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I mean, I can't disagree with the things you said in principle. I have impulses on occasion to go out and in one fashion or another fight against things I consider unjust.
The thing of it is, in America, for the underclasses (of which I am a part) conformity is what is rewarded. If you are innovate or groundbreaking in a business sense, you get big time rewards. If you go around telling people how dumb, stupid, fucked up, ignorant or incompetent they are...well, you'd better be self-sufficient, because pretty soon nobody is going to want to deal with you. I'm generalizing, of course, but there's a bedrock of truth to what I'm saying.
If I go out and, say, protest an environmental concern and get arrested in the process of protesting:
1) I live in a Right To Work state, so I can get shitcanned for it: my company doesn't hire people with criminal records nor histories of arrest. They won't flat-out tell somebody that, but I've seen the practical reality of how it works. If they want to shitcan you, they'll find a way. If I try to unionize, I'll be out on my ass.
2) Once I have an arrest record, it's there forever, disqualifying me for lots of other jobs. And that information follows you around forever now.
Having said all that, if some corporate cunts are poisoning the environment, shouldn't I be willing to lay everything I consider to be important on the line for that? Absolutely.
Will I? Nope.
Why not? Because I'm more scared of the short-term personal consequences to myself than the broader long-term consequences to all of us.
Am I a pussy for being this way? Yep.
Even beyond all of that - and call this a feeble rationalization if you will - the folks who have the REAL, big time money...they've already got it all wrapped up. They bought it all, lock, stock and barrel. By and large, the rich and powerful do what they want to. They've bought the politicians, gotten the laws changed - it boggles the mind when one finds out some of the things that are legal - to make sure the playing field is stacked in their favor. They live in their private enclaves surrounded by security so they aren't touched by the consequences of what they do. They don't live in the places where they dump their toxic waste. They don't live in the countries where our armies are sent to control the resources. Their monies and way of life are secure.
I don't believe in violence, but the only way I see concepts such as equality taking root are when people are ready to fight for them. Physically. Counting on the elite to divest themselves of their money and power in the interests of "doing the right thing" for the greater good is a sure-fire loser argument that will get you subjected to ridicule, and little else. Only when their personal physical security is threatened will things change. And it will be violent. And bloody. And possibly the last war.
It's the threat of that which keeps the underclasses in line, semi-content with the crumbs they've been thrown: the threat being the alternative of physical sacrifice.
Republicans, Democrats...these terms don't have the meaning they once did. Not any more. Just more bullshit labels to keep the poor masses divided against each other. About the best you can hope for from a politician is a competent manager who can manage to keep the lid on the volcano.
The thing of it is, in America, for the underclasses (of which I am a part) conformity is what is rewarded. If you are innovate or groundbreaking in a business sense, you get big time rewards. If you go around telling people how dumb, stupid, fucked up, ignorant or incompetent they are...well, you'd better be self-sufficient, because pretty soon nobody is going to want to deal with you. I'm generalizing, of course, but there's a bedrock of truth to what I'm saying.
If I go out and, say, protest an environmental concern and get arrested in the process of protesting:
1) I live in a Right To Work state, so I can get shitcanned for it: my company doesn't hire people with criminal records nor histories of arrest. They won't flat-out tell somebody that, but I've seen the practical reality of how it works. If they want to shitcan you, they'll find a way. If I try to unionize, I'll be out on my ass.
2) Once I have an arrest record, it's there forever, disqualifying me for lots of other jobs. And that information follows you around forever now.
Having said all that, if some corporate cunts are poisoning the environment, shouldn't I be willing to lay everything I consider to be important on the line for that? Absolutely.
Will I? Nope.
Why not? Because I'm more scared of the short-term personal consequences to myself than the broader long-term consequences to all of us.
Am I a pussy for being this way? Yep.
Even beyond all of that - and call this a feeble rationalization if you will - the folks who have the REAL, big time money...they've already got it all wrapped up. They bought it all, lock, stock and barrel. By and large, the rich and powerful do what they want to. They've bought the politicians, gotten the laws changed - it boggles the mind when one finds out some of the things that are legal - to make sure the playing field is stacked in their favor. They live in their private enclaves surrounded by security so they aren't touched by the consequences of what they do. They don't live in the places where they dump their toxic waste. They don't live in the countries where our armies are sent to control the resources. Their monies and way of life are secure.
I don't believe in violence, but the only way I see concepts such as equality taking root are when people are ready to fight for them. Physically. Counting on the elite to divest themselves of their money and power in the interests of "doing the right thing" for the greater good is a sure-fire loser argument that will get you subjected to ridicule, and little else. Only when their personal physical security is threatened will things change. And it will be violent. And bloody. And possibly the last war.
It's the threat of that which keeps the underclasses in line, semi-content with the crumbs they've been thrown: the threat being the alternative of physical sacrifice.
Republicans, Democrats...these terms don't have the meaning they once did. Not any more. Just more bullshit labels to keep the poor masses divided against each other. About the best you can hope for from a politician is a competent manager who can manage to keep the lid on the volcano.
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