I have not come
to this conclusion lightly, but the war is over, and all is lost. The 1% - 4% won, and though we
would not admit it to even ourselves, we always knew they would. I do not think this is a surprise. Think back to the late 60s and early 70s. Everything predicted by the counterculture gurus has come true. Not in the apocalyptic
manner we were so innocently expecting, but insidiously, slowly, like the
leak in the dyke, slowly eroding the foundation of whatever was true and light
and good in the world. We closed our eyes and pretended it was all going to be fine.
And no, we didn't just get old - while we were raising our children, working, teaching, and trying to make a difference in our own small ways, SOMETHING went wrong, and we were so distracted by LIFE, that we barely noticed. We were given bread and circuses, lotteries, fancy electronics, concerts, sports, and amazing toys. The church casinos of Stranger in a Strange Land that seemed so impossible are commonplace. The Population Bomb actually exploded, seven billion people are crowding our planet. The hidden street cameras of 1984 take our pictures an average of 14x's every day. We allow ourselves to be poked and prodded by quasi-officials to fly through the air to destinations that are logged onto government computers. We meekly allow concert security teenagers search our purses, no grumbling, just find our seats and try to enjoy.
Those who are still able to THINK, can post, grumble and complain. We can write about it, we can rail and expound and protest, but ultimately - it will do no good. Freedom is an illusion. Free will is limited to those who volunterly stay within the fence. Freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom to assemble, and the rest of the guarantees of the Bill of Rights are illusions maintained by the Haliburton, GM, AIG, B of A, Wells Fargo, Proctor and Gamble, ABC/Disney/GE and all the rest of the 500 to maintain order and keep profits headed the right direction on the nightly graph. It doesn't matter which political party is in power, because they are just different images, no different than Punch and Judy. They have the same hands up their dresses or manipulating their strings. The political play is merely another distraction.
Our children are not and will never be upwardly mobile. Our grandchildren will not live better than their parents. Those of us with children and grandchildren, if we do not wish to be driven totally insane by this realization, must encourage them to learn to enjoy the small beauties left to us. Music, art, gardens, flowers, poetry, sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, mountains, lakes, streams, and good books - those are the pleasures left, as long as we don't make waves and stay inside the fence. Do not lightly dismiss my surrender, it matters.
And no, we didn't just get old - while we were raising our children, working, teaching, and trying to make a difference in our own small ways, SOMETHING went wrong, and we were so distracted by LIFE, that we barely noticed. We were given bread and circuses, lotteries, fancy electronics, concerts, sports, and amazing toys. The church casinos of Stranger in a Strange Land that seemed so impossible are commonplace. The Population Bomb actually exploded, seven billion people are crowding our planet. The hidden street cameras of 1984 take our pictures an average of 14x's every day. We allow ourselves to be poked and prodded by quasi-officials to fly through the air to destinations that are logged onto government computers. We meekly allow concert security teenagers search our purses, no grumbling, just find our seats and try to enjoy.
Those who are still able to THINK, can post, grumble and complain. We can write about it, we can rail and expound and protest, but ultimately - it will do no good. Freedom is an illusion. Free will is limited to those who volunterly stay within the fence. Freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom to assemble, and the rest of the guarantees of the Bill of Rights are illusions maintained by the Haliburton, GM, AIG, B of A, Wells Fargo, Proctor and Gamble, ABC/Disney/GE and all the rest of the 500 to maintain order and keep profits headed the right direction on the nightly graph. It doesn't matter which political party is in power, because they are just different images, no different than Punch and Judy. They have the same hands up their dresses or manipulating their strings. The political play is merely another distraction.
Our children are not and will never be upwardly mobile. Our grandchildren will not live better than their parents. Those of us with children and grandchildren, if we do not wish to be driven totally insane by this realization, must encourage them to learn to enjoy the small beauties left to us. Music, art, gardens, flowers, poetry, sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, mountains, lakes, streams, and good books - those are the pleasures left, as long as we don't make waves and stay inside the fence. Do not lightly dismiss my surrender, it matters.
"If God is god, he is not good.
If God is good, he is not god.
Take the even, take the odd.
I would not sleep here if I could,
Save for the green grass in the wood,
And the wind on the water."
