for progress." And that will be nothing to be ashamed of.
Anyways... The title of this blog is "Non-Party" because that is what I am. I came to the conclusion many years ago that no amount of "joining" into this political process could possibly help matters in the slightest, so I un-joined.
Truth be told, I have neither voted, nor even registered to vote, in over 20 years.
Now, based on that confession you may be tempted to think of me as someone who simply doesn't care about what happens in this country, brand me a go-along-er, one of those "lazy Americans" who's always complaining yet still doesn't refuse any of the benefits that being a citizen here has to offer.
I can see why you might be tempted to think that. And no, it's not because any of those labels are even close to true. It's because you have been brainwashed. You have been duped by a system that wants you to believe that you can be involved, that you can affect it, while ultimately remaining unhindered by anything you do. You have be deceived by a system that advertises: "This is how to make change." by repackaging the same product in a slightly different colored wrapper. All talk. All appearances. No real change.
The truth is, ladies and gentlemen, that there are NOT two political parties in this country, but only one: corporations. And if you want to know what the primary bias for this blog is going to be, here's a hint: anti-corporatocracy.
"What about the Republicans and Democrats?" I hear you asking. Well, what about them? It has been apparent to me (for about 20 years - what a coincidence) that the only difference between Republicans and Democrats is which one is playing "good cop" at the moment. And they maintain this charade of distraction and entertainment quite happily and cooperatively because they both absolutely need each other in order to ensure their continued mutual survival.
But never believe - or perhaps I should more properly phrase that: WAKE UP AND UNDERSTAND - that neither Republicans nor Democrats actually attempt to represent or protect the will or rights of the people. They are both direct agents of the Corporatocracy of America, even if they do report to different bosses behind the scenes.
Do I sound like a conspiracy nut to you? Maybe.
Should you acquire the energy - and honesty - to try to refute my claim, you need only - as they were so famously fond of saying in the movie All the President's Men - "follow the money". Should you do so, you will find, as so many others before you have, that "the money" flows out of the legislative chambers and into the pockets of large multi-national corporations. (Being an elected official is fabulously good work, if you can get it...)
But accurately, I'm really not here to "prove" that corruption is afoot. That would not only be redundant, but that would then be me playing for entertainment, rather than what I really care about: solutions.
That's right, for the moment I'm going to allow our corrupt institutions to go right on being corrupt. Ironic as it might sound, to do otherwise would require me to become part of the problem, part of the distraction, part of the "whose fault is it today" song-and-dance that has been the essence of our "political process" for... well... at least as long as I've been paying attention. Maybe even as long as America itself has existed.
No, friends, I am not here to "complain", but to "explain". I am not here to establish "culpability", but "responsibility". I am not here to look back (er... much), but only forward to what needs to happen now to fix existing problems and help prevent the foreseeable ones from actually happening.
And all of this will be couched in an orientation of political and moral neutrality, based only on goals which are established on principle rather that some group's (or person's) current preferences or short-term agendas.
Somebody has to be in the middle, somebody has to be rational, somebody has to try to push for the bigger picture. And that person is... me.
I hope you enjoy the information I'll be presenting in this blog. And even if you don't "enjoy" it, I hope it at least makes you think, have more interesting conversations with your friends, develop a slightly altered perspective and come to a better understanding of your own (possibly not obvious - even to you) agendas. My hope is to change how you interpret events and see the world, and via that altered perspective, change what you do day-to-day, even if ever so slightly.
And why is any of this even important? The short answer is: that depends on what your goals are.
I don't wish to be a doomsayer, but the physical reality of the world situation actually is that time is not on our side. The weight of human consumption - and humanity itself - is about to come crashing down around its own unsustainable supports, and it's not going to pretty.
It's time we stopped waiting for a "system" to save us, demanding that "it" act, whatever "it" is.
The system doesn't work for us, doesn't exist to serve us, and it never has.
If change is going to happen, it's going to have to come from out here, from each of us, as active, responsible individuals working in the face of - and quite possibly in spite of the resistance of - the "system". I suppose you'll have to call it a revolution. If progress is a "revolution", if getting necessary things done in spite of bloated inertia is a "revolution", then I suppose that's what you would have to call it.
But make no mistake, people: there is a point-of-no-return on this slippery slope we're on. If we wait and do nothing - as corporatocracy would bid us do - we're finished.
But... if I believed we were already there, I wouldn't bother wasting time writing about it, now would I? They say "Where there's life, there's hope." I believe that too. I believe we still have time not only to survive, but to really learn something pure and wonderful, to really make this place the most marvelous and resilient its ever been.
Two drastically different fates awaiting. These are fascinating times we live in friends! Fascinating times!
So, yes, do please read and share this blog. True, chances are good that it will conflict with what you currently believe. But if you're honest, I think you'll find that the conversation is more than worth the discomfort. In fact, feel as free as you like to disagree with me. I can take it. Just as long as you're damn sure that you understand - accurately, for yourself - why it is you do.
Here's looking forward to some fascinating times.
Sincerely,
--Geo
No comments:
Post a Comment