Again and Again

Yesterday I was going to put up part 2 of the cold civil war piece, but no one needs to hear about that right now. We don't need to think about future cataclysm in the wake of tragedy. This country is always in the wake of tragedy. Time and again we are subjected to violent acts, and that violence is met by the supposed well-meaning impotence of our political system. Compromise cannot be reached, rights cannot be abrogated. Excuses are made.

I will remind you that our political system is not broken. If our political system were meant to be one that represented the will of the people, it would be a broken system. But it is not that. Our political system is an oligarchy meant to enrich the wealthy off the very literal blood, sweat, and tears of the people. It is working as intended. We will not see legislation that markedly improves our lives because there is no money in improvement. We will not see sensible gun control legislation because there is no money in it. I promise you that, this morning, gun sales increased. The will of the majority in this and all issues is irrelevant to the powers that be. They need a captive, fearful, sick-yet-laboring public. That we terrorize ourselves is not a bug to them–it is a feature. The violence of men, the racism, the conspiracies–these are features for them.

There is no answer to gun violence within the system. There is no answer to bodily autonomy within the system. There is no answer to equity, sustainability, to health and happiness within the system. This is not a Democrat problem, or a Republican problem. It makes no difference which hand of the puppeteer is currently in the castelet. The system is the problem.

I don't say this to flatten a tragedy, or to be self-serving. I say this out of sadness and frustration. The common factor in all of the issues that we face today is the deliberate, willful inaction and obstruction of our government and the capitalists that pull their strings. The system is utterly and completely corrupt, and the people must recognize that. We cannot rely on them, or expect better of their replacements.

Participating in their charade by voting is not the answer. It is a delaying tactic, designed to give us the illusion of control. They will string us along with the issue of the day, promising that in the next election they will save us, so long as we ensure the system lasts another fiscal year.

If we cannot expect any improvement within the system, if we wish to save each other, our children, our planet, then we must act outside the system. We have to save ourselves. And we can.