(Originally posted to Facebook October 27, 2011)
Dear Everyone,
Yes, everyone. The Blues, the Reds, the in-betweens, the teeming masses of humanity, the card carrying members of the human race.
The excrement has, indeed, hit the proverbial fan.
We are a nation divided, a fractured empire, a fermenting republic.
In Oakland the elected leadership chose to employ police measures and it backfired. Was it due to some of the protesters, some overly enthusiastic police officers, some turbulence of violence roiling beneath the surface of the combined waters? Was it Mayor Quan and her senior leadership? Was it sheer coincidence and bad luck? The blame, likely, rests in quite a few places... that perfect mixture of opposing emotions and beliefs, the keg of powder laid too close to the torch.
In Cleveland, we have the opposite. A Federal judge reinforcing the rights of the protesters to assemble in the face of local government trying to deny them their assembly.
We have people being arrested all over the country for exercising their First Amendment rights, we have police caught between doing the jobs they are told to do and their own personal moral codes... we have the first serious casualty of the growing unrest, Scott Olsen, an Iraq War veteran who, at the time of this letter, is in critical, but stable, condition with a fractured skull, likely from a tear gas canister.
We have the 53s, the 99s, the 1s, the assortment of statistical variants and those who do not wish to be identified with any of them. We have the "haves" and the "have nots", the "cares" and the "care nots", we have cross-ideological movements across the board, breaking down the partisan divide amongst the populace, it not amongst the politicians.
These movements are alive. They are evolving. The circumstances aligned to provoke a continued series of reactions to reactions that have catalyzed a new mixture of ideologies. The growing crisis in our broken system gave birth to the 99%, who in turn brought forth the conception of the 53%... both of whom have instilled further passion in those outliers and extremists not fathered by either movement.
"May you live in interesting times" certainly covers it, though we should consider it less an old Asian curse and more of a sign that a change is coming, hopefully one for the betterment of all.
And this is why people need to start reading every news story, start thinking for themselves instead of along party lines. We are at a fulcrum in our nation's story, a climax in this current chapter.
Talk to your representatives, talk to your protesters, your anti-protesters, your barista, your barber, your city council members. Read the news from multiple papers. Watch Fox, CNN, the Christian News Network, then hit balancedpolitics.org and factcheck.org.
Educate yourself. Don't let someone else do it for you. Don't let the pundits from both sides insult your intelligence.
It's time to wake up, America. It's time to stop being led by your own preconceived notions and ideals. It's time to stand for yourself, wherever that leads you.
You want to Occupy something? For a moment, forget your city, your state, your country... all those will come in time. There's something more important that you must first do.
Occupy yourself. Occupy your own intellect, your sense of purpose. Occupy the rights we have all been given as individuals, as human beings.
Occupy your voice, shout, be heard, be recognized.
Let's face it. This new trial in which we find our nation isn't about handouts, accountability, corporations, the government, the right, the left.
It's about the ambivalent. The individuals who have yet to take a stand or have taken a stand through the pressure of their peers.
It's about everyone exercising their rights, without the compulsion from others to choose where they stand. It's about reclaiming a nation for the people, for the individual, for the need to have your voice heard, no matter who opposes it.
Wake the hell up.
Then go do something about it.
Sincerely,
The Voices Not Yet Heard
Dear Everyone,
Yes, everyone. The Blues, the Reds, the in-betweens, the teeming masses of humanity, the card carrying members of the human race.
The excrement has, indeed, hit the proverbial fan.
We are a nation divided, a fractured empire, a fermenting republic.
In Oakland the elected leadership chose to employ police measures and it backfired. Was it due to some of the protesters, some overly enthusiastic police officers, some turbulence of violence roiling beneath the surface of the combined waters? Was it Mayor Quan and her senior leadership? Was it sheer coincidence and bad luck? The blame, likely, rests in quite a few places... that perfect mixture of opposing emotions and beliefs, the keg of powder laid too close to the torch.
In Cleveland, we have the opposite. A Federal judge reinforcing the rights of the protesters to assemble in the face of local government trying to deny them their assembly.
We have people being arrested all over the country for exercising their First Amendment rights, we have police caught between doing the jobs they are told to do and their own personal moral codes... we have the first serious casualty of the growing unrest, Scott Olsen, an Iraq War veteran who, at the time of this letter, is in critical, but stable, condition with a fractured skull, likely from a tear gas canister.
We have the 53s, the 99s, the 1s, the assortment of statistical variants and those who do not wish to be identified with any of them. We have the "haves" and the "have nots", the "cares" and the "care nots", we have cross-ideological movements across the board, breaking down the partisan divide amongst the populace, it not amongst the politicians.
These movements are alive. They are evolving. The circumstances aligned to provoke a continued series of reactions to reactions that have catalyzed a new mixture of ideologies. The growing crisis in our broken system gave birth to the 99%, who in turn brought forth the conception of the 53%... both of whom have instilled further passion in those outliers and extremists not fathered by either movement.
"May you live in interesting times" certainly covers it, though we should consider it less an old Asian curse and more of a sign that a change is coming, hopefully one for the betterment of all.
And this is why people need to start reading every news story, start thinking for themselves instead of along party lines. We are at a fulcrum in our nation's story, a climax in this current chapter.
Talk to your representatives, talk to your protesters, your anti-protesters, your barista, your barber, your city council members. Read the news from multiple papers. Watch Fox, CNN, the Christian News Network, then hit balancedpolitics.org and factcheck.org.
Educate yourself. Don't let someone else do it for you. Don't let the pundits from both sides insult your intelligence.
It's time to wake up, America. It's time to stop being led by your own preconceived notions and ideals. It's time to stand for yourself, wherever that leads you.
You want to Occupy something? For a moment, forget your city, your state, your country... all those will come in time. There's something more important that you must first do.
Occupy yourself. Occupy your own intellect, your sense of purpose. Occupy the rights we have all been given as individuals, as human beings.
Occupy your voice, shout, be heard, be recognized.
Let's face it. This new trial in which we find our nation isn't about handouts, accountability, corporations, the government, the right, the left.
It's about the ambivalent. The individuals who have yet to take a stand or have taken a stand through the pressure of their peers.
It's about everyone exercising their rights, without the compulsion from others to choose where they stand. It's about reclaiming a nation for the people, for the individual, for the need to have your voice heard, no matter who opposes it.
Wake the hell up.
Then go do something about it.
Sincerely,
The Voices Not Yet Heard
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