Howdy Kids!
We have taken the first step towards halting the mindless destruction that Bushco has propagated, not just through their actions, but through the moral tone they have introduced to the world. The fish rots from the head down and the POTUS acting as an irresponsible war-mongering dickhead has allowed a WHOLE bunch of other people to adopt the same despicable moral standards he has held up to the world as a behavioural model. When the leader of the free world adopts merciless brutality and Might Makes Right as his moral standard, the rest of the world is virtually forced to follow, if merely for self defense. This kind of thinking also allows a rationalization for short term destructive policies and the momentary advantage they seem to bring. We can see this in the rapidly deteriorating world situation. the willful abandonment abandonmentof diplomacy itself is all we need to really know about the paradigm they are attempting to establish.
But even without the small brained, small minded, small membered pseudo-Texan, the world was going to be facing some of the same challenges, Bush is just throwing white phosphorous on the fire.
The Bush Regime was/is directing us backward. Down the road back into the brutality and savagery of Humankind's past.. Where the strong rule the weak by force. Bush and The Republicans are Regressives, in opposition to our Progressiveness.
So....we won the election, and now have a chance of stopping the slide and heralding a change, but how much change?
How much change?
Are we content with a return to the status quo, Pre-Bush? Some sort of model of Clintonian stability? A slight change?
Or do we need to really change? Use this last election as a springboard to start a new way of thinking, acting and planning? Will it be ....Business As Usual? Or True Progress?
We have defeated one Elephant, well ...at least partially. But there are two more elephants in the room that will influence the world we live in far more than anything in American politics.
Here's one. Here's one.
Here's the other. Here's the other.
If America doesn't stop its studied avoidance of these two problems, how will it affect American Politics?
Well for one thing Florida Florida might stop being so important!
And with only 300 million of us, and 6.6 billion of them, And considering that the 300 Million of us use 15-20% of the worlds resources, thus taking them out of the hands of the 6.6 billion. And with our Income Inequality...
And with us broadcasting our lifestyle and desires all over the world
And world resources getting scarcer and scarcer with more and more people who need, them, who need food everyday and clean water everyday and a place to sleep every night, well.....
Maybe we should build a wall around the whole country! Preferably one that will keep water out too!
I don't want to seem an alarmist, but I don't think these problems are going to get better by themselves. In fact the longer we wait to act and plan, the more they will accelerate.
So......whats the plan?
As Bob Dylan sang
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
The world will not end.
But in ten years the world will be much different.
If our current level of non-planning and non-mitigation continues, in twenty years it could very well be a VERY different world. Change is scary. Because it brings an unknown future, instead of a 'known' future. In today's 'known' (presumed) future, things will be bad, but it will be a devil we think we know. We have years and years before anything REALLY bad happens, we say, there are other more important things we need to worry about right now. Global Warming and the exploding (3 billion people at prime breeding age)number of Human Beings on the Planet. That's in the future, we don't really have to plan or change right now, we say to ourselves.
The Unknown is one of the greatest fears of mankind. Rationalization, denial and ignorance are like a big comfy chair. Easy to slide into, hard to get out of.
Change is coming....hell, change is here.
So....what's the Plan?
Even if George Bush doesn't blow up the middle east or invade Korea or Venezuela or any of those other well thought out campaigns he loves, we still have what can only be described as crisis situations to deal with. Even if the Congressional Democrats can find some way to stop George from being a recalcitrant mewling ass hat bent on world destruction.....Cause He Sure Ain't Gonna Stop On His Own....we still need to address these to problems. As well as the multifaceted complexities they spawn.
We have been focused for six years on stopping George Bush. Ok, we did what we could, we worked our asses off to elect those who would oppose him. I have seen may and various interpretations of the election results....but can anyone argue that the basic intent of the voters was....change?
How much change?
Is it time to start transforming America for a new role in the 21st Century?
A role of world leadership not based on dominating and intimidating through military might and nuclear threats?
A return to being the technological world leader, a role we abdicated by rejecting science as a whole during the rise of theocracy?
A belated leader on transforming our antiquated and destructive energy infrastructure? Brazil did it, why can't we?
A leader in developing new energy technologies, perhaps withdrawing all Government subsidy and tax breaks (yes, you would pay more at the pump, short term) from the international oil cartels and redirecting those resources towards alternative energy?
Socialized medicine...or is Socialized still a bad word because of something Russia did in the last century?
A living wage, so that all Americans who work a forty hour week actually have the money to survive and advance?
A real education system instead of a patched together mish mosh of competing theories that have destroyed our educational institutions? We are going to need all the smart people we can get, our current systems goal seems to be producing consumers and workerbots.
A change in the banking and credit industries, that will allow the middle class to once again start accumulating wealth instead of treading water in the bathtub and waiting complacently to get sucked down the drain?
A change in the Insurance Industry to make it something more than a glossy protection racket that takes your money and provides no service when we need it?
A change to the Public Financing of campaigns so that the money in the process comes from the people? Thus forcing our elected officials to represent the people instead of the corporate interests that pay to elect them now?
A change from blatant Corporate greed and self interest..... to an attitude of responsible, reality based, leadership and stewardship for our ever shrinking and changing world?
Thats just a few examples of what we need to change. Not just change for changes sake, but the changes we will need to survive and lead in the new world that is forming as we speak. Whether we like it or not.
The type of change I speak of here is not merely a change in policy or leadership.
It is a change in attitude and expectation. It means a change within each of us. It means each of us helping our neighbors to understand the challenges we face and to help them....at their own pace and comfort level, change as well. It means speaking up, speaking out, yelling loudly. On blogs, at work, in our personal lives, and especially in our spending and consumption habits.
Though the solutions may be political, the changes we need to make to get to those solutions is personal. The commitment to a sustainable and better world is a personal commitment, that then translates into all phases of our lives and society. Change is coming. Inevitably. Do we want to be proactive and shape the future into something beneficial to our children and the next Seven Generations of Humans? Or will we be passive and reactive, racing from crisis to crisis throwing up quick patches to keep the water out of the sinking ship?
Right now we live in a world that is dominated by corporate interests. Under Bushco the Corporate interests have been given Carte Blanche to run free and create the world THEY want. A world that profits a select few, and casts the rest of Humanity not only off the sinking ship, but out of the lifeboat as well.
They are creating an entire Planet where the ethic to be lived by can be expressed as For The Greatest Good of The Privileged Few.
I and evidently some of you would like to see a Planet where the ethic is For the Greatest Good Of All.
Human Beings live in the past, this is because we fear the future. That is nothing to be ashamed of, its Human Nature.
But if you think about it....Humans have no greater challenge than overcoming Human Nature. It is necessary for us to move forward, it may be necessary to survive. At this point in history we need to take a sober look forward as never before. We have the information and can develop the tecnology needed, if we have the will. It's a true turning point....it's a true OPPORTUNITY.
To either fail from lack of vision and commitment....or to succee.
You and I fellow Kossaks are at the point position in this change. We are the forefront of the People Powered Movement. It is NOT the corporations or the politicians or the establishment that will effect the necessary changes, its The People.
It's up to us and what we tell our Representatives, what we demand from our Representatives. We who are at the forefront of a new populism are the ones who will effect the necessary change. I like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, but they will not lead us into the future unless We The People MAKE them. They will, as all politicians do, take the easy way out. Politicians only respond to pressure, they are also Humans. Politicians will listen to the loudest voice, if pressured effectively, if we make it the loudest voice, they WILL listen to the Will of the People. If we communicate with our Reps, if they are pressured and informed effectively, WE can lead THEM into the future.
It is indeed our job as citizens to do so, our job.....and our responsibility to the future.
This is a new beginning a truly historic opportunity to transform the world....so what do we want?
A return to Business As Usual under Democratic leadership?
Or real meaningful change, that actually addresses the very real, unavoidable and world changing circumstances we find ourselves in?