April 2016 - Revolutionary Misfit

I’ve gone through some serious changes over the last decade.

Lately I’ve been making some assessments…questioning where I am and how I got here…

and wondering how much those changes played a role in the transportation.

A little over ten years ago I was one motivated mofo. I took decisive action towards achieving goals. And I did achieve many.

Then something began to happen. I, over time, began to identify myself as a victim.

A victim of what, you ask?

Of my own poor choices. Of hardline, my way or the highway, thinking on the part of others. Of a rigged society. Of luck, most of it bad. Of the economy…the government…the establishment…of Da Man…

I’ve always been a rebellious, quasi-revolutionary, sort of dude. And living in Costa Rica, and deeply identifying with the people here, really brought that nature out.

But, here’s the problem with rebellions, quasi-revolutionary, dudes…

We often wander into victimhood. We often succumb to the idea that the problem is out there…and not in here.

We often find ourselves, turning on, tuning in, and dropping out, as Dr. Timothy Leary infamously exhorted during the counterculture-era in 1966.

Now, I’m not saying that there are no victims. Certainly there are…

All of us still here, alive and kicking, are victims of life…

However, I’d rather be a victim of life than a victim of evolutionary chance (as in, my birth number never came up), or of evolutionary struggle (as in, my death number did).

Life’s tough…make no bones about it…tough as hell.

But as soon as you begin to IDENTIFY yourself as a victim…as in, that’s who I am…

then you’ve just lost a whole lot of your inner strength to change your situation, as well as being of any use to change that of others…

you’ve lost your impetus for impact.

And I firmly believe that lately I’ve been wandering in that wilderness of victimhood.

A big problem with all this is that I can see myself spending more time blaming than I do really getting down to the business of making positive change actually occur…

in my life as well as the lives of others that I might be able to touch, or to influence.

Simply put, there are no victorious victims.

Right now there’s a lot of blaming going on in this hyper-political environment leading up to the November presidential election.

Trump blames every minority group or foreign power for America’s problems.

Sanders blames the 1%.

I still haven’t figured out what Hillary’s doing, other than trying to stake her apparently inherited claim to assume the most powerful position on earth.

Of course, if you pay attention to anything I say here, you know that I agree wholeheartedly with Sanders.

But the danger with all this blaming is the temptation towards assuming victim status…and thus relinquishing our own power to be impactful.

As victims we tend to sit around and wait for change to happen…

We feel disempowered to really do anything ourselves about what we perceive as less than desirable.

Victimhood is not a highly motivated state of mind from which to take action.

I know…I’m there…and I feel anything but motivated. I sometimes feel like curling up in bed and just staying there until my situation improves.

One can be quite comfortable in victimhood, since it’s far easier to not take action because you believe the cards are stacked against you…

But inaction will never make a situation better, and may very well see it deteriorate towards uncontrollable levels.

That’s kind of where we’re at with global warming, now isn’t it?

So, what’s the core message of this post?

If you’re feeling victimized…great! Let it make you angry. Let it get under your skin. Let it make your blood boil. Let it provoke rebellion. Let it bring out that revolutionary spirit…but don’t let it lead you to assume the role of a victim…

Don’t wander into the wilderness of victimhood.

We, you and I, have the ability to impart change…to make an impact…in our lives and in our world.

So, get out of bed…get out of victimhood…and just do it!

And remember that there are no victorious victims…so, simply refuse to be one.

To keep doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.

It’s also the reason why the system of oligarchy, or rule by the rich, has grown such deeps roots in American society.

Today the nation, the world, is faced with grave problems that cannot be dismissed. And, as a matter of fact, neither ISIS, nor immigration, are in the top three.

Economic inequality has grown to monstrous proportions in our country and in the world at large. In our country the richest singly family owns more wealth than the bottom 40% of all Americans. In the world, the richest 62 people own more wealth than 50% of all people on planet earth. Let me put that another way, 62 people own more of the earth’s resources than 3.5 billion!

Now, some might say, so what?

Well, if you don’t think that all that concentrated wealth carries with it concentrated power, then you’re just not being honest with yourself.

It does matter. And it is creating an unsustainable situation in our country and throughout our planet.

It is creating a dangerously unstable situation.

The reality is that the conflicts throughout the world might just have more to do with inequality than with anything else, including religion. The disaffected are looking for answers and the siren song of violent reaction, whether sounded by Trump or by ISIS, can be very alluring.

But thinking people know that violence is not the answer.

Right?

The capacity for influence that all that concentrated wealth carries cannot be lightly dismissed. It has become quite acceptable to the American populace that only the most wealthy among us share the privilege of leading us in government. And it’s become perfectly acceptable to many that only those with access to billions from wealthy contributors (or from their own pocket books) should be capable of successfully running a campaign for national office, like president, congressman, or senator.

But that access comes at a price…and that price is oligarchy.

Government does not work for the people.

Government works for the rich. If that’s not the case, then why can’t it take action that the people want?

Do the people want health care as a right, not a privilege? Should we not live in a situation in the richest country on earth, where the prospect of a health crisis does not also lead to the inevitability of a personal financial meltdown? The citizens of virtually every other developed country on this planet have that…but not here, not in the U.S.

Why?

Because those in power don’t want it, either because they fear they’d have to shoulder the lion’s share of the burden of paying for it, or because they know it will hit them where it hurts the most…their beloved bottom lines. The wealthy have a vested interest in keeping health care costs soaring and making sure the populace keeps paying the price for it.

Do the people want their kids to have the chance to get a start in life with a college degree without the added burden of crushing debt? Debt that they may be paying back for the rest of their lives? Is it not reasonable to expect that the wealthiest nation on earth could provide that benefit to its youth in the same way that most other developed countries provide theirs? Of course, but those in power don’t want that.

Why?

Well, because either they fear they’d have to shoulder the lion’s share of the burden of paying for it, or because they know it will hit them where it hurts the most…their beloved bottom lines. The wealthy have a vested interest in keeping education costs soaring and making sure the populace keeps paying the price for it.

Global warming is a scientific fact. If you’re reading this and don’t believe that, the only thing I can suggest is…do a little unbiased research. The scientific evidence is overwhelming…along the lines of gravity, or evolution.

Not only is it a scientific fact, but it’s a very real and current threat to humanity. The negative effect of global warming on our planet and our lives is not some distant danger…it is a present danger. They are taking place throughout our planet now, from disappearing species that some are calling the sixth mass extinction of life on planet earth, to the melting polar icecaps and rising sea levels.

So, why can’t we seem to get our collective act together and do something about it? Because those in power don’t want that.

Why?

Because either they fear they’d have to shoulder the lion’s share of the burden of paying for it, or because they know it will hit them where it hurts the most…their beloved bottom lines. The wealthy have a vested interest in ignoring climate change and making sure the populace keeps doing the same.

Make no mistake about it, the reason the government doesn’t work for the people is because it works for the wealthy.

And we keep voting for that reality.

We keep voting for oligarchy.

We are facilitating the problem.

It is madness to think that someone who finances his or her campaign with donations from the 1%, will then take office and govern for the 99%. Tweet it out!

Ain’t gonna happen.

But, wait, a solution has arrived on this event horizon, just in time for us not to go careening over the edge into the black hole…

His name is Bernie Sanders.

Now, am I saying that Bernie Sanders is the answer? That he will be the proverbial magic wand whose waiving will vanquish all the grave problems we face?

No, I am not and I do not believe that.

But, I do believe this…he’s the best chance we’ve got at this point in time.

His election does not guarantee success. It does not guarantee that the people will get what they want.

But he does increase that probability.

Bernie Sanders does not guarantee success.

But…Bernie Sanders is a step in the right direction.

There are No Victorious Victims

Sanders is a Step in the Right Direction

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