Whittled away...

Greetings good citizen,

Markets just opened here in the capital of capitalism where the simple act of opening the NYSE is enough to drive markets around the globe upwards for no reason whatsoever…which is pathetic considering what this says about their ‘regard’ for ‘investor intelligence’…such as it is.

But then we return to the ever-present dilemma of a media that treats the rest of us with similar contempt. And while it has become my habit to point at Alternet and to label it the ‘Libertarian press’ they really are only a half a step removed from Fox news…where stories about bigfoot and what the ancient aliens knew dominate.

Under the category of, (what else) ’book reviews’ we have the following, er, ‘proposal’.

If we’re going to take the time to slow down, we want quality. Slow democracy doesn’t mean we have to attend every poorly advertised, badly run city council meeting. What slow democracy can help us do is learn to identify authentic, healthy processes; participate judiciously and with the patient confidence that real change takes time; and support the people who engage us in meaningful decision making, so they’ll do it some more. Inclusive, well-run deliberations with effective follow-through can make an enormous difference in the life of a community.

Slow food advocates know that a sustainable food system must offer healthy food in an ecologically viable way, but there’s more. As journalist Ben Hewitt describes in The Town That Food Saved , “It must feed the locals.” Just as slow food cannot only feed the rich and elite, slow democracy must be open to all. The people, or demos in Greek, are at the heart of the word “democracy.” 

Finding a place in the life of the already overburdened and underprivileged—such as single working parents, or low-wage workers who string together two or three jobs—is one of the greatest challenges of slow democracy. But these are the populations most often shut out of the democratic process, and most in need of what it has to offer. Slow democracy incorporates people from all walks of life and the full range of the human condition: from talkers to doers, from those who value charts and graphs to those who love chatting over coffee. It makes room for those who like to talk at microphones but also celebrates the vast majority of us who would, frankly, rather die than make a speech. It builds on the already-existing web of relationships that form a community, recognizing that some of our best ideas come while taking a walk with a neighbor. And it forges new relationships, introducing us to people we might have avoided but come to appreciate.

What SHOULD hit you in the eye is the futility of trying to make things work using a thoroughly corrupted system.

Do you see the first pissing contest already?

Knot-head would fight you tooth and nail over whether or not the system was corrupt, totally ignoring how we got where we are today and why it happened at all.

Don’t bring up the subject of why NOBODY has been prosecuted for a whole laundry list of offenses, (with the financial ones being the least of the charges!) because you’ll be ‘talking to the hand’, they just don’t want to hear it.

Are you prepared to have this battle with EVERY corrupt motherfucker getting greased by the current system?

Because that’s how it’s going to go, everybody is a ‘corruption fighter’ until it benefits them…then it’s okay, its not really stealing, it’s, er, taking the edge or some other harmless euphemism.

So what a stupid idea it is to try to use the system to ‘fix’ the system, it can’t be done.

Do we sit here and suffer with a thoroughly corrupted system or do we REPLACE IT with one THAT CAN’T BE CORRUPTED?

Because replacing what exists is the ONLY road to salvation, if we don’t scrap the whole electoral system and the totally corrupt practice of voting for people who vote for us without ever consulting us then 'change' will remain impossible. (Why is it so difficult to convince people the current method of so-called 'democracy' is a BAD idea?)

ESPECIALLY TODAY, when only one ‘entity’ has a seat at the table and that entity is the soul-less corporation. Where the relentless pursuit of profits trumps the very health of civilization…an entire world where only a few can ‘live’ (everyone else suffers.)

And while I preach to the choir, I may as well be talking to the fucking wall!

Yes, you’re keeping your powder dry…which is all fine and well, can’t fight them if they have you locked up.

Which brings us to a secondary problem, when the shit hit’s the fan will you be ready?

Chances are the answer will be no.

It’s already too late when tanks are parked in your driveway. (Although it is a perfect opportunity to kill the asshole who parked a tank in your driveway…and you don’t have to hunt him down either!)

Most of you (around the world) are aware that you are being ‘penned in’, corralled as it were as your ‘legal standing’ is whittled down to nothing.

Soon, you poor son of a bitch, there will be a bounty on your sorry ass…and then it will really be too late!

So if you’re wondering when would be a ‘judicious’ time to strike, I’d say you’re already a month behind schedule!

Be that as it may, there’s no time like the present.

Thanks for letting me inside your head,

Gegner