I Just Saw Something Really Sad. And Then I Got Angry.

[Le Taz Hot]

77. I reject the premise that we are helpless little

pieces of seaweed destined to move or not move depending on the current. We live in a Democracy, or what's left of it and we, therefore, can shape our own destiny. Yes, the oligarchy has CAUSED the two-tiered system but we, the 99% have the power to change it by not playing by their rules. I can't expand on the partisan politics idea on this particular board except to say we need to scrutinize ALL candidates and quit settling for the lesser of two evils. It's part of why we are where we are. The two major political parties, year after year, put up the SAME candidates and, make no mistake, they are the same candidates in that they all work for the 1%. They trot us out every two years, whip up the partisan frenzy (much like a revival church meeting) and get us to donate money, time and votes to people who were never meant to represent us in the first place. We need to demand better and we need to do better ourselves.

I reject the premise because I've ready history, as is evident, have you. You mention Marx which made me think of Lenin. What was the context? The Russian people, having been ruled for hundreds of years, living in serfdom where the individual was owned, literally, by the corporations of their time, stood up and said, "No more!" I mean these were people who had no concept of self governance. Wildly disparate people spanning vast areas of lands -- each with different cultures, different belief systems and all under the crush of the Czar and the aristocracy. THEY rose up. THEY broke the yoke of the oppressors. Tragically they ended up going from one oppressive regime to another but we certainly don't have to do that and I don't think we would. We've been a "free people" (yes, with many GLARING exceptions) from the beginning so I can't see us making the same mistake.

I believe in empowerment and I think we have the power to change the system that brought us to where we are today. Throughout history we've had monarchies, oligarchies, oppressive regimes. The end of the story is that they all fall. All of them. Yes, they fall for lots of different reasons but some of them fell because the people rose up and said, "No more!"

Anyway, end of rant.