How can I help make “political change”? … (11/11/09)
To all those who believe that our society’s troubles can be solved via the political process, I offer the following:
Remember the wisdom of Einstein: that there are no solutions to problems using the same thinking that created them in the first place. Investing in politics is exactly such a dead-end.
There are those who disagree; those who believe that becoming involved in “the political process” are more likely to bring about effective change, and yet history has shown this to be a hollow myth. It is a lack of caring that resides at the core of all social ills, and the dualistic, self-focused, us-vs-them mentality of political conflict actually promotes such a lack of intimacy — regardless of who “wins”.
And with all due respect: it is impossible to vote self-serving incumbents out of office, as this only opens the door for another similar incumbent to fill that void — one who must choose between becoming self-serving him/herself, or becoming irrelevant on the political landscape that demands such self-servitude.
Politicians and political “believers” counter that to shift our focus away from their counterproductive endeavors is a form of “giving up”, and yet nothing is farther from the Truth. It takes both great humility and great courage to set aside popular beliefs which do not serve the causes of Peace & Love. Political debates and arguments inevitably lead to hollow compromises that further neither Justice nor Harmony. This has never been more evident that in these times of watered-down “progress” and illusory “change”.
And it does no good to blame our politicians either. History has shown that even the most noble and well-intended of men and women are forced by the American political system to compromise in order to survive; to placate the “powers that be” (see: the military, along with the industrial lobbyists of the oil, paper, medical & tobacco industries) in ways that harm us all. In essence, they must either cave in to these pressures or lose their places of influence.
History is a wonderful teacher, if we but have the courage to allow it to speak …
AND we do have an alternative — we can choose to set aside our futile political struggles and focus our energies where they actually do some real Good: on being radically Kind to those in our immediate communities. Indeed, history has clearly shown that the only way to “vote incumbents out of office” is to make their office irrelevant.
Eventually, if we are to survive, our species must make this choice collectively. And yet there are many who disagree; many who are determined to “push forward” and somehow force the system to alter its very nature. Such obstinance could be cause for concern, except for the reality of a deeper Truth: that those determined to push a river always fail, AND they always become cleansed of their ineffective beliefs in the process.
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