I wrote this for the Insurgent. It's uhhh, well rated R for offensive content so read on at your own risk. You wouldn't believe how strongly people feel about this
( Read more... )
I stumbled across this, and wrote the following. Then, I went back, and read what you wrote again, and realized that I don't actually disagree with most of what you've said, with your message, and beyond that what you want people to do for themselves and your world. Here it is, still, but realize it's not *intended* to be another one of those angry flabergasted responses from people who want you to embrace your freedom by doing exactly what they say.
I do have to wonder, isn't it an incredible oversimplification to just write off the entire governmental structure as corrupt and evil? I mean, Ralph Nader ran on a platform of "don't support the lesser of two evils", and what did that get us? There is no way Al Gore would have fabricated a war in Iraq, and thousands of people would not have died needlessly. Gore wouldn't have been so vehemently pro-corporation, squeezing the middle class with tax burdens, medical costs (which should be a right, as it is in the rest of the "developed" world), and so forth. Would he have been perfect? No. but he would have been better. We live in a mass society, and mass society simply can't work when run from one extreme or another. There is a very narrow window for discourse in the government, but surely people on one side would at least be better than those on the other side. Kerry would be better than Bush, and make a difference, however slight, in people's lives.
I agree with you about the cruelty of the system, the mass deception and disempowerment that the non-elite suffer. You can go back to any moment in American history and behind the deifying narrative there is self interest, greed, and destruction. But not all politicians are evil. You are absolutely right about needing to do more, but voting is a first step, not a dead end. If every disillusioned American who has become disgusted with the system and angered by it's unfairness got involved within it, and voted, the voice for progressive reform would be that much louder. Mass Society requires Mass Action, and voting is the only such means that people have, right now, to affect change. If those on the true left (or those who see the country more realistically than those on the right) just throw in the towel, the other side will just get louder, more powerful, and make the world that much worse. Does one vote matter? not really. But thousands of single votes do. And keep in mind, you could pick up a ballot and stand up for the rights of gay people, or the rights of the forest, without filling out voting on any of the other issues or endorsing either of two candidates who you feel are equally destructive. I can't really understand how someone would not vote. But that's just me. That's my reality. Voting when you don't feel comfortable with it is doing a diservice to yourself. At least you're talking about opening eyes. It does anger me when I see people not vote, not out of disillusionment, but out of pure apathy, and don't care a bit about the state of the world, its people, its creatures, its plants, and its well being as a whole. Thanks for putting out another voice. I mean, more diverse voices should be promoted far more, whether they are popular or not, so long as they get people thinking.
I appreciate your response. It is not often that I get a thoughtful response to my cynicism. Most just choose to avoid it all together and deny that they agree on any level. I'd be interested to know what made you agree in part after reading once more...
What I will say about your response is that I think we are basing our arguments on different assumptions. Tell me if I'm wrong, but I get the feeling that you assume that this "mass society" is something that SHOULD be maintained. That, our government is probably just about the best we can do with the cards we are dealt. And you are right, if we choose to maintain this civilized lifestyle we will continue to consume the natural world, oppress animals and each other. And frankly, there is no way to maintain our world population of 7 billion without centralized government, agriculture, deforestation and the like. This is the reality of our situation. I think that the best we can do is try to do as little damage as possible and hope that we do not completely destroy the earth. Okay, so I've gotten off track.
My assumption is that for things to improve in the long run, civilization as we know it needs to fall. More to the point, this government, this way of life is temporary, simply because it is not sustainable. We simply take more than we give back.
I'll switch tracks again to say that you made me realize more fully the point of my article. It was to shake people's blind faith in the government. The faith they have because they have never known anything else, and are taught consistently in school that it's a government of the "gods." I want people to look around themselves and really ask, "is this way of life making me truly happy?" Maybe for some the answer is yes. For me it is no. I'm not asking people to come to a particular answer, just one that is true for them.
For me personally, I have never once felt as though the government was a representation of me, or anyone I know and care about. Much more, I feel as though the government, even the people I have voted for in the past stand for something that I am now completely against. If I vote for someone who is less bad than someone else, I'm still in a minor way validating their actions and the institution they are a part of. In the same way I cannot bring my self to eat animal products anymore because of the suffering it causes, I can no longer put my stamp of approval on the thing that is killing the earth.
And I don't think that even if everyone who felt the same way I did somehow got into "the machine" things would improve. This is because for Americans, or any other first world country to maintain this lifestyle, to stay on top, they have to trample on the rest of the world. "My people" could not, and would not do this. The result would not be a utopia of liberalism but complete chaos.
So, this leaves me much alone and without the typical tools of change. I don't know what I can do to fix this. I am basically helpless against this "machine" and so, I choose to do as little bad as possible, and hope that someday I find a way to do good.
I'm sure that's much more than you ever cared to now about my view of the world. You can take it or leave it but in the least I hope I made you think honestly about it.
I do have to wonder, isn't it an incredible oversimplification to just write off the entire governmental structure as corrupt and evil? I mean, Ralph Nader ran on a platform of "don't support the lesser of two evils", and what did that get us? There is no way Al Gore would have fabricated a war in Iraq, and thousands of people would not have died needlessly. Gore wouldn't have been so vehemently pro-corporation, squeezing the middle class with tax burdens, medical costs (which should be a right, as it is in the rest of the "developed" world), and so forth. Would he have been perfect? No. but he would have been better. We live in a mass society, and mass society simply can't work when run from one extreme or another. There is a very narrow window for discourse in the government, but surely people on one side would at least be better than those on the other side. Kerry would be better than Bush, and make a difference, however slight, in people's lives.
I agree with you about the cruelty of the system, the mass deception and disempowerment that the non-elite suffer. You can go back to any moment in American history and behind the deifying narrative there is self interest, greed, and destruction. But not all politicians are evil. You are absolutely right about needing to do more, but voting is a first step, not a dead end. If every disillusioned American who has become disgusted with the system and angered by it's unfairness got involved within it, and voted, the voice for progressive reform would be that much louder. Mass Society requires Mass Action, and voting is the only such means that people have, right now, to affect change. If those on the true left (or those who see the country more realistically than those on the right) just throw in the towel, the other side will just get louder, more powerful, and make the world that much worse. Does one vote matter? not really. But thousands of single votes do. And keep in mind, you could pick up a ballot and stand up for the rights of gay people, or the rights of the forest, without filling out voting on any of the other issues or endorsing either of two candidates who you feel are equally destructive.
I can't really understand how someone would not vote. But that's just me. That's my reality. Voting when you don't feel comfortable with it is doing a diservice to yourself. At least you're talking about opening eyes. It does anger me when I see people not vote, not out of disillusionment, but out of pure apathy, and don't care a bit about the state of the world, its people, its creatures, its plants, and its well being as a whole.
Thanks for putting out another voice. I mean, more diverse voices should be promoted far more, whether they are popular or not, so long as they get people thinking.
Reply
What I will say about your response is that I think we are basing our arguments on different assumptions. Tell me if I'm wrong, but I get the feeling that you assume that this "mass society" is something that SHOULD be maintained. That, our government is probably just about the best we can do with the cards we are dealt. And you are right, if we choose to maintain this civilized lifestyle we will continue to consume the natural world, oppress animals and each other. And frankly, there is no way to maintain our world population of 7 billion without centralized government, agriculture, deforestation and the like. This is the reality of our situation. I think that the best we can do is try to do as little damage as possible and hope that we do not completely destroy the earth. Okay, so I've gotten off track.
My assumption is that for things to improve in the long run, civilization as we know it needs to fall. More to the point, this government, this way of life is temporary, simply because it is not sustainable. We simply take more than we give back.
I'll switch tracks again to say that you made me realize more fully the point of my article. It was to shake people's blind faith in the government. The faith they have because they have never known anything else, and are taught consistently in school that it's a government of the "gods." I want people to look around themselves and really ask, "is this way of life making me truly happy?" Maybe for some the answer is yes. For me it is no. I'm not asking people to come to a particular answer, just one that is true for them.
For me personally, I have never once felt as though the government was a representation of me, or anyone I know and care about. Much more, I feel as though the government, even the people I have voted for in the past stand for something that I am now completely against. If I vote for someone who is less bad than someone else, I'm still in a minor way validating their actions and the institution they are a part of. In the same way I cannot bring my self to eat animal products anymore because of the suffering it causes, I can no longer put my stamp of approval on the thing that is killing the earth.
And I don't think that even if everyone who felt the same way I did somehow got into "the machine" things would improve. This is because for Americans, or any other first world country to maintain this lifestyle, to stay on top, they have to trample on the rest of the world. "My people" could not, and would not do this. The result would not be a utopia of liberalism but complete chaos.
So, this leaves me much alone and without the typical tools of change. I don't know what I can do to fix this. I am basically helpless against this "machine" and so, I choose to do as little bad as possible, and hope that someday I find a way to do good.
I'm sure that's much more than you ever cared to now about my view of the world. You can take it or leave it but in the least I hope I made you think honestly about it.
Happy election day.
Reply
Leave a comment