Sorry this is so long but I need to get this out.
You know what's really hard? Not judging people. It's so easy to look at Mr. White Bread driving around in his Escalade, talking on his cell phone, and assume that I know every detail of his petty consumerist life, then feel satisfied that I'm so superior to him.
But the only difference between me and him is the circumstances we were raised in. My parents were poor, so they taught me that money isn't everything, but if I was raised with the ideals that more money = goodness than I'd be figuring out how to get me one of them Es-co-lades right now.
I'm also a consumer hypocrite. I talk shit about corporations, but I shop at Fry's and wear Adidas shoes which were probably made in a sweatshop.
Of course I believe that my anti-corporate naturalist ideas are better for everyone in the long run, but they're just that - Ideas. Something that I am slowly working toward. I forget that slowly working toward an idea doesn't give me the right to talk shit about people who don't understand me. Fuck, I don't understand them, how can I expect them to get what I'm about.
Talking about how cool Kung Fu is and watching a bunch of Kung Fu movies doesn't enable me to kick someone's ass any more than talking shit about corporations will cause Nike to go out of business.
I've heard so many anarchists talk about using anger to fuel their passion for justice and using destructive means to "wake people up," but if the fucking Twin Towers collapsing didn't wake up the Americans to how fucked our system is, I don't think a brick through a Starbucks window is gonna do jack shit.
The only way I can imagine making a change for the better is to create a community of people who exist outside of the consumer cycle and are so fucking happy and friendly and satisfied with their lives - a cummunity that lives so well and so richly that average cubicle slaves will see us and wonder why there lives feel so empty and ours don't And this community has to be so accessible that said cubicle slave can easily figure out exactly how to break their chains and become a part of it. We have to look at Mr. White Bread in the Escalade with so much love that he feels welcome in our community and VOLUNTARILY chooses to join us. A brick through his window will just make him buy a new window.
So anyone that wants to help me start this, let me know. The first step is to get our shit together. If you know how to make soap, tell everybody. If you have a garden, ask everyone to help grow it and share the veggies. If you sew clothing, teach someone else what you've learned. I think a big vegan BBQ potluck would be a great way to start making connections, but I don't really know very many people.
If I'm alone in these feelings, I'll just keep trying to learn and discipline and organize myself, but if not, please contact me through LJ, djfunkymatt@yahoo.com or (480) 948-5871
Much love to anyone who took the time to read this.
But the only difference between me and him is the circumstances we were raised in. My parents were poor, so they taught me that money isn't everything, but if I was raised with the ideals that more money = goodness than I'd be figuring out how to get me one of them Es-co-lades right now.
I'm also a consumer hypocrite. I talk shit about corporations, but I shop at Fry's and wear Adidas shoes which were probably made in a sweatshop.
Of course I believe that my anti-corporate naturalist ideas are better for everyone in the long run, but they're just that - Ideas. Something that I am slowly working toward. I forget that slowly working toward an idea doesn't give me the right to talk shit about people who don't understand me. Fuck, I don't understand them, how can I expect them to get what I'm about.
Talking about how cool Kung Fu is and watching a bunch of Kung Fu movies doesn't enable me to kick someone's ass any more than talking shit about corporations will cause Nike to go out of business.
I've heard so many anarchists talk about using anger to fuel their passion for justice and using destructive means to "wake people up," but if the fucking Twin Towers collapsing didn't wake up the Americans to how fucked our system is, I don't think a brick through a Starbucks window is gonna do jack shit.
The only way I can imagine making a change for the better is to create a community of people who exist outside of the consumer cycle and are so fucking happy and friendly and satisfied with their lives - a cummunity that lives so well and so richly that average cubicle slaves will see us and wonder why there lives feel so empty and ours don't And this community has to be so accessible that said cubicle slave can easily figure out exactly how to break their chains and become a part of it. We have to look at Mr. White Bread in the Escalade with so much love that he feels welcome in our community and VOLUNTARILY chooses to join us. A brick through his window will just make him buy a new window.
So anyone that wants to help me start this, let me know. The first step is to get our shit together. If you know how to make soap, tell everybody. If you have a garden, ask everyone to help grow it and share the veggies. If you sew clothing, teach someone else what you've learned. I think a big vegan BBQ potluck would be a great way to start making connections, but I don't really know very many people.
If I'm alone in these feelings, I'll just keep trying to learn and discipline and organize myself, but if not, please contact me through LJ, djfunkymatt@yahoo.com or (480) 948-5871
Much love to anyone who took the time to read this.