You Say You Want a Revolution

Gods.  Things are crazy right now, aren't they?  But it's a good kind of crazy.  Like the whole world is waking up, all at the same time.  Like the kind of crazy you see in the eyes of a battered woman who realizes, for the first time, that maybe it isn't that man's god-given right to smack her around... maybe she doesn't deserve it.  Maybe this kind of abuse isn't just the price you have to pay to have a man around to provide for you.  Maybe she can take care of herself for once.  Sure, it'll be hard, but she and the kids will make it if she just digs in her heels and doesn't give up.  Hell, she's been taking care of every want and whim that man has, plus caring for three kids (all by herself for the most part, she reminds herself), plus holding down a full time job, for as long as she can remember.  What difference would it make if she dropped the asshole?  She'd lose his income,  but it's worth it for the peace of mind.  For the sanity.  Maybe... just maybe... she doesn't need this son of a bitch after all.  And maybe she'll do whatever it takes to be rid of his lies, his laziness, and his abuse once and for all.  This, that crazy glint in her eye says, stops now.

Mmm... yeah... it's that kind of crazy.

You've seen it too, haven't you?  All the protests.  From Wall Street to Nebraska, hopping oceans to other countries, droves and droves of people saying, simply, no more.  I think it's brilliant.  I think it's about time.  We don't have time to fuck around anymore.  We're using up resources, and what resources we do have are being wasted and destroyed at a rapid rate, and still they (the Big Men On Top) sit there, doing nothing.  There are some token efforts here and there, as they scramble trying to fix things, using the same methods that have failed time and again, trying to throw money at problems, when the money means less and less.  Trying to fix a leaky, sinking boat by jumping up and down, waiving their hands.  Too little too late.  It's time to get a new boat.  It's time for a paradigm shift.

I hope this works.  I hope we, as a human race, come up with something better.  No, I don't know what that will be or how that will be accomplished.  I don't think anyone else does, either.  Not precisely.  But, I think we'll make up the rules as we go along, as any young tribe does.  The human tendency for greed will always be with us, and will always be our enemy.  People are a messy, brutal, loving, beautiful, selfish, complicated lot.  We are constantly changing, while we stay essentially the same.  We morph.  We cycle.  It's simply that time.  Time for a change.  Time for the next thing.  We've done this so many times, and yet most will say, "Bah, it'll never happen.  In a couple of months, it'll be back to business as usual."  Perhaps.  But humans have short memories.  And sometimes things change in big ways while we're looking right at them.  We just don't always notice until they poke us in the eye.  Humans are also short sighted.

So, I will watch and I will wait.  I will show solidarity with those brave humans marching for Occupy Wallstreet, marching across the country and across the world.  I will demonstrate when I have the opportunity and speak up whenever I can.  And I will live my life, work my day job, write my stories, and try to conquer my own bit of greed that sleeps inside me, and occasionally wakes up hungry.  I will do this because I know it's next.  This is the great human tendency that must be overcome.  We all need to be healthy, we all need to be happy, we all need to be comfortable.  And we all need to be challenged.  It's not All Mine anymore.  It's not all theirs, either.  It's a hard thing, as any toddler knows, learning to share.

Interested?  Curious?  Behind on any of this?  Here are some links that will lead you to what the hell I'm babbling on about now.

Occupy Wallstreet - the beginning.

Occupy Together - tracking the larger movement, all over the country, all over the world.

Common Dreams - more news and special coverage on this movement.

Update (10/18/11):  See this recent letter from Rebecca Solnit published on Common Dreams.  Letter to a Dead Man About the Occupation of Hope

In a day or two, or maybe next week, I'll  be back to talk of fun things: books and Halloween and the thing I get to do that's making me giddy.  Until then, love to you all.  I hope your world is changing, too.