Occupy Your Own Mind

Whose fault is it!!!! We need someone to blame!!!! It’s a circular argument. There are people to blame on both sides. The occupiers don’t help their own cause with blatant violations of the law (although to some degree…their intention was to disrupt, there are many people there who intended to be a part of a peaceful protest).It’s hard to feel good about defecating on police cars (even if you’re getting pulled for going 6 miles over…bastids!) The police aren’t helping with the occasionally heavy handed aggression used to control the crowd (I’ve seen the videos of the police using their batons to force the crowd to move even though the crowd is unarmed and offering no resistance). Whose fault is it?!

There are those who say the police are using necessary means to control the crowd. There would be no violence, they say, if the occupiers (they use more disparaging terms for them) would just go and get a job and stop occupying! That ignores the issues being brought forth by OWS (it also ignores that unemployment is as high as a giraffe’s tonsils but that’s another argument). There IS massive corruption on all levels of government. Politicians aren’t listening. So the age-old method of protest was brought in to existence. Whose fault is it? It’s not the politicians who created this economic mess? It’s not the people who’ve ignored the lies coming from Washington for years, only to pay attention to the misinformation coming from the media NOW? It’s not your fault? It’s not mine?

Most of the time when people are searching for someone to blame…it’s to avoid being blamed. It’s everyone’s fault. It’s our fault for allowing two parties with the exact same agenda (to retain power for their party) to control us through smear campaigns and misinformation (and reality TV I’m borderline convinced that the government created that bullshit). It’s our fault for voting party lines and NOT our conscience. It’s our fault for treating career politicians as saviors. It’s our fault. The blood is symbolically on our hands. Many of us are just spouting the talking points we’ve heard on television from whoever our favorite celebrity political analyst is (more on that in the next paragraph). Others have taken to using childish name-calling (which we were taught to ignore before kindergarten but now use as a weapon. It’s still childish b). Whose fault is it?

How often have you thought to yourself “that guy makes a good point” when watching CNN, MSNBC, FOX or whatever? Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh, Maher, Ratigan, Matthews….their job is to draw viewers. If these guys were really the smartest people in the room…why aren’t they running? If they are the most patriotic, best informed…why aren’t they in DC making the changes they talk about on their show? The same reason I’m not running. I’m an entertainer. I remind people of that daily. Yes, I have an opinion (and I’m blessed to be in a country that allows me to state that opinion without fear of imprisonment or worse), but I have NO desire to deal with the partisan bullshit that permeates today’s politics. Nope…I’m an entertainer….and so are the guys I just mentioned. Don’t believe me? Go back and find some clips of Beck when he was a centrist host on CNN who had as a goal…taking over for Larry King. Way easier gig than he’s got now. Name a popular centrist host….I’ll wait. You can’t. You can name a host that’s less to the right/left than the ones I listed…but tension and salacious speech moves the needle. Do you think a calmly stated, profanity free rant by me would have caught Glenn Beck’s attention? Imus? What if I was a white guy in a suit with no beard? If you REALLY believe you would have even heard of me if it weren’t for my appearance and word choices, I’ve got some of that unicorn dust left for sale.

Beck to the right of me!!!!

Maher to the left of me!!!!

It’s OUR fault. If it’s important to you, go to source documents. Go to the ows website. Don’t read and then compare what you read to what the “stars” are saying. Comparing it to how you were raised. Compare it to how you raise your children. Compare it to what YOU believe. THEN act. Doesn’t mean you will agree with the movement…but you won’t sound like a clone when discussing it. OWS is flawed. The police’s response is flawed. WE are flawed. So what is the solution?

First, dismantle the political parties. Yes, that’s how it’s always been. At one point in our history, people had always thought the world was flat. At some point in our history slavery was legal. At some point in our history (at least in England) people didn’t bathe regularly. Now all of these things are considered disgusting (except for the world being flat…that’s just stupid). So…just because we’ve always had a 2 party system doesn’t mean we have to continue. Second, vote. “My vote doesn’t count anyway”…it damn sure doesn’t if you don’t cast it (sidenote: if you believe that the illuminati or other secret organization controls everything and thus your vote is irrelevant…so is reading this article. You are helpless and hopeless. Good luck on the revolution. Also…Tupac is dead. Sorry.). Third, recognize the things like race, religion, location, sex, sexual orientation, age, etc. that have been used to divide us, and turn away from anything that ends in –ism unless it’s inclusive. (everybodyism?)

This is a short list…and it’s just a start. But it’s not a policy that needs to be changed. It’s not a legislator that needs to go. It’s a MINDSET that needs to be created. Change your thinking. Change your life.