I want to talk to you all for a little bit about something that has been bothering me. An election year is around the corner, and that means its time for the three ring circus to begin.
Most of my dear readers, most of you are too detached from the whole political process to give two expressions of fecal matter, but allow me to rant for a little while—because I do care.
I’ve gone on and on about this on Facebook, and I’m going to rant right now about it loud and clear.
Politics are not something that you can just disregard as Someone Else’s Problem. They are your problem. If you ever hope to hold land, if you pay taxes, if you have an above-room-temperature IQ, it is in your best interest to be aware of the politics and to get motivated.
I blame part of your disengagement on the media. I blame part of your disengagement on the hyperbolic rhetoric that gets spouted out of both ends of each party like a never-ending stream of vomit and feces. It, like diarrhea and nausea are not a disease in and of themselves; they’re a symptom of some bigger problem.
Gastroenteritis of the mind and of the sociopolitical self, it is a symptom of our increasing dysfunction as a nation.
We are coming apart and it’s not because of the politicians and the media—they’re just the clowns in the circus.
It’s become the fad not to care, to act like we’re so far above it all.
Guess what, kids? It’s your health insurance they’re talking about. It’s your retirement they’re talking about. It’s your future they’re talking about. It’s your science, your planet. It isn’t someone else’s problem, it’s ours.
Look at the politicians who are making your choices for you right now. They’re old men and women who are too slow behind the tech curve to keep up with Twitter, for God’s sake. These are the people that you and you alone are allowing to rule this nation in your stead. These men and women neither understand nor care about you. They don’t understand your views, your needs, your wants. They don’t like your art and they hate your music. They don’t understand the Internet. They wouldn’t know an IP address if it walked up to them and pinched them on the testicle.
These are the people who have spent the last four years fighting to keep your eye off the ball, to keep us so entertained (or repulsed) by the circus of the media that we’re missing the parts where they’re smashing scientific advancements against the rocks like the heads of small children. There’s a Biblical reference for you.
It is our responsibility to fix this situation. It’s our time to demand wiser politicians, to speak up, to refuse to be party to their games of distract and distrust.
It’s time that we inherit the earth.
In each of us is the power to begin anew, to refuse to watch the mess become a bacchanalia of political comedy and to most of all stay engaged in the conversation. It is unbelievably important to stay involved in the conversation. Nothing is more important.
By not watching the news, you don’t make it go away, you just make yourself stupid.
The Dalai Lama says that whether one believes in a religion or not and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t appreciate kindness and compassion.
The Bible says that the meek will inherit the earth—and we have had enough of being meek.
When you hear someone start to talk about rhetoric or hyperbolically about whatever their political opponent has begun to blabber about—raise your hand and say as politely as you can “I’m sorry, I don’t have time for this. What they’ve said has come and gone. What do you have to say about this particular piece?”
Get involved. Get engaged.
Stay involved. Stay engaged.
This is your problem, it’s your responsibility now to deal with it.
