Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Protesting Protest

My path to redemption is carved by a few sturdy steps surrounded, and vigilantly engulfed by the fragility of whispers and feathers, egg shells and erratic emotions, misplaced passion and misinterpretation. I can not possibly leap fearlessly into truth while cautiously worrying about those who will be too quick to take their own premature critiques and run in the opposite direction so as not to be associated, labeled, or stigmatized for actually finishing what they were seeing unfold before it is falsely retold.

There must be embedded watch words. There must be an advanced warning system ready to sound the alarms, and quickly evacuate everyone before they have an opportunity to open up to a different point of view. I have to use extreme care calling this a movement because they'll think I'm a revolutionary trying to topple the government. I can not say that I am simply trying to learn the lessons of the past because I must be a hippy. I can not say that I care for others because then I'm a socialist. I can not say that our economic foundation is built on superficialities and in-efficiency because there is still a lot of crap that we don't need to be bought in order to get us out of this, and that level of materialism has to be maintained otherwise we will slide back into another recession, and be a tree hugger to boot. I can not say that our nation's value system is in disarray because I would then obviously be un-American. I am neither.

We are going to have to break these grand generalizations down, and meet in the middle for realistic solutions to all of our greatest problems that have been in political litigation for too long. We are going to have to move away from politics and do this on our own (together). Have you ever seen a protest today? Did you notice the relative few, who most likely represented the concerns of millions, be cast as complete extremist nuts? Did you ever see any president come out, and say, "Alright... ALRIGHT... you're right, we messed up, but I made a few calls, signed a couple of papers, and got this mess all straightened out. Thank you for your time and consideration. You can all go home now"?

I never have, but I do see certain videos generate millions of views, and comments virtually over night. I have seen millions follow blogs, people on twitter, and stay connected on other social networking sites. If this is the reality of our "times", then why don't we use the same momentum of each to harness all of those voices, and project them clearly? Protesting, in the traditional sense, still maintains its purpose, but to more accurately represent the voices of the masses, let us choose a new venue to come together in real numbers that can not lie, or be denied.