building up to a diatribe, sort of
I have all kinds of anger about how our country is being run, what we are doing in other countries, our healthcare system, our greed mentality, our lack of concern for educating and feeding children, the fact that we are bombing hospitals and schools and god only knows what all in Iraq, and a hundred other issues, but I am having a hard time rallying my inner troops. I go through life with a to-do list a mile long as if the whole world depended on me picking up a half gallon of milk on the way home and keeping the grass short. I sign petitions, I try to keep myself informed, I click on "send letter" from various political action websites. In short, I do what I can in all of five minutes or less a day. I feel both pressed for time and energy, and irritated with myself that I am not the politically active person I once was. I feel like one of the brainless, numbed, unwashed, slogging through life without giving a rat's ass what is really going on out there as long as the cable doesn't go out.
A friend called and left what he thought was an Important Political Action Alert on my cell phone one night at one in the morning. Cripes! All I could think of was thank goodness I had the cell phone turned off and to remind myself to tell him to NOT EVER call me at that hour unless he is dying and there is something I can actually do about it. He was compelled by his conscience to call people, apparently, and I could've been mighty inconvenienced.
In my defense, I am not sitting in front of the idiot box doing nothing all evening. My days seem to expand to fit the allowed 24 hours and then some. It seems like I'm not just slacking around, but how do people fit in the big things like issue research and social action when they are innundated with little things like raising kids and holding down a job?
Ok, this is such a bit of self-indulgent, anguished crud. But seriously, I need (and want) to get on the ball here and do something about all the stuff that rattles around in my head and keeps my stomach churned up. Another election is going to be upon us before we know it (thank god!) and this time I want to be prepared to do more, because, to put it euphemistically, I am not a happy camper in our current situation.
A friend called and left what he thought was an Important Political Action Alert on my cell phone one night at one in the morning. Cripes! All I could think of was thank goodness I had the cell phone turned off and to remind myself to tell him to NOT EVER call me at that hour unless he is dying and there is something I can actually do about it. He was compelled by his conscience to call people, apparently, and I could've been mighty inconvenienced.
In my defense, I am not sitting in front of the idiot box doing nothing all evening. My days seem to expand to fit the allowed 24 hours and then some. It seems like I'm not just slacking around, but how do people fit in the big things like issue research and social action when they are innundated with little things like raising kids and holding down a job?
Ok, this is such a bit of self-indulgent, anguished crud. But seriously, I need (and want) to get on the ball here and do something about all the stuff that rattles around in my head and keeps my stomach churned up. Another election is going to be upon us before we know it (thank god!) and this time I want to be prepared to do more, because, to put it euphemistically, I am not a happy camper in our current situation.
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http://www.alternet.org/story/22138/