Thursday, September 20, 2007

The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot

Our Inactivity


Namoi Wolf



(The idea to post the first video was Jade's)

End of Post.

3 comments:

Leslie A said...

Inactivity my ass. I already explained to you why, Gian. My thoughts are as follows:
information is key
the sharing of that information is crucial
we don't "move on"
until we move ON
this is why we push our congress people
this is why we join in protests for good causes
this is why we do local things that can create a domino effect and set some kind of model
and encourage others to do the same
through the blog, through talking to people
through asking others what they think should or could be done
it all starts in the mind, and if you can change a mind or open one up to something, the effects are contagious
it seems
this is what we do IF NOTHING ELSE
but we don't do NOTHING


I dunno, this made me feel like my part (whether posting things here or having this blog in general) and what I do to try incite change is being considered too small and ineffective. But who sets the standards for what actions are big and what contributions aren't even worthy of being called valid contributions? There are hypotheticals I could go into that could prove that even the smallest contributions, even if only in the form of mere thoughts and thinking, are still a part of the bigger revolutionary pie.


And I want to get that book. That's the kind of intelligent lady I want to be. She's so pretty, too.

Jade said...

aw i was sad at first because everyone always beats me to my ideas for posts.

and in response to leslie, i think he's talking more about about people who only halfheartedly participate in political, social, and cultural affairs, etc. that's not to say that some blogs and/or websites aren't doing anything or enough, but if you compare it to student activism during vietnam you can't deny that there is a considerably less in your face approach going on which may or may not be working. another thing is that the majority of students today (compared to then) just don't care and that's because of the numerous distractions that we have (blogs of whatever kind being one of them), but i'm only using my campus as an example of this. anyway, i don't think it was in any way offensive to what's going on on this blog, but i think it's pretty clear that if anything is going to happen it has to be taken many steps beyond just this.

okay, sorry. i'm done.

Leslie A said...

You're right, the scope is smaller and for those exact reasons you mentioned. I think it may be in part due to the propaganda machine that drives to make some people the ignorant satisfied shells they've become. However, the way in which the the internet and other communications (excluding the main stream media and specifically Fox News' circus of misinformation) facilitates a newly universal access to potentially difference-making information, which unfortunately is generally ineffective when it has to compete with instant gratification and values that are already integrated and reflected to and by a society. Luckily, many people (like ourselves I would think) take the blessing of that access to information and recognize the need for answers and therein change for justice and the betterment of the state of the nation, if not the world, as a whole. In this capitalistic society, though, there will always be "better faster stronger". The explicit inaction of that guy in the orange, as well as the other people in the room, does bring a notch down to the confidence I have in the potential of these people. These people who live in a country they call free and yet are afraid and unable to see the paradox of their fear and what it takes to be free. Living without fear is essentially freedom. It comes down to fear of change or personal repercussions, which means human nature itself has to be looked at. Bottom line is that there should have been an intervention and the guy that decided to ask questions, because he deemed the answers important to him personally, is a free speech martyr. Anyway, I'm just glad Colbert covered it at all.

"Is anybody seeing this?!" You would think not.