Monday, August 07, 2006

raising consciousness

I've spent a great deal of time lately considering the problem of raising consciousness among my fellow 'mericans. I find myself laboring under an odd admixture of resentment, bordering on contempt, coupled with a hopeful admiration and a cheerleader-rah-rah spirit, for my countrymen.

here is this once great nation of entrepreneurs, original thinkers, and spirited iconoclasts that has gone to the dogs with its consumer-culture indolence, avarice, pettiness, and apathy. I am no jingoist, I despise the present form of flag-stickering patriotism that has been so easily promulgated as a tool by the neocon right to further their heinously imperialistic agenda in iraq--- but I still believe that 'merica once was a great nation; at the very least it was an amazing geopolitical experiment begun by some forward-thinking minds. what we've done with that great experiment is often disturbing and, at the very least, terrifically disappointing.

and here we are now, 230 years later, wallowing in our own depravity. okay, that's the cynic talking. but honestly, we're running as fast as we can toward the edge of a cliff and the best we can do is mutter to ourselves, "I just know I'll figure out how to fly by the time I get there."

fortunately, there are signs of change. I've met more than a few people with good hearts and brave souls (not bravehearts!) and I just hope we can get the message out to the ones with blinders on, the ones hurtling toward the cliff and trying to drag us all along with them.....

1 Comments:

At 8/20/2006 1:26 AM, Blogger Tess said...

I think working for change in a tangible way is the only thing that really achieves anything. "Be the change you want to see in the world" ~ make change happen by changing things ~ seems more effective than (or maybe, even, still more effective when combined with) doing communications, political or organizing work.

Not that communicating, getting people elected, and organizing aren't "doing" anything -- far from it -- but that actually making things different in a tangible way has, to my mind, greater impact.

Elect politicians who support solar, and you might get some funding out into the community -- or you might just get some hot air. (And possibly someone quite different at the next election.) But, build and install solar power units, and X number of people are off the grid.

My $.02 ~ tess

 

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