so here's an idea for a political party... the "change the narrative to something not especially crazy" party. it goes something like this...
life's tough, but if we work together it's not nearly as difficult to ensure we all get by. in the post WWII era, most of us have been lucky enough to have inexpensive food, inexpensive transportation and meaningful labor. our parent's (or grand-parent's) families lived in a world where one person's salary was enough to have a very comfortable living.
we told ourselves we were really good people (hell, we had just kicked the snot out of the nazis) while ignoring slavery, misogyny, fixed markets, ostracism of non-conformists and meddling in the internal affairs of foreign nations for financial benefit.
as time went on there were more people to feed and more competition for our goods. margins started getting shaved and we had to do more work for less pay. but we had become accustomed to cheap oil and cheap food, and felt it was our birthright.
we didn't notice when companies and government started telling us convenient untruths. "centralized monoculture food is the best way to grow food," they said. "people of the third world are clamoring for freedom, which is why we overthrew the tyrants ruling them," they said.
but i think we all know the score. we just don't want to own up to it.
in the united states (and australia) we're coasting on the economic push our parents and grand-parents gave us after the world went crazy for several years and did a number on germany and japan. this was after the russians were doing numbers on themselves in an effort to escape the czars and develop infrastructure in europe's most backward sister.
we _have_ done a lot of really cool stuff. the transistor? ossm. space flight? double ossm. i'm not saying we're a big ball of fail.
but i think we may have lost sight on what makes this country great. and while we're losing sight of that, we're starting to listen to corporate (and governmental) interests who profit from our ignorance.
the reason we have high taxes has very little to do with welfare queens and a lot to do with a bloated defense department. no. i'm not talking about US service-persons who risk their lives every day. what i am saying is as a people we've put a government in place that disgraces their sacrifice. we maintain a large military so we can dictate terms to trading partners. we need these good terms because we chose to purchase energy from abroad rather than develop internal infrastructure or better yet, develop more efficient cities, cars and food production.
we've come to accept corruption and human rights abuses abroad and at home if it means we get cheap steak and iPhones.
but sure. it seemed like a good idea at the time.
we no longer have the moral authority to claim we honor words like "freedom" or even "democracy." our religious leaders are co-opted into a system that benefits them while vilifying "the other." our media corporations have long retired the notion they are a public service and operate solely for profit. and of course, that's what our legal system requires them to do, to rigorously pursue the minimum viable information product that still makes them profitable.
we have abandoned the idea that universal education and an enlightened populous is a pre-requisite for an open, democratic society and now view our children's educational experience as a profit opportunity.
we live in a market, not a society.
but it's not too late to change. we CAN choose a different narrative. we can invest in our communities and our children. we can invest in more efficient fuels and cars. we can grow more of our food closer to our homes. we can spend the money we were spending on the most recent iPhone on infrastructure to create a sustainable society in which each child is fed and educated.
but first we have to stop vilifying each other. we have to spend a little more time digging into issues rather than shouting slogans. we can stop jealously guarding our stash and help our neighbors raise their metaphorical barn.
life's tough, but if we work together it's not nearly as difficult to ensure we all get by. in the post WWII era, most of us have been lucky enough to have inexpensive food, inexpensive transportation and meaningful labor. our parent's (or grand-parent's) families lived in a world where one person's salary was enough to have a very comfortable living.
we told ourselves we were really good people (hell, we had just kicked the snot out of the nazis) while ignoring slavery, misogyny, fixed markets, ostracism of non-conformists and meddling in the internal affairs of foreign nations for financial benefit.
as time went on there were more people to feed and more competition for our goods. margins started getting shaved and we had to do more work for less pay. but we had become accustomed to cheap oil and cheap food, and felt it was our birthright.
we didn't notice when companies and government started telling us convenient untruths. "centralized monoculture food is the best way to grow food," they said. "people of the third world are clamoring for freedom, which is why we overthrew the tyrants ruling them," they said.
but i think we all know the score. we just don't want to own up to it.
in the united states (and australia) we're coasting on the economic push our parents and grand-parents gave us after the world went crazy for several years and did a number on germany and japan. this was after the russians were doing numbers on themselves in an effort to escape the czars and develop infrastructure in europe's most backward sister.
we _have_ done a lot of really cool stuff. the transistor? ossm. space flight? double ossm. i'm not saying we're a big ball of fail.
but i think we may have lost sight on what makes this country great. and while we're losing sight of that, we're starting to listen to corporate (and governmental) interests who profit from our ignorance.
the reason we have high taxes has very little to do with welfare queens and a lot to do with a bloated defense department. no. i'm not talking about US service-persons who risk their lives every day. what i am saying is as a people we've put a government in place that disgraces their sacrifice. we maintain a large military so we can dictate terms to trading partners. we need these good terms because we chose to purchase energy from abroad rather than develop internal infrastructure or better yet, develop more efficient cities, cars and food production.
we've come to accept corruption and human rights abuses abroad and at home if it means we get cheap steak and iPhones.
but sure. it seemed like a good idea at the time.
we no longer have the moral authority to claim we honor words like "freedom" or even "democracy." our religious leaders are co-opted into a system that benefits them while vilifying "the other." our media corporations have long retired the notion they are a public service and operate solely for profit. and of course, that's what our legal system requires them to do, to rigorously pursue the minimum viable information product that still makes them profitable.
we have abandoned the idea that universal education and an enlightened populous is a pre-requisite for an open, democratic society and now view our children's educational experience as a profit opportunity.
we live in a market, not a society.
but it's not too late to change. we CAN choose a different narrative. we can invest in our communities and our children. we can invest in more efficient fuels and cars. we can grow more of our food closer to our homes. we can spend the money we were spending on the most recent iPhone on infrastructure to create a sustainable society in which each child is fed and educated.
but first we have to stop vilifying each other. we have to spend a little more time digging into issues rather than shouting slogans. we can stop jealously guarding our stash and help our neighbors raise their metaphorical barn.
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