In 2008, we as a nation knew we wanted a new direction. Years of endless war, deficit spending, and finally a devastating financial meltdown pushed our country into doing what was previously unthinkable: we elected a young half black man. And, prior to that election, young people frustrated with rising unemployment, huge increases in college tuition and a country lead by people totally out of touch with its citizenry chose to give their energy and efforts to Barack Obama. Older people, especially older feminists were torn about the primaries. They wanted change and they wanted a woman in office so the primaries lasted a long time as the older demographic worried about who to put in charge. But young people, blacks, hispanics and others pushed for Obama. They viewed the realities on the ground, they felt the tremors from the banks collapse. By that time the choice between Obama and McCain had been made manifest: vote for status quo which guaranteed more tremors or vote for change.
I have a vision about reality and what we can do with it. Lets take the gulf for an example. We had a huge mega spill and beaches and marsh land and wet lands all are threatened by this spill as well as gulf denizens - fishes, birds, turtles etc. So a group of people on my mailing list sent healing energy to the Gulf and requested that all of us on the list do exactly that. The list of things we could put our energy into included calling congress critters and President Obama and ask for a moratorium on drilling. Eventually the spill was capped. And there appeared some microbes that ate the oil but didn't deplete the oxygen in the water doing it. Oil Eating Microbe
WASHINGTON — A newly discovered type of oil-eating microbe is suddenly flourishing in the Gulf of Mexico.
Scientists discovered the new microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf following the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.
And the microbe works without significantly depleting oxygen in the water, researchers led by Terry Hazen at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., reported Tuesday in the online journal Sciencexpress.
"Our findings, which provide the first data ever on microbial activity from a deepwater dispersed oil plume, suggest" a great potential for bacteria to help dispose of oil plumes in the deep-sea, Hazen said in a statement.
So it is possible that the positive energy did augment the natural healing ability of the earth. And even more probable that the calls and letters put pressure on bp to figure out solutions and led to a moratorium of sorts. So reality now we are told is that there is a layer of gunk on the floor of the ocean. And we still have that dead zone made up of fertilizer run off and plastic. So now transform all that energy of hating bp and corporations in general and our worries about polluting the Gulf in other ways and send positive thoughts about the healing power of the earth and how we need her bounty and to please take this energy we send her and transform it into miracles and microbes that love the gunk and the floating garbage dump that only she can evolve. And THEN write and call congresscritters and President Obama and ask that they fund research into restoring the ocean ecology.
Now we see a process:
Reality check ----> outrage, anger, helplessness, hopelessness ------> negative energy ------>energy transformed into healing energy, activist energy to augment natural systems.
So how would it work politically? After all there is no nature there - or is there? We have a reality check ----> SCOTUS now has allowed unlimited spending by corporations and wealthy people and they don't need to identify themselves. They give themselves fancy names like motherhood, apple pie and such and pour in millions to buy elections. The thought of this engenders------> outrage, anger, helplessness, hopelessness into progressives, democrats and some people who are still sane even if they don't agree with us all the time. -----> So that is negative energy but energy nonetheless. -----> We transform that energy----->GOTV efforts, canvassing efforts, donations (and each with each donation augment its power with the transformative energy).
10/2/10 was an effort at transforming that energy. For those of us who didn't go we have pictures and stories about that day. And Stewart and Colbert are doing their best to use that energy in a transformative way 10/30/10.
What other ways can you see us using transformative energy? Jesse Jackson used a spotlight and pinpoint boycotts to show people outrageous activities by corporations---->engendering outrage----->negative energy----->which he transformed into positive energy by getting the megaphone working and using a laser like beam into boycotting efforts.
We actually could do the same if we had some people here on Kos who were into using that energy that way and we could pinpoint efforts that would put CEOs on notice that we are paying attention and we do care and we do have power.
Young people have enormous reservoirs of energy. Their enthusiasm for Obama was the key to his election IMO. I have been distressed that the Obama administration just seemed to drop them until just lately. I think of young people as the yeast that can make our country rise once again to greatness. They are not against gays because they have had friends who they know are gay and they deal with them as friends, not as the horrible unknown. You can see this in Megan McCain. And she has a desire to transform her party into a more caring and honorable party. If both parties were just and honorable we would be 100% better off. So we need this dynamic youthful energy and how can we encourage them to use this energy for our country's benefit? So come on you young characters - how do you see reality and how do you want to transform all that energy?
Veterans also have huge reservoirs of energy. Some of it they bring home and it explodes within them rather than finding suitable venues of expression. Lets have the vets amongst us give us ideas about how to encourage a beautiful translation of that energy into a powerful army for our homeland. They are already working for Joe Sestak in PA. They are already working for vet benefits. How else could they be defenders of our democracy here at home? I would like to see them embarrass, if it is at all possible, the people who denigrated Max Clelland, John Kerry, and Tammy Duckworth. Nobody should be allowed to erroneously say they have military honors or service or erroneously castigate somebody else's service. Ever!
Labor is now stepping up and doing its part. For years labor was divided against itself because of the bigotry of some of its members. I think that has changed as some of those folks have retired or lost their jobs. But labor needs to make sure that its members are all wholehearted and working together and it needs to remind those who sneer at labor and make them clearly aware of labor's contribution to non-labor folks. 40 hour weeks, vacation and sick leave. Teabagger candidates want to turn the clock back on minimum wage and benefits for workers. This is definitely an area where we can send transformative energy and it will reap benefits for all of us.
We might give a thought to Fox as well. Here the process beginning is well defined. Reality check - Fox news is really Faux news. It shills for republican candidates and Murdock has given over 2 million to republican causes. It pushes Glenn Beck who is a true horror to anybody who has ever actually read history and who is like a sewer sludge that threatens to tar our whole country - you know the feelings the whole group engenders in us - but outrage against the Beckster has killed off some sponsorships -over 200 some have said. I think it would be possible to kill of Murdock's contrivance entirely with all the creativity there is. I can see sending funds to some kind of antidotal youtube creations. Since viral is really energy transformed large, we could create viral renditions of the insanity that is fox. There was a cartoon creation of daffy duck and Glenn Beck that is encouraging. Maybe we could create a whole new "dancing with the starts" thing on the web, but it be about creating national sanity via cartoons and other types of art forms.
We need our own "x-prize". Perhaps after the election we can begin to explore what we can do to change the world by transforming negative energy into positive force.
What is our alternative? We can, like repub supporters and teabaggers succumb to the lure of hating the "other". Always looking for that alien bit to rage and rag about and hate. This is why Beck and Limbo are so popular. This is so easy. Just hate away our lives and our country. And, with that hate and fear give ourselves manacles that our owners - limbo and Beckster use to lead us about.
So what reality check have been festering your negative energy lately?