voting with consciousness

Well, here we are, on the eve of another presidential election. I'm so happy, mostly because the spectacle noise will die down appreciatively after tomorrow, provided that each sides' dirty tricks don't mar the appearance of a "true winner".

Whether you vote or not, no matter who you vote for, I implore anyone who reads this blog to not give away your personal power to make change. Change within, talk with others. Memes spread, lives change. If we can envision what we would like our world to be, we can make it so. It takes each of us, voting every day for things that matter. Yes, it's good to think about the polar ice caps melting & know that our continued outlandish patterns of consumption are making the difference. If we keep on down the same path, we know where we will end up. It ain't pretty, especially for those who come after us, born into toxicity, and dying in it, living lives in steel and concrete cages, never knowing they were alive in the first place.

It's good to take the red pill and be aware of the bad shit, but also good not to dwell in it. Sometimes it seems like a bad dream, but people are waking up. We've got big brains, and we can think. We use our imaginations. We learn and adapt. We're humans. It's our specialty. And now it's time to switch off the part of our brain that occupies itself with flashing screens and imaginary rituals that promote death. If we kill our habitat, surely that means we are killing ourselves. And that's pretty dumb if you stop and think about it.

It's time to switch on the part our brain that lives in another paradigm. We can do better than this win/lose world, can't we, way way better than empire? Win/win sounds much better. In the economy of money, the have nots suffer while the haves kill themselves with indulgence. In the economy of community, we give time and help to each other. The more we spend, the more we receive. Community is an unlimited growth economy. Ask yourself, what matters? Think about this constantly until you find an answer. I have thought of a few things: food and shelter, human relationships, contentment.

We live in a world that is totally constructed by our minds. Is Wal-Mart real? If we didn't believe it was real, would it go away (Phillip K. Dick's reality test)? Yes! Money, government, social class--all these things disappear when we stop believing in them. They are constructs, consensus reality. They do not exist outside of us believing in them. Think of your paper money. Is it real? It's paper, which is not backed by hard currency like gold or silver. It's backed by the economy of the United States. If the economy tanks, the dollar tanks. It's only worth what worth we give it, which isn't much here recently.

If we live in an imaginary world, it's fairly easy to dismiss the importance of the death-wish culture in my life when it no longer felt relevant. I get the feeling this is how paradigms change. It's been 200 plus years since a bunch of rich guys signed a piece of paper declaring that we were all free and equal. We're still dealing with institutionalized racism and classism. If government were going to make a positive change, don't you think we'd be seeing it by now? It's been 50 years since the civil rights era. Sure, on paper, we're equal. But we can look around at our segregated town and prison cells and see with our own eyes it's not.

I don't have much, well, any faith left that my government will do something meaningful. I mean, hell, faceless men are still being tortured in Cuba on my behalf. I think I can make more and positive change in my community by being active every day, by fomenting change, growing and eating the food on my doorstep, talking with people, acknowledging the marginalized (minorities, homeless, soil, trees) as equals in a world of community, being open and honest about what I do. I vote for that, and I vote for it every day.

I hear all about what I'm supposed to do tomorrow, but quite honestly, I think it's what I do the other 1,460 days that make a difference.

carey