On Taking Back America

Yee-ha!  Remember when this was the greatest country in the world?  I’ve got to be honest, how would I know if this was the greatest country in the world?  That’s what they told us all, right?  But I never lived in another country.  I’ve seen the news and movies where it’s pretty shitty in third world countries.  Sure, those are third world countries. What about other first world countries?  Are we really better then those countries?  I’m just asking, of course.  I don’t know, remember.  We could look at statistics, but we’d better not, right.  Might not like what we see. I know we can kick anybody’s ass.  Is that the number one thing that makes a country great?  We have the best military, thus we’re the best.  Is that what you want from your country?

I’ve always found it strange that you’re supposed to hail your allegiance and your entire heart and mind to the country you were born in.   I didn’t choose to be born here.  At least I don’t think I did.  That’s for another blog entirely.  But for the sake of this entry let’s assume we don’t get to choose the country of our birth.  From a fairly young age I’ve always wondered about that.  It’s really not fair, is it?  I got lucky and was born in a very nice place in a seemingly nice country in a good era in which to live.  I saw it dwindle and tarnish slightly but I also saw it through some pretty good times.  I still love the nineties!  Good times, indeed. 

What is it about us that we have this innate desire to hold sacred the place of our birth and origins?  We take it very seriously and personally.   We love our country because we were born here.  That feels odd to me.  I don’t hate America, in fact, I feel that same pride in my country that we all have.  I just wonder where it comes from.   Is it because we feel connected to it, because we understand its culture because we are the culture?  We also feel this way about the earth itself, right?  I imagine some future where we’re intergalactic travelers who are very patriotic about the Sun.  “I come from the Sun’s solar system, and you can kiss my human ass! Yee-ha!”

I suppose it’s just human nature and we’ve been doing it since we were in tribes and we took pride in those tribes.  But we know on a higher level that we’re all human beings here together.   That we’re all related anyway.   Science and religion both agree that we all come from the same blood line.  There really was one lady with mitochondrial DNA that was the mother of modern man.  Knowing and feeling it, I guess are two things. Just because you’re related doesn’t mean you have to love them, right?  Look at your own families to confirm this.

So I’d like to present the concept of Us and Them.  It’s what keeps us apart and also on the flip side, it’s what strengthens bonds, I think.   It probably goes back to the tribal thing again or even alliances within a tribe.  There’s Us, the good ones, and Them, the other ones who have a different agenda than us, (or perhaps the same agenda but different means of achieving it.)  Think about a sports team.  It’s Us against Them and we generally don’t like Them and this dislike or strife against Them brings Us closer together.  It’s a great literary device, to have two enemies come together to fight a common foe and in the end the enemies are best friends and partners.  It brought them together.  Ronald Reagan wished aliens would come down to earth and in doing so Us humans would realize our differences and come together and bond over fighting them off. 

But there are so many forces working against this idea that we’re all in this together, that it will be very difficult to achieve it.  And it all starts with labels.  We assign labels to Us and Them and it makes it easier to bond with Us and strive against Them.  Liberals and Conservatives.  Blacks and Whites.  Muslims and Christians.  Rednecks and Gays.  Prison gangs versus other prison gangs. Can’t we all get along, prison gangs? 

And our system here in this, the world’s greatest super power is designed to keep Us separated from Them.   We know that’s what they do, right?  The powers that be keep us bickering amongst ourselves about petty bullshit while they do whatever they want.  It’s all like a pro wrestling event, our political process these days.   We can’t get anything really accomplished and we’re all so removed now from having any real say.   I heard about a political party gaining popularity in Canada called the Online Party.  Enabling direct democracy in the internet era.   They aim to eliminate partisanship by focusing on individual issues.  Their representatives are being held responsible for their actions by instant vote and count, based on an accountability oath.  People vote online and their representatives are bound by oath to uphold the wish of the majority or they will have to step down. 

Immediately I thought about the disastrous attempt of our government’s health care web site launch.  I know that’s what my conservative friends would be screaming right now; throwing their red flags in the air.  “They can’t even get that right, how would you be able to trust a site that lets you vote directly for things?” 

 *It’s important here to note that I hate politics and all the political bickering that is, in my opinion, the real thing destroying this country, so don’t assume that if I make a joke about conservatives or liberals that I’m one or the other.  On some things I’m liberal and others I’m conservative and I hate labels as this entry will hopefully explain.   It’s the whole point really.  I’m a guy speaking from the island of sanity in the middle.

But the idea that instead of relying on some bought-and-paid-for politician to act in our best interest, that in some near future we take back the democratic process and have a real say in how our country is run, really excites me.  I can also hear liberals saying, just because the majority wants something doesn’t make it the right thing.  But I’d suggest that the far wings would cancel each other out and the middle, or mentally stable people who understand there are more shades to everything than black and white, would then have the majority to run things the right way.  Whatever that means.  If you could trust someone to establish this system and make it safe from hackers and corruption, then I’d be all for it. 

You know what would hold us back and I can even make a prediction that it will; Fear.  Fear has done so much to keep us in the dark over the course of human history.  We are all so afraid of everything. Afraid of change.  We love to repeat the same safe day over and over again.   We so often find ourselves paralyzed by it.  It’s how people have held power and dominion over other people from the very beginning of civilization.  Fear is a great motivator.  Keep people fearful that if They get their way, then we’re all doomed.   I’ve mentioned that in some ways I’m more of an observer in this world, which is something I need to perhaps change, but it’s in my nature to sit back and see how things play out without passing judgment until after the fact.  People think they can predict the future and are usually so adamant about this imagined ability that they are willing to fight tooth and nail to avoid their worst fears from playing out.  I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry.  That’s the very definition of conservative isn’t it?   I’ve always found it fascinating that people who claim to have the most faith in God are usually those who are also the most fearful and conservative about things.   I remember hearing from church that you’re supposed to leave it up to God and not worry about everything that you can’t control.  It’s in God’s hands, right?  But I can name several conservative people who are the first to say, “No, you can’t do that (fill in the blank idea for doing something a better way).  Then the worst thing would happen if you did that idea.” It’s usually a bad idea until you benefit from it.  Haven’t all the greatest ideas in history met with the fiercest opposition?

To keep it balanced I also know that liberal parenting is one of the downfalls of an entire generation.  The ‘everybody gets a trophy’ philosophy has led to an entitled generation of spoiled brats.   But parenting and world view can be two different things.  I believe it is important to be a conservative parent.  Overly liberal parenting can lead to some pretty shitty kids who are difficult to be around.   As a soccer coach and a member of a neighborhood with a lot of kids running around, I can attest to this.  But, growing up in a conservative town in the Bible Belt, I’ve seen overly conservative parenting backfire as well, but again, it’s the two extremes that usually fail.   Remember, there are more shades than black and white.  Open your eyes and mind to them and you’ll see things are usually more complex than simple talking points.   Is it simplicity of mind or mental laziness to let your political party tell you how to think?  It’s just easier, I suppose. 

For the first time in human history we are all able to be connected instantly with each other.  We have the ability to have a say and to be heard.  Don’t you think that as a collective mind we know right from wrong?  That there are intelligent people out there who could propose ways to make our world a better place?  I think about the road blocks to this, partisanship and the quagmire that is our current political system and I imagine a future where we all have a say in how our world is run, people from the entire globe all connected.  Then there wouldn’t be wars over oil fields, would there?  Right now the system is designed for the interests of the large corporations not for the individual human beings who it was all designed to serve.   I hope that someday it will change but it won’t come from complacency and it won’t come from fear.  One day the Earth could be the greatest planet in our sector of the galaxy.  “We have true democracy in our solar system.  Unlike you heathens from Gleepglop Alpha Centauri B. Yee-ha!”