1 reply to this topic

[Lydia]

Without going into too many details as to why,

I really believe that the ideals the US was founded upon have value: its not the best political system but it's one I can live with.
I also believe that the current state of the US is awful and untenable, and requires a serious massive change.
I do not believe this change possible by ordinary means: the US is too big, the set of problems to great to expect that any set of elections or to expect a set of laws to be repealed that would really mean any difference in the way things operate
I don't even really have much faith in extraordinary change.
I do however feel ethically bound to bring about change in some way.

I hope you see my difficulty. Will someone please offer a solution? Change any of my premises, show me that my hopelessness is wrong...because I'm exhausted from being pissed off and not feeling able to do anything about it.

[Punk Rock Geek]

Lydia, on 31 March 2012 - 02:45 AM, said:

Without going into too many details as to why,

I really believe that the ideals the US was founded upon have value: its not the best political system but it's one I can live with.
I also believe that the current state of the US is awful and untenable, and requires a serious massive change.
I do not believe this change possible by ordinary means: the US is too big, the set of problems to great to expect that any set of elections or to expect a set of laws to be repealed that would really mean any difference in the way things operate
I don't even really have much faith in extraordinary change.
I do however feel ethically bound to bring about change in some way.

I hope you see my difficulty. Will someone please offer a solution? Change any of my premises, show me that my hopelessness is wrong...because I'm exhausted from being pissed off and not feeling able to do anything about it.

Work on changing how things operate on a local level.  Build networks, focus on how people treat each other -- challenge respect for authority.  I've found that one of the most important aspects of working with others on a long-term basis is in being able to communicate. As we have traditionally been taught that we need to compete in order to be successful, we often end up bringing such a principle into our communications, having conversations at each other, rather than with each other. Learning to listen, rather than compete for talking time is one of the most important skills you can develop.  It's also a necessary condition for the understanding and promotion of a non-hierarchical society.