"Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber." -Plato
I have a few friends who didn't vote--either because they refused to on grounds of principle, or because they were too damn lazy to register and/or get to the polls.
Then we go to see movies like V together and they get all "Well, I hope that the future isn't like that!" and we immediately go home to sit on our butts and play Kingdom Hearts or read fantasy or play online video games or somesuch student distraction.
Meanwhile, out of the 20 or so people on campus who actually know we have a school newspaper, not even half read the damn thing because they won't listen to student voices.
Said student voices get discouraged...and go back to playing video games.
This isn't about voting, though that subject is included here.
This is about caring enough to make an effort.
I'm not saying voting will make a difference, when we live in a world where electronic voting makes stealing elections so much easier. I don't even think it does.
But I vote, and will continue to vote, because it is one of the few ways I can attempt to revive Democracy from where it fell, slain with the Bush Admin's totalitarian agenda.
You can deny it all you want, you can deny that they would ever try to do that. They're doing it already, and when it comes down you'll be dazed by what hit you.
What no one sees is the connection.
In V, they didn't see it coming until it was too late.
Most people now don't see it coming.
I can see possible futures stretch in front of my mind's eye, coming to conclusions with ease fostered by years of reading and writing science fiction.
One example--the Peace King Tunnel, proposed by Rev. Moon (whose right-wing religious group OWNS the Washington Times) and supported by Neil Bush, brother to the president, is completed. As the Unification Church grows in power and influence, people of different religious and sexual persuasions go into hiding as best they can. But when you have to hide from your own spouse, who is chosen for you by the leader of the new world order, where can you go? What can you do? Under Rev. Moon's "Godism", the world falls to "unity" and sexual freedom and democracy disappear.
I am vaguely reminded of The Handmaid's Tale--except there was considerably more freedom for lesbians in that proposed future.
This guy is fucking crazy, and I think because of that we underestimate him.
Sure, call me a Kasandra, if it helps you sleep at night. I'm not saying you have to be paranoid--I'm talking about being aware, and wary. Whenever something new comes up you have to think of all the possible effects it could have on the world.
The trouble is, we don't. We play god and don't think of the repercussions. We don't listen to the wisdom of our ancestors, elders, or our youth. "La la la, agriculture is so hard! Let's make it easier by making plants into GMOs! It helps the plants too so we can feel like we have altruistic reasons for it."
If Nature feels like a plant needs to be changed, She'll change it.
And if She feels we need to go for the good of the various systems on Earth, She'll wipe us out too and not think twice about it.
You can believe whatever you want with regards to the level of consciousness Gaia has but you can't deny that we're killing her.
But then again, the Bush Administration has said that Global Warming doesn't exist--and if Bush says it, it must be true, right?
What we must realize is that we--homo sapiens rapiens--are an infinite, and therefore expendable, resource. The Earth is not. It's easy to make more people. Building a new Earth would be very difficult (and has only been accomplished in Science-Fiction stories). Nature knows this too. She's called Mother Nature for a reason--and we are not Her cubs. If need be, She'll kill us to protect Her children.
Frankly, I welcome it. If we can't change enough to solve this problem, then I totally support the complete annihilation of our species. If it is the only option.
I don't believe it is. I believe we can change. But I think those changes must be huge, and will require amazing sacrifices on our part. It's time to quit being selfish humans and to start doing our job--protecting the planet.
I'm sure many people would agree that we have to protect the planet, but that we have to protect it from outside forces, never ourselves. WE are the enemy. WE are the ones we have been waiting for. We are both sides of the same coin--destroyer and guardian of the Earth. It's all about choice.
The time has come. What will you choose?
