When outrage isn’t enough
On a phone no thicker than my pinky, I have instant access to the entirety of human knowledge. I can watch, ad infinitum, every television show, every movie, every idea, at any time, at any place. I can access news from around the world, in any language I want. I can read the works of Plato, Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, St. Augustine, Chaucer, and Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. One could spend a lifetime in this black hole and gain nothing from it. Today, I watched the FCC end the Rules of Net Neutrality, with full grasp of the irony. But this post is not about that fight.
I believe, in the interest of full disclosure, that we, as a society, are experiencing seismic changes, growing pains, if you will. It is becoming increasingly difficult for our ancient laws and institutions to keep pace with these changes. The very presence of the President of the United States on Twitter has proven itself to be an incredible agent of chaos both in the United States and abroad, a point well worn, and lost on none of us.
As I said in my previous post, I believe we have lost the first battle of the information age. On a phone so thin, with so much information at our command, some good, some bad, some outrageous lies, we are faced with the tyranny of choice. And in that tyranny, we have lost, and continue to lose sight of facts and truth. It is rather quite easy these days for anyone to come from a brief stay on social media depressed, dejected, horrified, and alarmed. It is rather easy then that many of us so easily and quickly buy into the warm embrace of a comfortable lie, a false ideology, rather than bear witness to our own oppression.
There is no question in my mind that we stand on a precipice, shakily ready to fall into an abyss. When we are pulled in a thousand directions at once, it becomes rather easy to miss entirely that last step into oblivion. There is a ghost of angst, anger, frustration stalking this country. More people than ever are seeking treatment for depression, anxiety, and a whole host of disorders. And it isn't surprising to see why. Child hunger, homelessness, illiteracy, failing schools, collapsing bridges, mass killings, and in the wake of this comes politics to smother any hope we might have in order to score political points. It is not the least bit surprising that this generation feels powerless to affect change, or that change affected is impermanent. The entrenched powers of the current political system call us ever backwards to the battles which created them.
We have accepted that this system has always been and because of that it will always be. In our teetering on the edge of the abyss we have forgotten that with out votes we stand as final guardians of this Republic. That either political party in this country has power beyond what is granted by consent of the people is an abject lie, perpetrated for the sole purpose of amassing and maintaining power in the hands of the few and not the votes of the many.
Never before in my life has this country been closer to oblivion, led onward by divisive politics and the traitors that perpetrate division. And never before has this nation had a greater opportunity to tear down the systems of oppression that seek to divide Americans against each other.
The enemy of the people is the Two-Party System. One need no clearer evidence than the treacherous program of gerrymandering which has ripped the voice from the masses and given it handily into the centers of power on which the system itself relies. But more than this alone, the division of Americans along lines of red and blue has robbed us of our individuality and reduced our ability to think to cold black and white. We have lost our ability to compromise because we sign it over with every election.
There are realities of elections in this country which require a significant investment in a candidate. These realities serve to reinforce the myth that only those with an R or a D behind their name stand any chance of making it into government. Rather, the reality is that were we, the people, to reject this system writ large, it would be those people who must put an R or a D behind their name in order to sanctify their candidacy who would find themselves expelled from government entirely.
Further, our allowance of only two programs of government from which to choose is an insult to the very idea of freedom. There are countless ideas for governance, some good, some bad, some incredibly so, but none so damning to the long term survival of a Republic than the idea that there are only two! I myself have a tendency to disagree with people with whom I agree. The two party system was built of necessity to protect our Republic during times of tremendous upheaval. The men who built the system believed, and perhaps rightly so, that in the age of secession, and then the industrial age, and the age of Empires, and the age of Socialism, and the death of those old regimes, that guardianship of the Republic should rest in the hands of the fewest possible. But what was built to guard against the populist waves of centuries past now stands as a bulwark against the people. It exists as a mechanism of power for its own posterity and protection. It guards neither democracy nor the people. Rather, it rips from them their Divine Rights of Freedom.
The decision today regarding Net Neutrality has brought me to this conclusion: that access to a free and independent press is only part of one basic human right. Access to free and open communication between citizens of a free world is a basic human right. I find myself, in light of today's events, more in favor of pulling control of the internet from the hands of corporations and into the hands of the people. We must be able to share our ideas, to interact with them, to debate them, because when that access is denied, tyranny will have been fulfilled.
I know this generation feels lost, isolated, and alone. It is not by accident, it is by design. The two parties that rule this country so completely have built the world that has made men prisoners in their own minds. I believe that citizenship is an agreement, not between people and their government, but only between people. I believe that we must return to our contract between us and define more clearly than ever before in our nations history, what that contract of citizenship entails, not simply what rights we are guaranteed, but what responsibilities we have towards each other in respect to the preservation and advancement of liberty, peace, and our Republic.
I believe we have a duty to be educated, to be literate, not only in our lingua franca, but in the founding documents of our nation, the history of our Republic, and those glorious enlightenment ideals of Liberty, Equality, and Brotherhood, that pulled Western Civilization out of the slavery of absolute kingship and into the bright light of democracy. We should teach the Constitution as though it was Scripture itself. We should learn those radical ideas of our revolutionary birth so well that our instinct in the face of tyranny is revolt and never acceptance. I believe it is the duty of all citizens, not those in uniform alone, to protect and defend this Republic from all enemies, both foreign and domestic.
If we are to be a nation of immigrants, ruled by the People, governed by the majority, with equal justice under the law, then we must plant firm what can live and what must die. Racism, that horrid aberration of centuries past, that damned crutch of idiots and morons, has no place at all in a Democratic Republic. To believe, for no good reason other than to believe it, that anyone is less deserving of rights, access, or justice because of the color of their skin, is an idea so contrary to even the concept of intellectual thought that it is a rot on the foundation of democracy itself. Xenophobia too, along with homophobia, and all other social phobias, is a sign of intellectual sickness and weakness, and they too have no place in democracy. The rights of any man to believe whatever he believes, and behave however he sees fit, ends abruptly where anothers rights begin. On this precept we must must ensure equality. To compete in the marketplace of ideas, or any other market, means that one must surrender convictions to remain competitive. To announce ones prejudice as a guiding principle is not only stupid and limits ones customer base, but it creates undue tension between citizens and acts as a barrier to good governance.
If we are to rule this Republic as a People, we must tear down the two party system. There is, in my mind, no other option remaining to us. And the power to do so is extraordinary and rests entirely in our hands. The system exists on our willingness to allow it to exist. It's power structures, financially supported by the few, and endorsed by those the parties have claimed for their own, fail entirely should the People refuse them power. They could have access to endless capital, endless advertising, and in the end, their existence still relies solely on the People. If, in this time, and I believe this to be possible, if not wholly probable, this generation were to reject this system of oppression, and fling open the doors of our Republic to the vibrant symphony of ideas that exist in this world, we would see stagnation wholly destroyed and an explosion of liberty so great that this time would be remembered not as the death of democracy but the birth of a new era of liberty.
But these are tall orders, and in this age of outrage, where we are all pulled towards anger, what would it take? Unity, of course, and without question. But more than this, we must find within ourselves the discipline of democracy necessary to end our own oppression. It is not enough to be outraged, it is not enough to call your legislators, it is not enough to post a status, it is not enough to carry a placard, it is not enough to gloat our victories and whine in our defeats, we must be disciplined. We must regiment ourselves around this singular idea that we, the People alone, rule this nation. We must seek each other out and debate our ideas as though this were the Curia and Julius Caesar was crossing the Rubicon. We must improve our ideas, we must research our opinions. This is the vital function of our democracy, but we must do it with the discipline of an army. We must slough off laziness and embrace with our uniquely American optimism the greatest challenge this generation will ever face. We must not simply protest this system of blatant oppression, we must not stop. We cannot be satisfied that we have protested the skinheads with the stupid shirts, we must beat them back continually as though we were the storm troopers they fantasize about. We cannot simply protest the violation of the dignity of any person at the hands of the powerful, we must guard those victims as though they were our family, and demand justice from the predators as though we were a Centurion disciplining a legion. We must do these things not once, but continually, without ceasing, without wavering. We must pull the media spotlight off the egos of idiots and point it directly at us, the People, so that we cannot be ignored. It is our job to hold those corrupt traitors who seek to divide us to account; to hold them by the scruff of the neck, to drown their lies with our united voice, and to ensure those who would divide, disenfranchise, and oppress have no place writing our laws, executing them, or adjudicating them.
There is hope for this Republic still, and it is in the regimented discipline of the American People to exercise this democracy. If you are to carry one idea from this, I hope, with all that I have, that it is this: This Republic exists each day because of you. By your action or inaction it exists. You have the power, and perhaps more to the point, we have more power together, to reshape it, rebuild it, reinvent it however we see fit. We must be more disciplined together than those who would divide us.
So come on, bleeding-heart-take-the-guns-I'm-With-Whoever Liberals, get in here bible-thumping-climate-change-denying-Drill-Baby-Drill NeoCons! Lets put two All American middle fingers to anyone who wants to divide us and destroy this Republic. And lets do it together.
I believe, in the interest of full disclosure, that we, as a society, are experiencing seismic changes, growing pains, if you will. It is becoming increasingly difficult for our ancient laws and institutions to keep pace with these changes. The very presence of the President of the United States on Twitter has proven itself to be an incredible agent of chaos both in the United States and abroad, a point well worn, and lost on none of us.
As I said in my previous post, I believe we have lost the first battle of the information age. On a phone so thin, with so much information at our command, some good, some bad, some outrageous lies, we are faced with the tyranny of choice. And in that tyranny, we have lost, and continue to lose sight of facts and truth. It is rather quite easy these days for anyone to come from a brief stay on social media depressed, dejected, horrified, and alarmed. It is rather easy then that many of us so easily and quickly buy into the warm embrace of a comfortable lie, a false ideology, rather than bear witness to our own oppression.
There is no question in my mind that we stand on a precipice, shakily ready to fall into an abyss. When we are pulled in a thousand directions at once, it becomes rather easy to miss entirely that last step into oblivion. There is a ghost of angst, anger, frustration stalking this country. More people than ever are seeking treatment for depression, anxiety, and a whole host of disorders. And it isn't surprising to see why. Child hunger, homelessness, illiteracy, failing schools, collapsing bridges, mass killings, and in the wake of this comes politics to smother any hope we might have in order to score political points. It is not the least bit surprising that this generation feels powerless to affect change, or that change affected is impermanent. The entrenched powers of the current political system call us ever backwards to the battles which created them.
We have accepted that this system has always been and because of that it will always be. In our teetering on the edge of the abyss we have forgotten that with out votes we stand as final guardians of this Republic. That either political party in this country has power beyond what is granted by consent of the people is an abject lie, perpetrated for the sole purpose of amassing and maintaining power in the hands of the few and not the votes of the many.
Never before in my life has this country been closer to oblivion, led onward by divisive politics and the traitors that perpetrate division. And never before has this nation had a greater opportunity to tear down the systems of oppression that seek to divide Americans against each other.
The enemy of the people is the Two-Party System. One need no clearer evidence than the treacherous program of gerrymandering which has ripped the voice from the masses and given it handily into the centers of power on which the system itself relies. But more than this alone, the division of Americans along lines of red and blue has robbed us of our individuality and reduced our ability to think to cold black and white. We have lost our ability to compromise because we sign it over with every election.
There are realities of elections in this country which require a significant investment in a candidate. These realities serve to reinforce the myth that only those with an R or a D behind their name stand any chance of making it into government. Rather, the reality is that were we, the people, to reject this system writ large, it would be those people who must put an R or a D behind their name in order to sanctify their candidacy who would find themselves expelled from government entirely.
Further, our allowance of only two programs of government from which to choose is an insult to the very idea of freedom. There are countless ideas for governance, some good, some bad, some incredibly so, but none so damning to the long term survival of a Republic than the idea that there are only two! I myself have a tendency to disagree with people with whom I agree. The two party system was built of necessity to protect our Republic during times of tremendous upheaval. The men who built the system believed, and perhaps rightly so, that in the age of secession, and then the industrial age, and the age of Empires, and the age of Socialism, and the death of those old regimes, that guardianship of the Republic should rest in the hands of the fewest possible. But what was built to guard against the populist waves of centuries past now stands as a bulwark against the people. It exists as a mechanism of power for its own posterity and protection. It guards neither democracy nor the people. Rather, it rips from them their Divine Rights of Freedom.
The decision today regarding Net Neutrality has brought me to this conclusion: that access to a free and independent press is only part of one basic human right. Access to free and open communication between citizens of a free world is a basic human right. I find myself, in light of today's events, more in favor of pulling control of the internet from the hands of corporations and into the hands of the people. We must be able to share our ideas, to interact with them, to debate them, because when that access is denied, tyranny will have been fulfilled.
I know this generation feels lost, isolated, and alone. It is not by accident, it is by design. The two parties that rule this country so completely have built the world that has made men prisoners in their own minds. I believe that citizenship is an agreement, not between people and their government, but only between people. I believe that we must return to our contract between us and define more clearly than ever before in our nations history, what that contract of citizenship entails, not simply what rights we are guaranteed, but what responsibilities we have towards each other in respect to the preservation and advancement of liberty, peace, and our Republic.
I believe we have a duty to be educated, to be literate, not only in our lingua franca, but in the founding documents of our nation, the history of our Republic, and those glorious enlightenment ideals of Liberty, Equality, and Brotherhood, that pulled Western Civilization out of the slavery of absolute kingship and into the bright light of democracy. We should teach the Constitution as though it was Scripture itself. We should learn those radical ideas of our revolutionary birth so well that our instinct in the face of tyranny is revolt and never acceptance. I believe it is the duty of all citizens, not those in uniform alone, to protect and defend this Republic from all enemies, both foreign and domestic.
If we are to be a nation of immigrants, ruled by the People, governed by the majority, with equal justice under the law, then we must plant firm what can live and what must die. Racism, that horrid aberration of centuries past, that damned crutch of idiots and morons, has no place at all in a Democratic Republic. To believe, for no good reason other than to believe it, that anyone is less deserving of rights, access, or justice because of the color of their skin, is an idea so contrary to even the concept of intellectual thought that it is a rot on the foundation of democracy itself. Xenophobia too, along with homophobia, and all other social phobias, is a sign of intellectual sickness and weakness, and they too have no place in democracy. The rights of any man to believe whatever he believes, and behave however he sees fit, ends abruptly where anothers rights begin. On this precept we must must ensure equality. To compete in the marketplace of ideas, or any other market, means that one must surrender convictions to remain competitive. To announce ones prejudice as a guiding principle is not only stupid and limits ones customer base, but it creates undue tension between citizens and acts as a barrier to good governance.
If we are to rule this Republic as a People, we must tear down the two party system. There is, in my mind, no other option remaining to us. And the power to do so is extraordinary and rests entirely in our hands. The system exists on our willingness to allow it to exist. It's power structures, financially supported by the few, and endorsed by those the parties have claimed for their own, fail entirely should the People refuse them power. They could have access to endless capital, endless advertising, and in the end, their existence still relies solely on the People. If, in this time, and I believe this to be possible, if not wholly probable, this generation were to reject this system of oppression, and fling open the doors of our Republic to the vibrant symphony of ideas that exist in this world, we would see stagnation wholly destroyed and an explosion of liberty so great that this time would be remembered not as the death of democracy but the birth of a new era of liberty.
But these are tall orders, and in this age of outrage, where we are all pulled towards anger, what would it take? Unity, of course, and without question. But more than this, we must find within ourselves the discipline of democracy necessary to end our own oppression. It is not enough to be outraged, it is not enough to call your legislators, it is not enough to post a status, it is not enough to carry a placard, it is not enough to gloat our victories and whine in our defeats, we must be disciplined. We must regiment ourselves around this singular idea that we, the People alone, rule this nation. We must seek each other out and debate our ideas as though this were the Curia and Julius Caesar was crossing the Rubicon. We must improve our ideas, we must research our opinions. This is the vital function of our democracy, but we must do it with the discipline of an army. We must slough off laziness and embrace with our uniquely American optimism the greatest challenge this generation will ever face. We must not simply protest this system of blatant oppression, we must not stop. We cannot be satisfied that we have protested the skinheads with the stupid shirts, we must beat them back continually as though we were the storm troopers they fantasize about. We cannot simply protest the violation of the dignity of any person at the hands of the powerful, we must guard those victims as though they were our family, and demand justice from the predators as though we were a Centurion disciplining a legion. We must do these things not once, but continually, without ceasing, without wavering. We must pull the media spotlight off the egos of idiots and point it directly at us, the People, so that we cannot be ignored. It is our job to hold those corrupt traitors who seek to divide us to account; to hold them by the scruff of the neck, to drown their lies with our united voice, and to ensure those who would divide, disenfranchise, and oppress have no place writing our laws, executing them, or adjudicating them.
There is hope for this Republic still, and it is in the regimented discipline of the American People to exercise this democracy. If you are to carry one idea from this, I hope, with all that I have, that it is this: This Republic exists each day because of you. By your action or inaction it exists. You have the power, and perhaps more to the point, we have more power together, to reshape it, rebuild it, reinvent it however we see fit. We must be more disciplined together than those who would divide us.
So come on, bleeding-heart-take-the-guns-I'm-With-Whoever Liberals, get in here bible-thumping-climate-change-denying-Drill-Baby-Drill NeoCons! Lets put two All American middle fingers to anyone who wants to divide us and destroy this Republic. And lets do it together.
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