A super tuesday...

I was walking down the street one day. I had to go to the bank. I think it was in November or December. I slowed, my gaze distant. Then, I busted up laughing. Could it work? Probably not, but its a pretty funny idea.

I am not a fan of how this world works right now. My nation was hijacked when I was a freshman in college. I watched it invade a sovereign nation. I heard a President say that the terrorists mustn't make us change our way of life. He then proceeded to do it himself. What frightened me the most was the ease with which he stripped us of our rights and invaded nations illegally. Where was Congressional oversight? And then, he was re-elected. The oversight of the American people failed the world.

Even beyond that, the disparity between rich and poor nations has always bothered me. I loathe the systems of leverage we have created. The resources and man-hours of the world's poorest and most oppressed go to the manufacture of goods exported to America so our consumers can buy it on credit. Our businesses bought the planet, and our government enabled them by supporting authoritarian regimes whose economic interests aligned with their military-industrial-congressional cartel. Their last bid for control was the free credit of this decade past. Credit and debt are just another means of enslavement. The ignorance of Americans astounds me. It would be easy to rant about "stupid Americans", but the problem is more insidious than that. We are inundated with so much propaganda, biased journalism, and shaky science that wading through all the shit to find some reliable information requires a Herculean effort. If only I could divert a river to muck out the stable that is contemporary American discourse perhaps solutions to some pressing global problems would emerge.

I remember when I was very young, I was disappointed to be American. I found it so manufactured and unreal. As I grew up, I became enamored of the American ideal. I fell in love with American myth and the story of the founding. And, I absolutely adored the process of cultural revision this nation employed in the course of its short history to swing us ever closer to the vision where everyone is free to pursue their happiness while respecting the life and liberty of their fellows. It starts as a discussion by the people.

I wish to contribute to a discussion comprised of action. I challenge you to boycott the unnecessary and the ineffective. Our purchasing power literally has the power to move mountains. Where do you think the metallic innards of all our consumer electronics comes from? But a reduction in material consumption is only a start. The best place to cut dead weight is with those officials whose only workable skill is the ability to get elected, in short almost all of them. I think we should star boycotting elections. Every first Tuesday in November from here on out, we should write in "None of the Above" on our ballots.