It is an intriguing phenomenon, our human obsession with politics. When societies are freshly hatched, it makes total sense for citizens to believe in a democratic process of electing leaders who will hopefully represent their interests and govern with forthright justice and humble sincerity. And yet, in most of the societies in our current world, this is simply not the case.

To the contrary, for decades and decades, corruption, dishonesty and immoral behavior by politicians have proven time and again that those in power tend to break their promises to the collective whole in favor of satisfying their own personal longings and interests. Indeed, in today’s political arenas, access to vast banks of information proving this very point are available to the average citizen with just a few seconds of effort via the Internet.

And so we are left with the puzzling question: if modern-day politics has proven over & over again to be a fraud perpetrated upon the various nations of the world, and if the citizens of those countries have immediate access to evidence proving conclusively that the vast majority of their “leaders” are not to be trusted, and if this pattern of misrepresentation has persisted for many decades on end (which it most certainly has), then why in the world are so many people still so emotionally attached to supporting candidates who in all likelihood will in no way care for them or support the causes that that they find to be important?

Looking solely at the United States, that so many caring and good-hearted Republicans can honestly and fervently support economic measures that are draconian in their callousness towards the poor and the homeless is simply astounding.

At the same time, it is equally bizarre to find so many caring and good-hearted Democrats honestly and fervently supporting a President whose foreign policy measures resemble those of the most backward and morally corrupt terrorist nations.

Taking a step outside of our own society and looking at the situation as objectively as we can, we must conclude that there is some sort of addiction at work. Indeed, I see no other explanation for the number of highly intelligent people who are consistently and repeatedly duped into actually believing the hollow rhetoric that their “leaders” (or their would be “leaders”) spew forth on a regular basis.

So, erring on the side of seeing these folks as Good People who are simply being blind-sided by a very powerful, subconscious ideological craving, I pause to wonder about the Why of the matter … Why are these intelligent, caring people choosing to believe in political rants that completely contradict their own intelligent, caring natures?

*Some sociologists believe that the compulsive interest in politics comes from an in-born desire to advance our own interests. Of course, this explanation is thwarted by the aforementioned Truth: that most folks these days fully comprehend that none of the politicians involved actually will do that advancing; that by far most of the campaign promises being made are insincere lies at worst, and – due to multi-partisan squabbling and filibustering, hollow & ineffective at best.

So it can’t be solely individual self-interest at stake.

Or can it?

*Other sociologists have mentioned the human tendency to strive for security in numbers as an explanation for the rabid attachment to one political party or another; that identifying with a potentially powerful “herd” is a compelling subconscious mechanism designed to further one’s own survival.

This explanation makes a lot more sense.

After all, everyone likes to feel like they are a part of the “winning team” … and everyone likes to feel safe and secure, surrounded by friends & associates who think and talk and look like they do.

“We have this instinct that choosing our Leader is as important to our lives as it was when we were a tribe of two dozen, and that we have similar influence over the result. Following elections and participating in politics activates these vestigial tribal instincts in much the same was as sports, with similarly futile results.” ~ Hal Finney

So maybe that is the answer … Fear.

We are simply so afraid of being powerless &/or alone that we identify with groups of others who express values and interests that at least remotely reflect our own – values and interests that most often enable us to rationalize and forgive our own self-centered desires in one way or another.

We are, after all, only relatively intelligent “herd animals”, right?

We are, after all “only human”.

Right?

I think not …

I happen to BELIEVE in the innate nobility of Humanity. I have seen this scintillating Goodness in the hearts of all those I have encountered over the past eight+ years -– not only in teachers and children and community volunteers, but also in criminals and drug-users and political “cheats”.

I have spoken with thousands of folks from all walks of life in more than a few countries and I have felt that Goodness yearning to break free of the fear that keeps it shackled inside; the fear that has Good People sitting still and waiting for their politicians to act instead of acting themselves.

Frankly, I think we are using politics as a means of copping out.

I think we are so afraid of not being “good enough” to help others that we have elected others to do that glorious “dirty work” for us.

No wonder we get so upset at our “leaders” when they fail us –- for in actuality we are truly only upset at ourselves for passing our own responsibilities on to them; responsibilities that were (and still are) actually privileges; honors that we have given away because we ran from the challenge of embracing them on our own.

Well, my Friends, the time has come for us to finally step up to the plate.

After all these years, politics has finally failed us completely and irrevocably. Our politicians vote themselves raises and don’t even show up for work. They make promises to get our votes and then take the side of weapons manufacturers and environmental polluters and mega-corporations once they are in office.

And we are not to be angry at them for doing so … They are simply looking out for their best interests (material wealth and sociological power via re-election), just as your vote for their hollow promises was you looking out for your own.

Well I say “NO LONGER!!!”

No longer will we wait for our politicians to feed or clothe our poor … We will do the feeding and the clothing.

No longer will we wait for our politicians to house our homeless … We will take them in under our own roofs.

No longer will we wait for our politicians to properly educate our youth … We will be our children’s teachers.

No longer will we wait for our politicians to give us nutritional food and proper health care … We will ensure that those our communities remain healthy when well and are cared for when ill.

And no longer will we try to influence our politicians with our brittle votes … We will show them that they are no longer needed, in that no one listens any longer to their warm-winded speeches; in that there are someday no votes at all for them to count.

We have tried “change from the top” for thousands of years, my Friends. The experiment is over, and it has prove conclusively to be a failure. Change must come from the “bottom up” – change must come from US!!!

Not one of you out there is “only human” … Every one of you is a conscious, caring being who is fully capable of reaching and tending gently to another in need in your community; another who has been repeatedly abandoned by the very “leaders” you have championed in elections past & present.

In the words of my all-time favorite anti-politician:
“BE NOT AFRAID”, my Friends.

Be not afraid of failing, for to reach out to another IS to succeed.

Be not afraid of being left alone, for to Care selflessly for another is to expand your Family ten-fold.

Be not afraid of governmental retribution, for selfless service need not be loud and rebellious. There is no need to overthrow a government that is no longer viable. Simply pay your taxes to keep them happy and then go about doing whatever needs to be done for the downtrodden.

Be not afraid that you don’t have enough to “make a difference”. Simply take all the time and money and energy that you were going to spend on politics and politicians and invest instead where it truly counts — into the lives of those in need in your own community.

One person at a time, one moment at a time … This is The Way that real change occurs.

For this is what it means for us to Wake Up and finally be the change we so want to see …

This, my Friends, is The Way.

“There is no way to Peace … Peace is The Way.
There is no way to Giving … Giving is The Way.
There is no way to Oneness … Oneness is The Way.”
~ inspired by Gandhi