the big us Archives - Revolutionary Misfit

The Inciting Incident

October 6, 2017 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

On September 17, 2011 a group of young rabble-rousers pitched some tents in Zuccotti Park in the heart of Manhattan’s financial district. Their intention? To “Occupy Wall Street.” Their ultimate goal? Bring attention to social and economic inequality, greed, corruption and the perceived undue influence of corporations on government. Were they successful?

The attempt was immediately dismissed by entrenched powers of the status quo as a bunch of anarchist hippie wannabes who really only wanted an excuse to get high.

But they did get the world’s attention. And the drama that ensued created scenarios as surreal as those revealing the disparity in wealth of the Capitol against the poverty of District 12 in the Hunger Games.

I admit deep feelings of kindred spirit with the OWS movement. Like I have said many times recently, Revolutionary Misfit also desires to bring attention to things like social and economic inequality, greed, corruption and the perceived undue influence of corporations on government.

But there is a difference. One problem that the OWS movement faced was in deciding exactly what change they wanted and how in the world it could be practically implemented. It sort of had the makings of a typical union strike where the employees decide to cause enough disruption that management has no choice but to cave into their demands. But OWS would have had to have caused a lot more disruption than several thousands of tents pitched inside a park to get the entire financial apparatus of the largest economy in the world to cave into their elusively expressed demands.

I have no visions of such Tahrir Square-like grandeur. In fact, the only change I want to inspire is inside the heads of potential followers of this blog. That is change that is indeed practical and possible and can actually and ultimately have world changing reverberations.

The only change I want to inspire is inside the heads of potential followers of this blog. That is change that is indeed practical and possible and can actually and ultimately have world changing reverberations.

A change from within…rather than without…if you will.

So what is the inciting incident for the Revolutionary Misfits? All revolutions need one. I can’t really say it’s one thing in particular. For me, the instigator of this blog and the idea of impact mindfulness, the “incident” really is an amalgamation of happenings that helped form a world-view. Many have taken place over the course of my lifetime. But what brought it to a more current event-related head is the fact that the world, all of a sudden, seems headed in a disastrous direction.

The economic collapse of 2008 is certainly an indicator. Also, the fact that global warming is not just a cool documentary anymore…it has become a reality we face on a day to day basis. Global income disparity is rapidly widening to gulf-like proportions. At the same time dictators are falling under the weight of Facebook and Twitter inspired and organized protests. The ability to have an amplified voice is at our disposal like no time ever before in the history of mankind.

It seems that the universe is crying out for people to have an impact.

It is giving us this chance and it might just be our last. I don’t mean to sound apocalyptic, but really things are sort of fucked up. And really, it is within our power, and maybe even it is our duty, to say something and do something about it.

Revolutionary Misfit seeks a change. But not from one type or form of governing to another, but in one type or form of thinking to another. From one that is hell-bent on me to one that is laser-like focused on us. Making a difference for the good of us all. Having an impact and inspiring others to do no less.

The only thing Revolutionary Misfit really seeks to “occupy” is a small slice of your attention…that’s where it all has to begin.

The Politics of Political Expression

November 30, 2016 by costaricaguy 1 Comment

Isn’t it true that we tend to live our lives in the “grey areas”, while we express ourselves politically in stark black or white terms?

Why is that?

Perhaps it’s because politics, in the U.S. and in other countries throughout the world, is like a team sport.

Think about it. Political parties market themselves much like sports teams…with colors, logos, slogans, heroes and such.

It would seem that the explosion of Donald Trump onto the political scene has only increased that “team” aspect.

And we like being part of a team, don’t we?

That need for “team” solidarity is embedded in our DNA. We feel secure as part of a team. There is strength in numbers, right? We like the popularity we experience with other team members. We like the solace of being part of a like-thinking tribe.

We believe it increases our chances of winning.

Even so, in the reality of our day-to-day lives we live shoulder to shoulder with opposing team members. And so far, we’ve been doing a pretty good job of it. Your co-workers aren’t all team members, are they? And yet you get along with them…at least well enough to get the job done…right?

But all that “kumbaya” is quickly tossed out the window as soon as politics enters the discussion and the polarization of team membership kicks in.

It seems that so far we’ve done a pretty good job at separating real life from politics. We’ve been managing the politics of political expression fairly well in the hum-drum of daily life.

Now, that’s actually a semi-facetious statement, since our real lives are governed to a large extent by what transpires, or fails to transpire, in politics. Nevertheless, the point is that we normally get through Thanksgiving Dinner without throwing a turkey leg at uncle so-and-so.

Of course, politicians on opposing teams hardly ever get along. And that often renders them basically ineffective. But we can’t live our lives that way…can we? If we did, boy what a mess that would be!

However, it also seems more and more these days that political expression is seeping into our day-to-day lives. That might be largely due to the time we spend living them on social media…don’t you think?

And perhaps for too many people, the politics of political expression translates into spending too much time posting polarizing memes on Facebook, or “mean tweeting” insults about the opposing team.

What happens when this polarization becomes such a predominant aspect of our lives that we as a society can no longer get along?

Can society survive that? Is it sustainable? What does it mean for future generations if society suffers complete breakdown as a result of the politics of political expression?

Kind of a scary scenario, isn’t it?

We could be headed in that direction. There are some strong indications that we are.

My message this morning is only this: maybe we should give that some serious thought.

The Fabric of Society is Torn

November 5, 2016 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

Most of us have probably had the experience of taking off in an airplane in stormy weather. It’s a bit disconcerting isn’t it?

And just when you have convinced and braced yourself for the ensuing fiery crash, the clouds part and sunshine and blue sky appears. That’s always a very good feeling isn’t it?

Well, right now I’m in the clouds, convinced and braced for the ensuing fiery crash.

Oh for sure, I’ve been through dark clouds before. But, not quite like this.

Not with the experience of my mom passing…something that only happens once in a lifetime…like birth and death.

Not with the experience of seriously not knowing where my next meal will come from.

Not with the experience of failing at just about everything.

And not with the experience of feeling as if the fabric of society is torn…

I’ve never experienced anything like this in my lifetime. I didn’t live through the Civil War, or the Great Depression. Perhaps those tumultuous events were similarly disconcerting. And of course, the 60’s were a decade of societal upheaval. I was a bit too young to really be able to say I “lived through them.”

But the 60’s, in many ways, made us better. Will that be the case…this time?

I don’t know.

We all want to cast blame for all that is happening. And we now have the platform of social media in which to do so in a very public way.

We want to say it’s the fault of the democrats, or the republicans, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, the minions of either, the military-industrial complex, neoliberalism (guilty!), and so on…

But the real truth is that the “one” who’s at fault is…

US.

We are at fault and perhaps the prime reason is our stubborn unwillingness to listen to each other…and really try to understand one another.

You see, people do what they do and think what they think for deeply personal reasons. And that even applies to deplorable mindsets like racism, or sexism.

I’m not implying that we should accept these ways of thinking. The ideas themselves should be roundly condemned. But we shouldn’t be so quick to accuse, judge, and condemn others who we think might harbor them. Rather we should try to understand why.

As Steven Covey wrote long ago in his famous 7 habits book, “seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

Taking to Facebook and insulting those who think differently is not the way to mend the fabric of society. And right now the fabric of society is torn and frayed. I believe this hyper-media culture that has formed around us, and that is being technologically propelled to ever more intrusive levels, is only making it worse.

This election could be a turning point, or it could mark the complete unraveling of society as we’ve known it.

It will only be the former if we stop insulting one another on Facebook and Twitter and start trying to understand and cooperate with one another, despite our differences.

As the great English philosopher, Bertrand Russell, once said…

Love is wise, hatred is foolish…

In this world, which is getting more and more connected,
we have to learn to tolerate one another.

We have to learn to put up with the fact that some people say things that we don’t like.

We can only live together in that way. And if we are to live together and not die together…

We must learn the kind of charity and tolerance that is absolutely essential to the continuation of human life on this planet.

Yes, the fabric of society is torn.

But it can be mended…

The question is, will we?

Sorry for my metaphorical mixing in this, admittedly, platitudinal post. But to end it I will say that I’m completely confident that the clouds will part for me personally…the sunshine and blue sky will finally appear…

I can only hope the same clearing will occur for “US.”

image credit: ChantelSchmitt Flickr via Compfight cc

There But For the Grace of God

September 19, 2016 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

This is an old post that reappears as a chapter in my new book, The Impact Revolution.

There aren’t that many homeless here in Perez Zeledon…

not compared to San Jose, anyway.

But there is this one guy.

I first started seeing him walk past the house. He looked more than a little shady.

I mean he appeared to be an able-bodied fellow.

So why was he in such a predicament?

Surely he was “on something.”

One time we had an item mysteriously “stolen” from the house. Actually we had no idea whether it was stolen or not…it just went missing with no explanation.

I was immediately convinced it had to be him.

So I always kept a suspicious and condemning eye out.

Until one day when I actually spoke with him.

Can’t remember the exact circumstances. I believe he was rummaging through the garbage as I was pulling into the carport. And I just decided to speak. I believe he was a little drunk…well, maybe more than a little.

He asked me for some spare change. I complied…reluctantly.

I’m really kind of a softie.

Then he started speaking with me regularly when he passed by. Before he never said a word.

And neither did I.

I started changing my mind about this guy. He actually seemed…

quite nice.

Just the other day I came home from a trip to San Jose and there he was. He noticed that my car was dirty and offered to wash it. I let him and gave him a little money for the favor…

along with what was left of a bottle of flor de caña (he really appreciated that!).

Wait…you gave him alcohol?

Why not…it seemed to make him quite happy.

I believe we’re friends now.

It’s easy to judge people by outward appearances.

Especially when they are poor, indigent and homeless…

possibly alcohol or drug addicted.

It’s almost natural to condemn them for being that way.

But you don’t know their story…do you?

What if their story was your story?

Could you imagine standing in their shoes?

What really separates you from them?

Money?

Yep, that’s about it…

Maybe life just got too hard and they gave up.

Does life every get hard for you? Do you ever feel like giving up?

I know I do.

OK I understand what you might be thinking just about now.

The reason I have money is because I work hard…

and maybe if they would do the same, then they could have some too…

maybe they could clean up their act.

Buy things.

Buy a life.

But maybe they just don’t want any part of that.

Maybe this economic delineation that we inflict upon ourselves…

you know the one that tells me that I am better than the other guy on account of material accumulation…

on account of all my shit…

is really an illusion.

Maybe there’s no real difference at all.

I believe realizing our sameness is where true compassion begins to dawn.

We begin to see people…all people…even the dirty, drug addicted ones, sleeping in a cardboard box…

as just people…

the same as us.

Maybe we’ll stop judging like I did.

Maybe we can help.

Make a positive impact on a fellow human.

You know I believe there’s some real merit in allowing the novel idea to pass through your mind…

that there but for the grace of god…

go I.

Last week I launched my Crowdsource Campaign, dubbed Looking for Light in a Dark Tunnel. That’s perhaps too gloomy a metaphor for the state of my life right now. Even though it feels like a “tunnel”, I know it really isn’t at all. There’s plenty of light all around me. I’m surrounded by the natural beauty of Costa Rica and by the unconditional love of friends and family. I am imbued with a strong sense of direction and determination. I’m motivated. I’m taking action. The results will come. The pot will boil.

You see, I’m not failing. I’m simmering.

If you’d consider helping me by turning the heat up a little, please check out my Campaign Widget below.

I’ll be writing about my progress in the coming weeks and months. I hope that my story can be an inspiration that might help you simmer with joy as you patiently wait for your pot to boil.

Check out the rewards section to see my various expressions of gratitude for your gracious gift of light.

image credit: Stephan Geyer via Compfight cc

My Support of Bernie Sanders

January 3, 2016 by costaricaguy 4 Comments

I’ve been on a 12 month writing hiatus. Mainly because 2015 was the worst year of my entire life and it sucked the creativity out of every cell in my body like a vacuum pump. It’s high time for me to get back to doing something that’s been a labor of love for me for many years…spewing my thoughts into cyberspace. So, with this post I officially break my hiatus. And I do so to demonstrate my support of Bernie Sanders in his effort to become the 45th President of the U.S.A.

Yes, the Revolutionary Misfit is back in business!

Over the last 12 months a phenomenon has occurred in American politics…no, not The Donald. He is a phenom in his own right, but not one I’m going to waste my wasting brain cells writing about…

No, I’m talking about The Bern…Bernie Sanders!

When I first found out that avowed “democratic socialist”, Bernie Sanders, was running for president of the U.S., I thought he wouldn’t have a chance. I surmised that he was just in it for the influence…that is, to influence the direction of the conversation and that he well knew that he couldn’t actually win.

Well, I was wrong. He can win and he’s definitely in it to win. And so I enthusiastically demonstrate my support of Bernie Sanders in the one way I know how…writing about it.

What would a Sanders’ America look like?

It’s not as if America has never seen the likes of a Sanders-style “socialist” before. There was that guy who was elected for three terms…yes THREE…remember him? His name was Franklin. No, not Benjamin Franklin, dummy…Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Here’s a picture to jog your memory.

He must have been a pretty popular prez to have been elected three times…no other president has ever achieved that feat. Granted, after Roosevelt did it, they changed the constitution not to allow it anymore.

Sanders gave what I consider an historic speech at Georgetown University recently in which he invoked the legacy of Roosevelt to describe what a Sanders administration might look like…

Despite the McCarthyite scare tactics of the right-wingers, a Sanders administration would not be that controversial.

Sanders’ main thing is that the government of the U.S. should be one of, by and for “the people”…meaning all the people and not just a tiny minority of extremely wealthy people.

Now is that such a controversial, or radical, notion?

But, unfortunately, America has become an oligarchy.

If you look up the word oligarchy in the dictionary you’ll find this:

A small group of people having control of a country…

That’s a pretty simple definition that describes a very complex problem.

The reason that problem has grown so complex and deeply rooted is because American law has encouraged the capitalistic idea that money should be at the root of politics…

and politics is at the root of how our country is ultimately governed.

So, if it takes gobs of money to get folks elected, then the source of all that money tends to exert an undue influence on those that are elected. It’s only natural.

Some say, well, that’s just how our system works. And that is certainly true. But it’s not how it should work.

So, along comes Sanders, with his online driven clean campaign vowing to be completely financed with small donations of $30, or less. And low and behold it’s working. He’s smashed every record when it comes to individual donations. He’s running neck and neck with Clinton’s vast fund raising network, and he actually has a chance at winning the damn nomination.

Incredible!

Sanders has vowed to get the money out of politics. Can he do it?

Well, it won’t be easy. One thing that must be done is to repeal that horrible Supreme Court decision called Citizen’s United. The one that gave rise to the all-powerful Super PAC (political action committee) via the notion that corporations are people with the right to political free speech. So, they should be allowed to circumvent current campaign finance laws with strict limits on how much a real person, one with a heart and lungs, brain and other fleshy stuff, can donate and allow fat cat donors to poor millions into these Super PACs whose mission is to support the candidate of the donors’ choice.

Hillary Clinton has been the darling of the billionaire and big corporation-backed Super PACs.

Nevertheless, good ole Bernie, with his legions of real live working-class people, sending in their paltry $10, $20 and $30 dollar donations, is giving her the race of her life!

#feeltheBern!

The bigger problem with all that money fueling the campaign engines of our elected reps is that it ends up influencing how those leaders govern our country. They tend to pass laws that suck the life out of the middle class. And that has grown into the terrible situation of gross income and wealth inequality in America.

Take a look at the Sanders campaign web site and you’ll see that income inequality is his number one issue. On the site it says this:

America now has more wealth and income inequality than any major developed country on earth, and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is wider than at any time since the 1920s.

and this:

There is something profoundly wrong when the top one-tenth of one percent owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent.

Yes, there certainly is something profoundly wrong. And that something is destroying the great engine of American growth and prosperity called the middle class…as well as the ability of those under it to move up to it.

That’s just not happening anymore. People are stuck and they’re stagnant. Wages have not risen in the last 40 years for middle income Americans, they’ve declined…while those at the top have risen dramatically.

That’s just not a sustainable situation. And Bernie’s really the only candidate who’s addressing the problem head on. It’s rooted in a corrupt system. Bernie knows it and I, for one, believe that he’s the one guy who will fight to fix it.

I have watched the several Republican debates and I never heard a word, not one single word, about the most daunting issue facing Americans today…income inequality.

Nor do the Republicans address global warming, which is tied in many ways to inequality, corruption and national security issues. I will address that in my next post. Their front-running candidate, Donald Trump, calls it a “hoax.”

Anyone who reads this blog on occasion should know that income inequality and global warming have long been the two top issues that I write about.

Global warming also happens to be one of Sanders’ most important issues.

The bottom line, at least for me, is this: Bernie is the man that America needs sitting in the Oval Office at this point in our nation’s history. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t write this.

It’s time we moved beyond McCarthyism. Bernie is right on the issues and that’s what matters, regardless of the label the right-wingers want to stick on him.

They had their eight years of “trickle-down” and war mongering. They spent trillions fighting a war in Iraq based on lies. Sanders was against it from the beginning. Clinton supported it.

Some say, how will Bernie pay for all these programs that help hard-working Americans? Well, we paid several trillion to fight a war that created a horrible mess in the Middle East…

If we could find all that money to waste on death and destruction, then perhaps we can find ways in the future to spend it towards helping the middle class to grow and prosper again.

Now, is that a “progressive” notion?

perhaps…

But I believe that it’s a good reason to express my support of Bernie Sanders…the one guy who’s talking straight to us about how to make Americans great again.

On Complexity

October 6, 2015 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

There was a time in a former life when I was enamored with complexity.

I was a tax lawyer who marvelled at the intricacy of “the Code.” I searched hard for situations to apply the most arcane provisions. I strained at gnats in order to swallow camels.

Why did I do that?

Because my driver was the ego. I needed to feed the beast. I was greedy. And complexity and greed go hand in hand.

Look around you and find a greedy person (perhaps the mirror is a good place to start).

I’ll betcha that person leads a fairy complex life.

Donald Trump is a great example.

But is that really the way life is supposed to be lived? Layered in complexity?

Mired in complexity?

Stifled by complexity?

Complexity does little to engage, and much to hinder, the creative impulse.

Artists generally lead fairly simple lives…wouldn’t you say?

I look around at the ticos…the Costa Rican people, who’ve now become my adopted countrymen.

They model the simple life. The agrarian life. The life in which work is nothing more than a means to live. Rather that life being nothing more than a means to work.

Our capitalist system has undergone a financialization that fosters increasing complexity. We get ourselves mired in it…inextricably intertwined in it. It promotes great stress and strain…the type of which is really, really bad for us.

Why do we do that?

Because our driver is the ego. We need to feed the beast. We are greedy. And complexity and greed go hand in hand.

As I sit here looking out at the river and jungle that is my backyard these days, I begin to realize the pain and suffering that ego and complexity have wrought in my life.

I have allowed them to make my life an utter mess.

And our lives should not be like that. The simple life is the neat life. The ordered life. The easy to understand life.

I just have to shake my damn head and wonder how and why I allowed myself to get mired so deeply in complexity.

And wonder if I’ll ever be able to unravel from it…be free from it?

Our capitalist system leads us to believe that somehow all that complexity is a necessary evil. We need lots of it in order to dot all our i’s and cross all our t’s.

Contracts of 20 pages are better than just 1, right?

I mean, any lawyer will tell you (and sell you) that, correct? I know I would’ve!

It’s a jungle out there and you’ve got to be protected…you have to make sure your life remains mired in the complexity of nonstop accumulation.

Right?

Maybe not.

After covering our basic necessities, what do we really need to live a fulfilled life?

To live an impactful life?

To be joyful?

Perhaps the complexity…rather than facilitating such a life…is really inhibiting it.

I am grateful for the model of the ticos. They have shown me the joy in simplicity. It of course helps to be surrounded by all this natural beauty…which springs forth in mind-boggling abundance according to a simple law…

live and let live…

The harmony we find in nature should be emulated in our own natural lives.

Because the more harmony that exists between humans, the less need for all the complexity that tends to divide us.

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