My last post focused on what I believe to be the cause of the world’s disruption. I attribute the lack of education, and a culture of apathy, greed, and idolatry of the materialistic to be the foundation of our modern troubles, or at least that is what is hindering any real change in our world’s economic political and social woes. At the request of my wonderful and eloquent girlfriend I am going to attempt to explain my solution to the identified problem. She may very well be the only person that reads this, which is fine for now.
I look at the world through a harsh critical lens. I examine the perfidy in our world affairs and I see the feckless public too drugged to care. Yet, I am truly an optimist and I believe that there is a solution. That solution is not easy. If you think it is easy to change the world then you are sadly mistaken. If you think you can sporadically make attempts that you feel can make a difference and it will one day lead to bigger things, I’m not sure I agree with you. I believe that the greatest power human beings have is our ability to come together and organize ourselves for the good of others. Now, there is a plethora of organizations nationwide that strive for helping others and bringing necessities to those less fortunate. The West can have all of these humanitarian efforts they want, but as long as billions of dollars a year are spent to fight wars of conquest, these efforts are merely cheap band-aids for a gunshot wound to our world.
I am no messiah, and I cannot fathom the “perfect world” but what I do know is that education is the key. Education does not have to come from public funds, expensive technology, or professional teachers, it can come from parents, public forums, engaging with people, and demonstrating on the streets. My solution is this: To have those that are enlightened to the worlds troubles to engage with someone in a serious discussion, particularly someone who does not have a deep ideological stance already. Those who are set in their ways are not worth trying to change, but those who may have not thought about political, economic, and social issues can be reached. It must start small, but over time after networking, organizations can form. Organizations that should be aimed to educate, petition, whistleblow, and practice what they preach in terms of volunteering their time for the greater good. There are already organizations out there with great ideas for our future, and work to educate, like the Venus Project, but groups like that are still too ideological and are reaching too far too quickly. The website Wikileaks, that has been in the news so much for its tremendous leak of the Afghanistan War documents should be looked at as a model for those who wish to expose and challenge the status quo. This leak is a great first step, to show the public how our military carries out secret operations with zero concern for civilian lives. I might add, that this is the real war. Our military endeavors are being run by profit seeking corporations that sometimes show allegiances to other countries, and sometimes even our “enemies.” Unfortunately the mainstream media has neglected to focus on what these leaks mean in terms of how we structure our world, and instead have wondered if the leaks “put American soldiers and Afghani’s at risk.” The utter idiocy of that is beyond me, when the civilians that are dying are being killed by our secret operatives, and our soldiers are put in to harms way to make the wealthy more money.
Now, what does this mean for our solution? I hope we will see a resurgence in the anti-war movement. I for one will be working on that. A new poll showed that the wars popularity has fallen nearly 20% since the beginning of the year, so that could lead to some action. But again, this should go beyond US involvement in the middle east, Palestinian injustice, immigration, and gay rights.
All of these progressive issues are important, but without some sort of education movement they will just be scattered causes that are only focused on by those that are most deeply affected by them. I know this all still sounds vague and may be difficult to imagine in a concrete way, but as a student of history I have studied the incredible things that people have done to make change in this world. There was a time in this country when the majority of people thought the enslavement of black people would last forever. The abolitionist movement started off small, but became so relentless that it led to the unthinkable for the American economy and society. All around the world throughout history the people have stood up to the rich and powerful and ended useless wars, freed slaves, defeated colonialism, won rights for women, rights for minorities, rights for workers, ended child labor, and overcome fear. Certainly these are not ubiquitous around the world, but in many places these victories were won, and they were not granted to the people by those in charge, they were demanded and fought for by the people. So, I do not see any reason why our generation, and generations to come cannot work to end our political and economic captivity, and put an end to the culture of apathy, and the culture of greed. Of course, it begins with education. It will take teachers, and parents who dissent from the status quo, and who are unafraid of the consequences of teaching without censorship, and giving our children the gift of critical thinking in order to build a future of socially minded people capable of transforming the world for the better. What does this future world look like? I do not think I am ready to completely envision that world as of yet (believe me I do envision it, but that vision is a rampant oscillation in my mind). What I promise myself at this point in time is to engage with others, build small movements of people, and connect to larger calls for justice and peace in our world. Taking one issue at a time for now, but teaching and acknowledging the fact that there IS an underlying problem, and that all of the injustice and horror in our world is related. That is my solution right now, as I approach twenty three, and I look forward to my contributions.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
What is wrong with the world?
What is wrong with the world? I feel that in the deepest areas of my heart I know the answer to that question. From my empirical view of the world and careful consideration of multiple ideologies compounded with economic, social, and cultural facts, I can begin to at least write a scattered response to the question of what has been so baleful to this world. Our political economic discourse revolves around two ideological camps: those who want the “free market” to have control of the economy, and those who want a sizable amount of government intervention and regulation. This is at least the discourse of the western world, most notably contentious in the USA.
It is estimated that by 2015 the USA will be in $18 trillion of debt. When looking at the view of conservatives and government overspending, that estimate can easily be manipulated for their cause. But if we examine the root of that deficit, it stems from our days of living beyond our means that began in the early 1970s, when the “free market” was in full swing. Compared to our tea-baggers of today Richard Nixon would have been considered a Commi, but his economic policies were rather centered on small government and free market capitalism, straying away from the Keynesian approach begun by FDR. It was thought, and still is, that our excessive debt would be corrected in the world economy through the free market. What happened? We just sunk in to more and more debt. The free market made it much more profitable for American corporations to use cheap labor in other countries to make their products. The result: Americans don’t make anything anymore… that is, except debt. Consumer culture under free market ideologies made it not only tempting to live beyond your means, but practically impossible to live otherwise. As corporate profits rose, the wages for an American worker stagnated. Corporations found a way to save on labor, meanwhile financial institutions found ways to milk as much as possible out of the American that needed to borrow money in order to live up to the culture of consumption.
Can we blame the consumers? Many will say yes. Corporations certainly try to push some of the blame away from themselves and on to the consumer. But when the American Dream is pounded in to your head, and you work hard but do not reap from the benefits of your labor because of that wage stagnation (even though the overall economy is growing) the only sensible thing to do for a person who strives to meet that middle class American dream is to borrow and live that life with the belief that your hard work will pay off. The hard work seldom paid off, and now those Americans who created what they thought would be only a temporary artificial version of the middle class dream, never brought the dream in to reality. Instead, their picket fence dreams turned in to a homeless nightmare.
Will this teach people to live frugally? It seems to have taught some, but the majority of people are still obsessed with accruing material wealth. That is a cultural facet that has been rooted in us since the end of World War II and the rise of the Disneyland dreamworld. It has carried in to 2010 as Americans watch and invest their time thinking about rich housewives on TV bicker about petty nonsense. Our obsession with rich celebrities, including these useless people on sickening reality TV, grossly overpaid athletes, and greedy CEO’s who have no regard for human welfare and the environment, may just overshadow the lessons we should learn from the economic crisis, and the problem of living beyond your means.
So, what is wrong with the world? Well I answer this rather superficially and of course with an Americentric attitude, but I believe that the American culture, economy, and political system is so pervasive in the world that it is difficult not to focus on the west when answering such a vague and interpretive question. When it comes down to it, the problem facing the world is that the vast majority of the people are uneducated, and those that are partially educated through western school systems are not taught to think critically about the world. They are not taught that every component of their life has been molded by political and economic policies of the past and how they interact with popular culture. It is no wonder that most Americans would rather watch what I consider pornography (a word that is defined as obscene writings, drawings, photographs, or the like, esp. those having little or no artistic merit), than watch or read anything that has to do with complex ideological debate.
We can go even further and say that this lack of education is caused by the out of wack system of profits and unregulated global capitalism protected with guns and nuclear weapons. However, there are people, many people, who can see the world critically and attempt to develop solutions to our problems. Complaining about the fundamental issue of the entire social system is useless. It’s too big to change immediately. In fact, I’m not even sure a ubiquitous social system even exists. But there are many macro and micro systems that are in dire need of reform. It is up to those that have been blessed with the education in not only knowledge but in critical thinking as well to teach the broader public. The internet has been a great tool for this, but it is often countered with backwards, ignorant, and racist ideology as well. I may have defined what I think is wrong with the world, but I can merely come up with possible answers. But I don’t think the answer is going off the grid as some of my friends have insisted. That will not solve anything. Part of the answer is to confront these demons that have ruled this world for far too long. These demons are fear, ignorance, apathy, and greed. We can fight those demons with unsullied education, exposure through non-profit journalism, and care for all forms of life. It is not one person or group of people we need to confront, it is a culture that rewards greed, stupidity, and glorifies apathy, and edaciousness. I believe it can be done, and I will work for my entire life to find others who feel the same way, and to teach others that accepting the world as it is, is the greatest demon we face as a species.
It is estimated that by 2015 the USA will be in $18 trillion of debt. When looking at the view of conservatives and government overspending, that estimate can easily be manipulated for their cause. But if we examine the root of that deficit, it stems from our days of living beyond our means that began in the early 1970s, when the “free market” was in full swing. Compared to our tea-baggers of today Richard Nixon would have been considered a Commi, but his economic policies were rather centered on small government and free market capitalism, straying away from the Keynesian approach begun by FDR. It was thought, and still is, that our excessive debt would be corrected in the world economy through the free market. What happened? We just sunk in to more and more debt. The free market made it much more profitable for American corporations to use cheap labor in other countries to make their products. The result: Americans don’t make anything anymore… that is, except debt. Consumer culture under free market ideologies made it not only tempting to live beyond your means, but practically impossible to live otherwise. As corporate profits rose, the wages for an American worker stagnated. Corporations found a way to save on labor, meanwhile financial institutions found ways to milk as much as possible out of the American that needed to borrow money in order to live up to the culture of consumption.
Can we blame the consumers? Many will say yes. Corporations certainly try to push some of the blame away from themselves and on to the consumer. But when the American Dream is pounded in to your head, and you work hard but do not reap from the benefits of your labor because of that wage stagnation (even though the overall economy is growing) the only sensible thing to do for a person who strives to meet that middle class American dream is to borrow and live that life with the belief that your hard work will pay off. The hard work seldom paid off, and now those Americans who created what they thought would be only a temporary artificial version of the middle class dream, never brought the dream in to reality. Instead, their picket fence dreams turned in to a homeless nightmare.
Will this teach people to live frugally? It seems to have taught some, but the majority of people are still obsessed with accruing material wealth. That is a cultural facet that has been rooted in us since the end of World War II and the rise of the Disneyland dreamworld. It has carried in to 2010 as Americans watch and invest their time thinking about rich housewives on TV bicker about petty nonsense. Our obsession with rich celebrities, including these useless people on sickening reality TV, grossly overpaid athletes, and greedy CEO’s who have no regard for human welfare and the environment, may just overshadow the lessons we should learn from the economic crisis, and the problem of living beyond your means.
So, what is wrong with the world? Well I answer this rather superficially and of course with an Americentric attitude, but I believe that the American culture, economy, and political system is so pervasive in the world that it is difficult not to focus on the west when answering such a vague and interpretive question. When it comes down to it, the problem facing the world is that the vast majority of the people are uneducated, and those that are partially educated through western school systems are not taught to think critically about the world. They are not taught that every component of their life has been molded by political and economic policies of the past and how they interact with popular culture. It is no wonder that most Americans would rather watch what I consider pornography (a word that is defined as obscene writings, drawings, photographs, or the like, esp. those having little or no artistic merit), than watch or read anything that has to do with complex ideological debate.
We can go even further and say that this lack of education is caused by the out of wack system of profits and unregulated global capitalism protected with guns and nuclear weapons. However, there are people, many people, who can see the world critically and attempt to develop solutions to our problems. Complaining about the fundamental issue of the entire social system is useless. It’s too big to change immediately. In fact, I’m not even sure a ubiquitous social system even exists. But there are many macro and micro systems that are in dire need of reform. It is up to those that have been blessed with the education in not only knowledge but in critical thinking as well to teach the broader public. The internet has been a great tool for this, but it is often countered with backwards, ignorant, and racist ideology as well. I may have defined what I think is wrong with the world, but I can merely come up with possible answers. But I don’t think the answer is going off the grid as some of my friends have insisted. That will not solve anything. Part of the answer is to confront these demons that have ruled this world for far too long. These demons are fear, ignorance, apathy, and greed. We can fight those demons with unsullied education, exposure through non-profit journalism, and care for all forms of life. It is not one person or group of people we need to confront, it is a culture that rewards greed, stupidity, and glorifies apathy, and edaciousness. I believe it can be done, and I will work for my entire life to find others who feel the same way, and to teach others that accepting the world as it is, is the greatest demon we face as a species.
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