"Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it."
Well, motherfuckers, zero hour is upon us. I've been holding my tongue on this for a long fucking time. Too long. Most people, if they were to read this, will come to the conclusion that I should be strapped up in a straitjacket and locked in a padded cell. But as Chuck D once said, "Man, I've had it up to here." I apologize for lacking the gumption to express these opinions any other way, but I am inclined to believe that my opinion on this subject is beyond what is socially tolerable. I expect an ass-ton of irritation and indignation to show up throughout the course of this diatribe, so be forewarned. It might also take me a while to figure out how I'm gonna get my point across, so make yourselves comfortable. And take your shoes off when you come into my house.
Now...unless there's any protest, allow me to begin by saying that I'm fully aware of the irony involved in airing the following grievances over the goddamn Internet. I understand that what I'm about to say is going to make me look like a coffee shop revolutionary, or an armchair hippie, or what have you. If there was something I could do about that at this time, believe me, I'd have packed up and taken off a long time ago. As it is, though, I'm lacking in supplies as well as wherewithal, so you're gonna have to bear with me until I get that shit squared away, okay? I'm working on it.
That being said...
Anybody who knows me knows that I've got a lot of contempt for the world as we know it. I can't stand globalization. I can't stand soundbite politics. I can't stand patriotism. I can't stand confrontationalism. I can't stand theistic religion or its perpetuation of obsolete values. I can't stand self-righteous conspiracy theorists who apparently don't realize that their arguments are methodically orchestrated exercises in futility. I can't stand the two-party system. I can't stand discrimination. I can't stand anti-intellectualism. Ironically enough, I can't stand intellectualism, either. I can't stand credit scores, mortgage payments and interest rates. I can't stand the nine-to-five mentality. I can't stand how the media engineers deception and apathy. I can't stand the way people define themselves by what they buy. I can't stand marketing, and I really can't stand 'anti-marketing' marketing. I can't stand having to keep count of how many jolts-per-minute my favorite television programs contain. I can't stand the glorification and idolization of celebrities. I can't stand knowing that millions of first world citizens are still under the misconception that television is a medium for information, entertainment or art. I can't stand it when people think I became a vegan simply for the dietary benefits. I can't stand the exploitation of animals or the Earth's natural resources. I can't stand vivisection. I can't stand the meat industry.
Wait a minute.
Let's have ourselves a second look at that word: industry. The manufacturing of products on a large scale with the intent of turning a profit. Industry: the dynamic impetus dictating the course of American culture for the past 350 years. The primary source of society's continued advancement; without it, our collected perspective of technology, refuge and economic prosperity would be decidedly different. Therefore, it is to be assumed that the vast majority of modern civilization live their entire lives in unfaltering obedience to a system of convenience, homogenization and consumption, believing that said system is evidence of mankind's evolutionary superiority (that is, if they ever even take the time to contemplate their role in the grand scheme of the universe). Drowned out by all this pandemonian horseshit are people like me, the so-called cynics, whom society has given plenty of evidence of its own fuckedupedness. For example, the huge piles of redundant protoplasm lumbering through shopping malls like a fleet of interstate buses or the fact that you could sell out a 30,000 seat arena by getting two guys to beat the shit out of each other (or even worse, pretending to beat the shit out of each other), but you'd be lucky if 10 people showed up to a fuckin' peace vigil. I've been shooting messengers for what seems like my entire life, albeit always vaguely suspicious of a more sinister pr
esence at work; it's embarrassingly obvious to me now that there is, in fact, a higher power working to subconsciously influence our decisions, shape our lives and steal our souls. After spending my formative years questioning the morals of society, it is of little comfort to finally have a direction to point a finger of blame, because every one of the complaints stated above, and for that matter, the sum of humanity's woes, have been in some way caused by what is considered the backbone of modern civilization. Industry.
No one is out of reach from this monster's grasp. No one is immune; after all, there's a market for everything. Corporations pull the reins of society, and they rely on us to be stupid. How are they able to rely on it? Because they're the ones that made us stupid.
Did you know that political debates in this country used to last up to seven hours? In 1854, Stephen A. Douglas delivered a three-hour address to an audience in Peoria, Illinois, to which Abraham Lincoln was to respond. By the time Lincoln's turn to speak came, he had to remind the crowd that it was already 5pm, and recommended that everyone go home, have dinner, and return refreshed for his rebuttal. The audience complied, and when they came back they were rewarded with four more hours of debate (It should be noted that, at the time, Lincoln and Douglas weren't running for any particular public office; this was strictly for entertainment purposes, as people then considered their political education as an important part of their social lives). Thanks to the furthered urbanization of America and the advent of the television, such an event would be utterly unimaginable in today's cultural landscape.
Nevermind; I take that back. On January 2, 2008, comedian Dane Cook broke the Laugh Factory record previously held by Dave Chappelle by performing a set that lasted seven hours and ten minutes. Silly me.
Anyway, we've finally gotten to the part where I tell you what's really been bothering me lately. Paying attention, boys and girls? Good.
Five years ago, as George W. Bush was preparing to bum rush Iraq with U.S. military might, about how many people in this country gave a hoot about global warming? I mean, really gave a hoot? Aside from the crazy sons of bitches who wore Birkenstocks and smelled like patchouli oil, I doubt you'd have found very many. I mean, who had the time? With network news putting the entire nation on edge over an imminent invasion that would lead to the unjustified deaths of countless soldiers and Iraqi citizens alike, the environment seemed like the last thing on anyone's priority list. Similarly, what was the consensus on "leaving a lighter footprint (a phrase I absolutely loathe, by the way)," say, three years ago? Again, unless you lived in a fuckin' commune (or in Ballard), you probably couldn't be bothered to care. Most of us were too distraught from the thought of having to put up with four more years of Bush's bullshit. Which isn't to say that no one was aware of any environmental problems; I'm sure there were those who turned off the sink while they were brushing their teeth or recycled their bags at the grocery store, but on the whole, there wasn't any sense of urgency or anything. Personally, my biggest worry at the time was figuring out how to unhook a girl's bra without looking like a jackass (I'm not too incredibly proud of that, but at least I'm willing to admit it).
But that all changed in the summer of 2006, when former Vice President Al Gore (whose name hadn't been mentioned in pop culture since the Supreme Court made him look like a bitch six and half years before), armed with an Oscar-winning hit documentary on global warming, resurrected his career like an emerald phoenix rising from the ashes to impassion the public mind with a quadruple shot of environmental awareness. Filled with scientific evidence, heartfelt sincerity and the occasional spurt of humour, the impact of the oft-lauded An Inconvenient Truth was felt across the entire country. Once-obscure catchphrases such as 'alternative energy' and 'sustainable living' became buzzwords seemingly overnight, and millions upon millions of bourgeois yuppies grew anxious to join the environmental movement. It was suddenly hip to be green. And so began a shift in American consciousness that saw citizens take action by converting their homes to coincide with environmentally-friendly living standards, such as switching to wind-powered electricity or installing low-flow faucets, showerheads and toilets. Gore's star rose to God-like status, especially when compared to the dipshit who cheated him out of the White House gig, and in the fall of 2007 he was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize.
By the way: Jack Bandit's quick capsule review of An Inconvenient Truth? Piece of shit.
Yeah, it would be fair to say that I saw that movie from a different perspective than most. That movie was wretched and horrible. Don't misunderstand me here; if you finish reading this and conclude that I don't believe that global warming is a very serious threat to life on this planet, you would be wrong. But there was another inconvenient truth in that movie, one that Gore failed to mention: When offering solutions to the global warming crisis, he puts accountability in the hands of the individual while neglecting to hold corporations responsible for the amount of carbon they continue to emit year after year. The fact of the matter is that, of the 7.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by the United States each year, private citizens only account for approximately 20% of that amount. The rest of it is put out by factories and refineries, who burn energy producing the things we've been conditioned to think we need to live. I kept waiting for Gore to address the issue of corporate pollution, but I already knew that that was asking too much (in the world of politics, you don't bite the hand that feeds you). What does he do instead? He encourages us to buy energy efficient goods and pay for energy efficient services, smokescreen practices that serve to make his back-scratching friends (and in turn, him) a lot of money. Rather than pointing that out, though, director Davis Guggenheim tugged at viewers' heartstrings with intimate vignettes focusing on Gore's personal and professional distresses, which allowed him to win sympathy points for how much he's done for the environment while simultaneously making the audience feel guilty about how much they haven't. Gore's ultimate solution is that we all have to do our part as individuals. I say, fuck that. Individuals aren't the problem. Corporations are.
And don't go and say something like, "But we can't do anything to change corporate practices; we can only control ourselves." They're counting on us to think like that.
The film stated that "we are witnessing a collision between our civilization and the earth," but no one wants to hear about solutions that don't benefit corporate interests, which, by the way, do nothing to cushion said collision. Sure, you can recycle your cans and buy brand new energy-efficient appliances, but just because a product is sustainable in its use doesn't necessarily mean that it's sustainable in its manufacture. I mean, they have got to come from somewhere, and in a market-driven economy, profit is the only thing that matters.
And that's the problem that everyone has hitherto failed to realize; "green" has become just another marketing tool. The goal of An Inconvenient Truth was not to spread awareness about the environmental movement. It was to kill it and replace it with an environmental market: a way to exploit yuppie guilt (Their self-consciousness is evident when they feel the need to validate themselves by bragging about their recent environmentally-friendly purchases). It gives the impression that they are taking part in a campaign of compassion and progression, but, as in every other aspect of their lives, their real desires to make something happen have been channeled into consuming, and their own abilities and potential have been displaced, projected onto the "green" items they purchase. It's been done before. In the past, the sell was, "Aw, man. Hollywood's got us feeling bad about our self-image." "Hey lardasses, here are some treadmills you can buy!" The only thing that's changed about the formula is what form of self-hatred they're shining the spotlight on: "Oh, drag. Hollywood's got us feeling bad about the environment." "Hey kids, I've got just what you need to put on a happy face! Buy a hybrid car! Or some solar panels! Or some compact fluorescent light bulbs! Or some recycling bins! Or some certified-green insulation! Or whatever else you, the apathetic, docile masses, need to get on board with our new-wave environmental market. It doesn't really matter what you buy; if you want to save the environment, all you need to do is KEEP BUYING FROM US." At best, this new breed of environmentalism is just swishing the mouthwash of big business over to the other cheek. At worst, it's walking us right into a new Cold War.
Again, don't get me wrong; I have nothing against the public's new-found awareness of environmental concerns. As a matter of fact, I think it's great. The problem I have is that the courses of action we've been taking simply aren't enough.
Our corporate masters are trying to feed us the illusion that by buying different products, we're making enough of a contribution to environmental change. Here's my question: If we're still opening up our wallets and bending over for big business, what's changed? To see the reality of the situation is to realize that it's the same old media-spun story of the mighty manipulating the meek into lining their pockets. If you truly believe that companies like this are being sincere in their environmental practices, then you're full of shit, because it's been pushed in by a thick, purple-veined corporate dick (oil conglomerates buy out all the small, cutting-edge companies under the guise of funding sustainability, but they're really out to silence them before the public gets word on what they're up to). It's as if the corporate elite have given themselves the right to spit in our face and say, "Fuck you, pay me." We need to realize that our accountability doesn't end at buying sustainable goods, because sustainability is a joke as long as it's being sold by a bureaucracy. Therefore, it is our responsibility to wash our hands of our dependence on their services and learn how to live in a self-sufficient manner; in essence, freeing ourselves from their grip. As long as we accept the displacement of our desires into the marketplace by paying for imitations of their fulfillment, then the corporate world will continue to consume the natural one, and we will never truly know freedom.
"Its funny when the movement makes the mainstream but still don't do shit but bruise a dream."
I know that, to most people, all of this sounds crazy; questioning the established social order and long-practiced national pastime (fuck baseball; I'm speaking of consumption). If these ideas seem foreign and ludicrous to you, I suggest you take a look around our culture and the world in which we live and re-evaluate how much of it actually makes sense. Haven't done that in a while, have you? I'm fairly certain that in your answer is where you'll find all the ludicrousness.
I'll leave you with a stellar poem written by a man who, while not known for his writing, is a noted actor, raw food vegan, peace activist and supporter of hemp legalization, the latter of which he's all but been Munsoned by a misinformed public at the hands of (guess who?) industrial America, who would absolutely go apeshit if the secret of the Cannabis were to get out. I'm posting it up here because it's primary time, and while the rest of the country is caught up in the corporate-funded hoopla, I, knowing that it'll be a cold day in hell before a candidate who represents my political ideals is given the opportunity to run (let alone get elected), romanticize that if that day ever came, the inaugural address that that person would give would probably sound something like this. Ladies and gents, I give you Billy Hoyle himself, Woody Harrelson.
I sometimes feel like an alien creature for which there is no Earthly explanation.
Sure, I have human form
Walking erect and opposing digits
But my mind is upside-down.
I feel like a run-on sentence in a punctuation crazy world
And I see the world around me like a mad collective dream.
An endless stream of people move like ants on the freeway
Cell phones, PCs and digital displays.
In money we trust we'll find happiness; the prevailing attitude
Like a genetically-modified, irradiated Big Mac is somehow symbolic of food.
Morality is legislated
Prisons over-populated
Religion is incorporated
The profit margin's permeated all activity.
We pay our government to park on the street and war is the biggest money-maker of all;
We all know that missile envy only comes from being small.
Politicians and prostitutes are comfortable together.
I wonder if they talk about the strange change in the weather?
This government was founded by, of and for the people but everybody feels it like a giant open sore
They don't represent us anymore.
And blaming the President for the country's woes is like blaming a puppet for the way it sings
Who's the man behind the curtain pulling the strings?
A billion people sitting, watching their TV
In the room that they call 'living'
But as for me, I see living as loving
And since there's no loving room
I sit on the grass under a tree
Dreaming of the way things used to be...
Pre-Industrial Revolution
Which, of course, is before the rivers and oceans and skies were polluted
Before Parkinson's and mad cows
And all the convoluted cacophony of bad ideas like skyscrapers and tree paper and Earth-rapers
Like Monsanto and DuPont had their way
As they continue to today...
This was pre-us.
Back when the buffalo roamed
And the Indians' home was the forest
And God was nature and Heaven was here and now.
Can you imagine clean water, food and air?
Living in community with animals and people who care?
Do you dare to be responsible for every dollar you lay down?
Are you going to make the rich man richer or are you going to stand your ground?
You say you want a revolution?
A communal evolution?
To be a part of the solution?
Maybe I'll be seeing you around.
Peace.
Now...unless there's any protest, allow me to begin by saying that I'm fully aware of the irony involved in airing the following grievances over the goddamn Internet. I understand that what I'm about to say is going to make me look like a coffee shop revolutionary, or an armchair hippie, or what have you. If there was something I could do about that at this time, believe me, I'd have packed up and taken off a long time ago. As it is, though, I'm lacking in supplies as well as wherewithal, so you're gonna have to bear with me until I get that shit squared away, okay? I'm working on it.
That being said...
Anybody who knows me knows that I've got a lot of contempt for the world as we know it. I can't stand globalization. I can't stand soundbite politics. I can't stand patriotism. I can't stand confrontationalism. I can't stand theistic religion or its perpetuation of obsolete values. I can't stand self-righteous conspiracy theorists who apparently don't realize that their arguments are methodically orchestrated exercises in futility. I can't stand the two-party system. I can't stand discrimination. I can't stand anti-intellectualism. Ironically enough, I can't stand intellectualism, either. I can't stand credit scores, mortgage payments and interest rates. I can't stand the nine-to-five mentality. I can't stand how the media engineers deception and apathy. I can't stand the way people define themselves by what they buy. I can't stand marketing, and I really can't stand 'anti-marketing' marketing. I can't stand having to keep count of how many jolts-per-minute my favorite television programs contain. I can't stand the glorification and idolization of celebrities. I can't stand knowing that millions of first world citizens are still under the misconception that television is a medium for information, entertainment or art. I can't stand it when people think I became a vegan simply for the dietary benefits. I can't stand the exploitation of animals or the Earth's natural resources. I can't stand vivisection. I can't stand the meat industry.
Wait a minute.
Let's have ourselves a second look at that word: industry. The manufacturing of products on a large scale with the intent of turning a profit. Industry: the dynamic impetus dictating the course of American culture for the past 350 years. The primary source of society's continued advancement; without it, our collected perspective of technology, refuge and economic prosperity would be decidedly different. Therefore, it is to be assumed that the vast majority of modern civilization live their entire lives in unfaltering obedience to a system of convenience, homogenization and consumption, believing that said system is evidence of mankind's evolutionary superiority (that is, if they ever even take the time to contemplate their role in the grand scheme of the universe). Drowned out by all this pandemonian horseshit are people like me, the so-called cynics, whom society has given plenty of evidence of its own fuckedupedness. For example, the huge piles of redundant protoplasm lumbering through shopping malls like a fleet of interstate buses or the fact that you could sell out a 30,000 seat arena by getting two guys to beat the shit out of each other (or even worse, pretending to beat the shit out of each other), but you'd be lucky if 10 people showed up to a fuckin' peace vigil. I've been shooting messengers for what seems like my entire life, albeit always vaguely suspicious of a more sinister pr
esence at work; it's embarrassingly obvious to me now that there is, in fact, a higher power working to subconsciously influence our decisions, shape our lives and steal our souls. After spending my formative years questioning the morals of society, it is of little comfort to finally have a direction to point a finger of blame, because every one of the complaints stated above, and for that matter, the sum of humanity's woes, have been in some way caused by what is considered the backbone of modern civilization. Industry.No one is out of reach from this monster's grasp. No one is immune; after all, there's a market for everything. Corporations pull the reins of society, and they rely on us to be stupid. How are they able to rely on it? Because they're the ones that made us stupid.
Did you know that political debates in this country used to last up to seven hours? In 1854, Stephen A. Douglas delivered a three-hour address to an audience in Peoria, Illinois, to which Abraham Lincoln was to respond. By the time Lincoln's turn to speak came, he had to remind the crowd that it was already 5pm, and recommended that everyone go home, have dinner, and return refreshed for his rebuttal. The audience complied, and when they came back they were rewarded with four more hours of debate (It should be noted that, at the time, Lincoln and Douglas weren't running for any particular public office; this was strictly for entertainment purposes, as people then considered their political education as an important part of their social lives). Thanks to the furthered urbanization of America and the advent of the television, such an event would be utterly unimaginable in today's cultural landscape.
Nevermind; I take that back. On January 2, 2008, comedian Dane Cook broke the Laugh Factory record previously held by Dave Chappelle by performing a set that lasted seven hours and ten minutes. Silly me.
Anyway, we've finally gotten to the part where I tell you what's really been bothering me lately. Paying attention, boys and girls? Good.
Five years ago, as George W. Bush was preparing to bum rush Iraq with U.S. military might, about how many people in this country gave a hoot about global warming? I mean, really gave a hoot? Aside from the crazy sons of bitches who wore Birkenstocks and smelled like patchouli oil, I doubt you'd have found very many. I mean, who had the time? With network news putting the entire nation on edge over an imminent invasion that would lead to the unjustified deaths of countless soldiers and Iraqi citizens alike, the environment seemed like the last thing on anyone's priority list. Similarly, what was the consensus on "leaving a lighter footprint (a phrase I absolutely loathe, by the way)," say, three years ago? Again, unless you lived in a fuckin' commune (or in Ballard), you probably couldn't be bothered to care. Most of us were too distraught from the thought of having to put up with four more years of Bush's bullshit. Which isn't to say that no one was aware of any environmental problems; I'm sure there were those who turned off the sink while they were brushing their teeth or recycled their bags at the grocery store, but on the whole, there wasn't any sense of urgency or anything. Personally, my biggest worry at the time was figuring out how to unhook a girl's bra without looking like a jackass (I'm not too incredibly proud of that, but at least I'm willing to admit it).But that all changed in the summer of 2006, when former Vice President Al Gore (whose name hadn't been mentioned in pop culture since the Supreme Court made him look like a bitch six and half years before), armed with an Oscar-winning hit documentary on global warming, resurrected his career like an emerald phoenix rising from the ashes to impassion the public mind with a quadruple shot of environmental awareness. Filled with scientific evidence, heartfelt sincerity and the occasional spurt of humour, the impact of the oft-lauded An Inconvenient Truth was felt across the entire country. Once-obscure catchphrases such as 'alternative energy' and 'sustainable living' became buzzwords seemingly overnight, and millions upon millions of bourgeois yuppies grew anxious to join the environmental movement. It was suddenly hip to be green. And so began a shift in American consciousness that saw citizens take action by converting their homes to coincide with environmentally-friendly living standards, such as switching to wind-powered electricity or installing low-flow faucets, showerheads and toilets. Gore's star rose to God-like status, especially when compared to the dipshit who cheated him out of the White House gig, and in the fall of 2007 he was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize.
By the way: Jack Bandit's quick capsule review of An Inconvenient Truth? Piece of shit.
Yeah, it would be fair to say that I saw that movie from a different perspective than most. That movie was wretched and horrible. Don't misunderstand me here; if you finish reading this and conclude that I don't believe that global warming is a very serious threat to life on this planet, you would be wrong. But there was another inconvenient truth in that movie, one that Gore failed to mention: When offering solutions to the global warming crisis, he puts accountability in the hands of the individual while neglecting to hold corporations responsible for the amount of carbon they continue to emit year after year. The fact of the matter is that, of the 7.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by the United States each year, private citizens only account for approximately 20% of that amount. The rest of it is put out by factories and refineries, who burn energy producing the things we've been conditioned to think we need to live. I kept waiting for Gore to address the issue of corporate pollution, but I already knew that that was asking too much (in the world of politics, you don't bite the hand that feeds you). What does he do instead? He encourages us to buy energy efficient goods and pay for energy efficient services, smokescreen practices that serve to make his back-scratching friends (and in turn, him) a lot of money. Rather than pointing that out, though, director Davis Guggenheim tugged at viewers' heartstrings with intimate vignettes focusing on Gore's personal and professional distresses, which allowed him to win sympathy points for how much he's done for the environment while simultaneously making the audience feel guilty about how much they haven't. Gore's ultimate solution is that we all have to do our part as individuals. I say, fuck that. Individuals aren't the problem. Corporations are.
And don't go and say something like, "But we can't do anything to change corporate practices; we can only control ourselves." They're counting on us to think like that.
The film stated that "we are witnessing a collision between our civilization and the earth," but no one wants to hear about solutions that don't benefit corporate interests, which, by the way, do nothing to cushion said collision. Sure, you can recycle your cans and buy brand new energy-efficient appliances, but just because a product is sustainable in its use doesn't necessarily mean that it's sustainable in its manufacture. I mean, they have got to come from somewhere, and in a market-driven economy, profit is the only thing that matters.
And that's the problem that everyone has hitherto failed to realize; "green" has become just another marketing tool. The goal of An Inconvenient Truth was not to spread awareness about the environmental movement. It was to kill it and replace it with an environmental market: a way to exploit yuppie guilt (Their self-consciousness is evident when they feel the need to validate themselves by bragging about their recent environmentally-friendly purchases). It gives the impression that they are taking part in a campaign of compassion and progression, but, as in every other aspect of their lives, their real desires to make something happen have been channeled into consuming, and their own abilities and potential have been displaced, projected onto the "green" items they purchase. It's been done before. In the past, the sell was, "Aw, man. Hollywood's got us feeling bad about our self-image." "Hey lardasses, here are some treadmills you can buy!" The only thing that's changed about the formula is what form of self-hatred they're shining the spotlight on: "Oh, drag. Hollywood's got us feeling bad about the environment." "Hey kids, I've got just what you need to put on a happy face! Buy a hybrid car! Or some solar panels! Or some compact fluorescent light bulbs! Or some recycling bins! Or some certified-green insulation! Or whatever else you, the apathetic, docile masses, need to get on board with our new-wave environmental market. It doesn't really matter what you buy; if you want to save the environment, all you need to do is KEEP BUYING FROM US." At best, this new breed of environmentalism is just swishing the mouthwash of big business over to the other cheek. At worst, it's walking us right into a new Cold War.Again, don't get me wrong; I have nothing against the public's new-found awareness of environmental concerns. As a matter of fact, I think it's great. The problem I have is that the courses of action we've been taking simply aren't enough.
Our corporate masters are trying to feed us the illusion that by buying different products, we're making enough of a contribution to environmental change. Here's my question: If we're still opening up our wallets and bending over for big business, what's changed? To see the reality of the situation is to realize that it's the same old media-spun story of the mighty manipulating the meek into lining their pockets. If you truly believe that companies like this are being sincere in their environmental practices, then you're full of shit, because it's been pushed in by a thick, purple-veined corporate dick (oil conglomerates buy out all the small, cutting-edge companies under the guise of funding sustainability, but they're really out to silence them before the public gets word on what they're up to). It's as if the corporate elite have given themselves the right to spit in our face and say, "Fuck you, pay me." We need to realize that our accountability doesn't end at buying sustainable goods, because sustainability is a joke as long as it's being sold by a bureaucracy. Therefore, it is our responsibility to wash our hands of our dependence on their services and learn how to live in a self-sufficient manner; in essence, freeing ourselves from their grip. As long as we accept the displacement of our desires into the marketplace by paying for imitations of their fulfillment, then the corporate world will continue to consume the natural one, and we will never truly know freedom.
"Its funny when the movement makes the mainstream but still don't do shit but bruise a dream."
I know that, to most people, all of this sounds crazy; questioning the established social order and long-practiced national pastime (fuck baseball; I'm speaking of consumption). If these ideas seem foreign and ludicrous to you, I suggest you take a look around our culture and the world in which we live and re-evaluate how much of it actually makes sense. Haven't done that in a while, have you? I'm fairly certain that in your answer is where you'll find all the ludicrousness.
I'll leave you with a stellar poem written by a man who, while not known for his writing, is a noted actor, raw food vegan, peace activist and supporter of hemp legalization, the latter of which he's all but been Munsoned by a misinformed public at the hands of (guess who?) industrial America, who would absolutely go apeshit if the secret of the Cannabis were to get out. I'm posting it up here because it's primary time, and while the rest of the country is caught up in the corporate-funded hoopla, I, knowing that it'll be a cold day in hell before a candidate who represents my political ideals is given the opportunity to run (let alone get elected), romanticize that if that day ever came, the inaugural address that that person would give would probably sound something like this. Ladies and gents, I give you Billy Hoyle himself, Woody Harrelson.
I sometimes feel like an alien creature for which there is no Earthly explanation.
Sure, I have human form
Walking erect and opposing digits
But my mind is upside-down.
I feel like a run-on sentence in a punctuation crazy world
And I see the world around me like a mad collective dream.
An endless stream of people move like ants on the freeway
Cell phones, PCs and digital displays.
In money we trust we'll find happiness; the prevailing attitude
Like a genetically-modified, irradiated Big Mac is somehow symbolic of food.
Morality is legislated
Prisons over-populated
Religion is incorporated
The profit margin's permeated all activity.
We pay our government to park on the street and war is the biggest money-maker of all;
We all know that missile envy only comes from being small.
Politicians and prostitutes are comfortable together.
I wonder if they talk about the strange change in the weather?
This government was founded by, of and for the people but everybody feels it like a giant open sore
They don't represent us anymore.
And blaming the President for the country's woes is like blaming a puppet for the way it sings
Who's the man behind the curtain pulling the strings?
A billion people sitting, watching their TV
In the room that they call 'living'
But as for me, I see living as loving
And since there's no loving room
I sit on the grass under a tree
Dreaming of the way things used to be...
Pre-Industrial Revolution
Which, of course, is before the rivers and oceans and skies were polluted
Before Parkinson's and mad cows
And all the convoluted cacophony of bad ideas like skyscrapers and tree paper and Earth-rapers
Like Monsanto and DuPont had their way
As they continue to today...
This was pre-us.
Back when the buffalo roamed
And the Indians' home was the forest
And God was nature and Heaven was here and now.
Can you imagine clean water, food and air?
Living in community with animals and people who care?
Do you dare to be responsible for every dollar you lay down?
Are you going to make the rich man richer or are you going to stand your ground?
You say you want a revolution?
A communal evolution?
To be a part of the solution?
Maybe I'll be seeing you around.
Peace.
