I have a blog called LIBERTAS.name ("In the name of Liberty") in which I list the errors, crimes, and failures of the U.S. Government, of, for and by our people. It is a rant, a wine, a cry for help in the face of overwhelming problems. I keep it going to log the vast and various challenges that face us and inform the future that at least some of us realized what was happening. I use LIBERTAS to document and aggregate the consistent flow of grief, to someday hold the criminals accountable. After posting that blog for more than a year, I've come to the realization that the entire system may be irredeemable, at the very least it will take a revolution to recover the spirit of America.
Lately, I've been working with various progressive movements, meeting people who have similar concerns and ideals, who have spent lifetimes compassionately picking up the peaces [sic], protecting the weakest among us, and this has given me some hope. There are still people in the world with the memory of our Constitutional Values of Liberty, Secular Justice, Independence, Equality and Courage and the rational curiosity to question authority.
The problems I see with these diverse and fragmented forces seems to be many. Most of the older activists have spent too much of their life working within the very systems that I fear are irredeemable. They focus on sponging up the spilled milk, and ignore the fact that the cow is dead. Our capitalist system has been set up to reward those without compassion, to maximize short term profit, and thus those with good intentions and rational self-interest consistently struggle to find honest work just to support themselves. The struggles for social justice are fought by impoverished soldiers, who like Sisyphus fight an uphill battle. That lifelong investment motivates these peaceful activists to try and REFORM the system from within, through the traditional autocratic systems which have so seriously failed us of late.
While at the other end of the spectrum there is a growing number of disenfranchised, untested activists who are young and full of energy, but lack the institutional experience and wisdom of the historical struggles between those in power and and the rest. These passionate young people have the will and the time to bring change, to rescue America's drowning dreams, they lack only the tools and experience necessary to become successful. One solution could be to combine these groups, to link the young and the old, and given time, wisdom will pass down from one generation to the next. However, one thing I have learned is that these struggles never truly end, they take lifetimes, can turn idealism into cynicism and hope into despair.
I'm not sure how much time we have left. The mounting problems we face are building toward crisis. The wars we fight, the monstrous things we do without compassion to those we would label the "others", are only symptoms of a much deeper disease I call ELITISM. With the legal changes that have taken place over the last eight years, manipulations that have effectively canceled out the Bill of Rights and given the Executive branch of our government unlimited power without accountability, we are in grave danger. Events have been set in motion and there is now potential for a single nuclear "terrorist" attack to change the very nature of America, and enslave us all under a corporate-military dictatorship. This leaves me with a sense of dread deep in my gut.
The debacle of the U.S. budget, the coming economic depression, and the farce that we call the election system may all be too far gone to save. Add to this the potentially catastrophic environmental change that the world is about to endure, the lack of the food and energy, and the widening financial gap between the super-rich and their servants, and and you have created a recipe for chaos. The fact is that we are headed for a very dark time.
There is the rub. The greater our fear, the easier it is to manipulate us. Survival instincts override rational and critical thinking and push us into unnecessary conflicts that erode our potential while strengthening our true opponent, ELITISM. Yet, so many compassionate people ground their moral actions in irrational faiths, and tie themselves to corrupt religious or social systems, even corporations, that are intrinsically part of the problem. Often their very livelihood depends upon the systems that enslave us. To break out of such group-think we need a paradigm shift in our understanding of the human condition. Together we must develop a philosophical revolution that transcends the dialectic conflicts of religion, race, sex, or tribal nationalism. We must conquer fear, transcend it, and become courage itself. Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the acceptance, the choice to ignore the emotion to fight or flee, and walk into danger with full knowledge of the potential consequences.
Many philosophers have tried to inspire this kind of transformation, I could quote Marx, or Neitzsche, or Rorty, Socrates, Siddhārtha, or Lao Tzu, or a dozen others who have put forth parables and theories in every era and every discipline. Knowing these arguments enlightens me and makes me stronger, but their ideas can not be forced, the answers are out there you must collect them for yourselves. Which, brings me to the obvious, we are all individuals. 315pm must not be a traditional, hierarchal organization or group, there are no leaders here. Each of you is responsible for your own life, your own actions, and you choose your own path.
Distributed Leadership: one world of sovereign individuals is the key. If the ideas I spout don't make sense, question them. If you see a false statement expose it. Everyone, YOU ARE WHAT YOU DO. Your actions define your identity: think, speak, write, act. Every day you choose to learn, to create, to become, you are choosing who you are. You change the world each day, make it a positive change.
I will attempt to identify, clarify and document the problem areas and the solutions. I don't know exactly what is coming. There are too many variables. What I do know now is that we must try to become as independent as possible. Prepare yourself for a very hard time, and know that you have allies.
Democracy: depends on the concept of equality, one-person-one-vote. Yet in this country our votes count differently, and are counted differently in each state. With the advent of the electronic voting machine, the potential for universal and untraceable voting fraud has been realized. The fact that every voting machine manufacturer is owned by Republican Evangelicals is worrisome. Add to that the institutional bribery we call campaign finance, and you may begin to see that reform is not an option, we need to re-write the constitution to create publicly funded elections, and replace the electoral college with a direct democracy and a multi party system. We should take steps to create a secure, open-source, universal voting machine, that prints dual receipts, and all elections should be monitored by third party outside organizations. We must call for a New Constitutional Convention to amend the constitution of the United States, and have it composed of 3000 randomly selected Americans, who are paid to write the Amendments using any intellectual resources they need, and then the new document should be ratified by direct democracy, and the process should be repeated every 20 years.
Education: The "digital divide" which in an age of information is the line between freedom and slavery. We Must take steps to protect access to information, to fund public libraries, and free universal internet access, to allow people the tools necessary to educate themselves. Our Public Airwaves, have been sold off to the highest bidders. We must take steps to retrieve and protect the mediums of communication.
Our food sources are at risk: Bees and Bats: The Die Off , and although it is unlikely that U.S. Citizens will starve, the quality of food will decrease, and the percentage of your income used for basic food needs will increase dramatically. But the real problem will appear in those places already struggling for survival, as we buy up and consume their nations natural resources, there will be mass starvation which will lead to civil-wars as people compete to survive. We should take steps to buy a farm land, and create permaculture projects that protect our food sources, and can supply others with the seeds and technology necessary to support themselves.
Energy Transformation: Like food, we have reached PEAK OIL, and the cost of energy from petrol will now increase geometrically. Ever higher energy costs will cause inflation in every other sector, that will grow out of control. One should take steps toward renewable energy independence now. Invest in renewable energy sources and learn how to supply yourself.
Financial Depression: the world is already in the beginning stages of an economic depression, the current administration is attempting to prop up the economy with stop-gap stimulation, but it will inevitably fail. The problem is that as the Federal Reserve and our Government prints money to pay for ever increasing deficits, due to war spending, and profiteering, they are devaluing the dollar. Many homeowners were happy with the apparent increase in their home values, they have failed to realize that the VALUE of their home has not changed, it is the DOLLAR that has decreased in value. Thus their income has become less in actual value, while their home equity had stayed relatively level. Many borrowed against their illusory home equity increase, and now find themselves unable to make payments on their debt, thus the 'sub-prime' crisis. The final solution to this problem requires a new form of economics: Each person must be able to 'print' their own money, and trade their own valuable time and attention independently of any centralized currency. I have taken steps to secure this eventuality, but this power-shift will create great growing pains, as those who currently hold the balance of currency must redistribute the resources. The con-game of compound interest is going to end, but the zero-sum assumptions of the past must also end. It is clear that no one is truly free unless they have their basic needs met, and that means they must have the resources to support themselves. Thus, no one should be able to OWN the means of survival. No one can own the air, the water, the light of the sun, nor the sea, nor the land upon which it shines. As long as one man owns another's home, there can be no equality, no justice, no peace.
If the above problems and potential solutions don't convince you that it is time to act ethically in your own rational self interest, I don't know what will. I do know that I can not solve these problems alone, and if we wait for some leader to take charge and give us direction it will be too late, or he could be assassinated by those who like the systems in place. Welcome, to the revolution.
Inspired by the Zeitgeist...
Religion, Race, Class, Patriotism and all other arrogant notions of dominance and separatism is the actual problem. We must understand as human beings that our religions, races, classes, nationalities, and even fear, greed and arrogance itself are learned associations. They are no more a part of you than the clothes you have on, and you are free to take them off at anytime and discover who and what you actually are.
It is my hope that people will not take what is said
in the film as the truth, but find out for themselves, for truth is not told, it is realized. - Peter Joseph, Zeitgeist.com
