As disheartening our government may be, there is still a glimmer of hope that we can put our trust in Someone. Our only chance to change it, is by our voting power. It's all we have. You can talk, complain, disagree...whatever, but it all boils down to that One vote and no matter what anyone says....that is power.
Hey, Ang...
There was a time when I was younger that I would absolutely have agreed, but in light of events in recent years, I'm just wondering if that is really true. I mean... I voted for that guy who invented the internet (remember him?), and he actually DID win the election... but through some manner of manipulation of who-knows-what, Bro Gore did NOT end up in the White House, and we were treated to "four more years" of Brer Bush... and in the big picture, I'm not the least bit sure my vote matters - mainly because if the elections themselves are corrupt, or may be changed according to the whims of this bizarro thing called "the electoral college", then I might as well vote for Mr. Magoo & Underdog, since it has certainly come to appear that the elections are already decided long before ANY of us set foot in a voting booth. Ergo... does my vote really matter?
Do I trust our government? No. Do I intend to run for office? No. Do I think it will make any difference having a woman in the White House? No. Will I vote? Probably not.
Now, before I am lynched & flogged (c'mon, you know I'd enjoy it!
), let me point out my reasoning for this as a warrior. Basically, knowing that ALL of it is folly - including our government, our vote and our existence itself - I simply do not have the time or energy to waste "getting involved" in the illusions upon illusions which comprise the political arena. When I really stand back and look at it from an energetic perspective, it is the equivalent playing Risk in a burning house, with all the politicians insisting that we should join them in the game instead of reaching for the fire extinguisher that is only inches away. It's the GAME that has become the focus, and the gamesters have lost all touch with "the real world". Dining on lobster and caviar every night tends to remove one from any connection to the homeless woman in Los Angeles diving into dumpsters hoping for a scrap of discarded Big Mac.
I don't have any answers, except those I have found inside myself - and after that last election where the dude that won really didn't win, I threw in the towel and made myself a nation of one. Am I disillusioned? I hope so - because to be dis-illusioned would imply that one has seen the illusion and no longer chooses to participate in it.
Doesn't mean I'm right or wrong, just means that instead of "getting involved" in the political illusions, I "get involved" in things that are closer to home. For example...
The rain forests are being depleted, so I plant at least 4 new trees every year here on our property and donate when I can to organizations that promote reforestation. It won't change the world, but at the same time I feel it's something I can SEE, whereas no matter WHO ends up in the White House, the same old games are just going to continue in the same old ways. We've been promised national healthcare for 20+ years and are no closer to it than we were when the words were first uttered. We got out of Vietnam only to get into Iraq. Different names, but it's the same games, over and over.
Sorry to be such a cynic about this. I debated on whether to even say anything, but it seems to me that there was another side of this that needed to be heard, and that is simply to point out that it is ALL abject folly - including and especially politics at the national level. Maybe (doubtful, but maybe) small-town politics or local city politics MIGHT have some hope to bring about change, but even that is unlikely, because what is really going on in "politics" is that people are fighting about the AGREEMENTS and the PROTOCOLS rather than really DOING anything about the things that would affect large numbers of "the people." By the time anyone decides on the right-and-proper wording of a bill, the issue has either resolved itself, or has moved into some manner of epidemic proportions so that it is no longer containable. Ever see LIFE OF BRIAN? While Brian is about to be crucified, his followers are wasting time drawing up petitions rather than just going out into the real world and rescuing him. And, alas, that is how I have come to view politics here in the US (and probably in most other countries as well).
Back in the late 60s, I was an activist - a 14-year old kid right out there on the front lines of the anti-war protests, screaming out against the draft and the war and the whole foolish game of grown men running through the jungle shooting at the other guys hiding in the bushes. Even spent a night or two in lock-down for refusing to disperse when the nice policemen came along and gave the order to "Move along!" Well, we've traded bushes for sand and and jungle for Afghani caves, but the game remains the same, and I do not believe it will ever change, because it is human nature to wage war, and a warrior's nature to *see* that and, as the old saying goes by don Juan, "When the sniper is present, I simply will not come around."
Point being here - until we ALL refuse to play the games, the games will continue because that is simply the nature and the heavy gravity of folly. Whether I vote or not, it will make no difference in a hundred years, let alone a million years. So as a warrior, I choose my controlled folly accordingly. Volunteer for some clean-up in a national park. Plant a tree. Buy a homeless kid a meal and give him a clean jacket. At least those things are "real" to me - and I wholly admit that this is strictly my personal choice and nothing more. I prefer to work with what I can see up close and personal, rather than trying to attach myself to some politician's campaign speech that promises what it will never deliver. That is MY controlled folly, just as it will be another warrior's controlled folly to get involved in the political arena.
So... I hung up my protest signs, I put away my youthful vision of "world peace" and traded them in for a ruthless clarity which shows me that politics is never going to change anything, but only make it worse. If we really believe our vote counts, then maybe the best thing we can do is not vote at all. Radical? Sure, but look at it this way. If NO ONE voted, that would send a much louder message than trying to sort through the aftermath to figure out who was able to manipulate the voting system most effectively.
It just seems to me (personally and for myself only - not trying to convince anyone else) that don Juan, Jesus and Buddha probably didn't spend a lot of time reading through their voting materials the night before an election. *heh* I tend to think that our energy goes where we ourselves focus, and so I choose to focus on the things I CAN change rather than getting involved in the "global" stuff that seems to churn along no matter what I do or not-do. While everyone else is at the polls in November, I'll be planting a eucalyptus or pine sapling.
The bottom line for me always comes down to one word: folly. It's what made our founding fathers leave England and set sail for a brave new world - for they had recognized the folly of a government that had become too large and too constricting to really do what it was "supposta" do - serve the needs of the people. So, if anyone wants to set sail for the Martian shore or the red eye of Jupiter, sign me up and I'll be there ready to cook for the crew or stoke the fires that fuel the warp drive or take my turn at the helm. That, to me, would "make a difference." I'm there. I'm ready!
But will I vote in November? Highly doubtful. The election has already been decided. All that remains is the dance of madness which precedes the formality of announcing "the winner".
D
PS - I'm really not looking to start a debate or argument... just wanted to put forth some opinions from the perspective of one who cannot help but see the folly. By all means... ignore this post.
