by Kim Carlson - 3 Aug 2020
What If I told you I was no longer going to be “political?” What if I told you I’d come to the conclusion that expressing my political opinions, or sharing information was a waste of time because the system was rigged anyway?
What if I said I was just going to keep my head down and try to enjoy my life because politics is so confusing and contradictory that you never know who’s telling the truth and who’s lying, and besides, talking about it just makes people so angry, hateful, and divided?
What if I told you that voicing my opinion had cost me the friendships of those who didn’t agree with my politics so I decided to let others express their opinions and just go along with everyone else?
What if I decided to believe whatever was on the news because if it was on television or in print, it had to be true?
What if I didn’t care that my government was engaged in illegal spying on me, or had the right to assassinate me without a trial if they believed I was linked to terrorist activities, or could seize my assets, rendition me for an indefinite period of time, refuse me the right to a lawyer, all without charging me with a crime—because, after all, I’ve done nothing wrong so why should I care what they *could* do?
What if it made no difference to me that 90% of the wealth in this country is held by a tiny fraction of people, or that our government bombs poor brown people for their oil—because what’s our oil doing under their sand?—or that the CIA’s collusion with the media is so deep that journalists actually feel they’re doing their patriotic duty by putting out CIA propaganda?
What if I didn’t care that decent, hard-working people could not afford to buy a house—any house—or afford adequate healthcare, or had to work two or three jobs just to stay afloat?
What if I said that I didn’t care if people protested as long as they didn’t inconvenience me?
What if I admitted that trying to change the system was too hard or simply insurmountable and I was going to throw in with the crap shoot of capitalism like everyone else and try to wring from it every last drop I could, and screw the others who were unable or didn’t want to play?
What if I revealed that by going along I had dramatically improved the quality of my life—moved up from where I lived, the car I drove, the people with whom I associated?
What if I started saying things that made you believe that I cared more about protecting my own interests and the interests of my peers than the people who were disenfranchised, betrayed, abandoned, and bankrupted by our corrupt system?
Now imagine a system where everyone felt like this.
^
What If I told you I was no longer going to be “political?” What if I told you I’d come to the conclusion that expressing my political opinions, or sharing information was a waste of time because the system was rigged anyway?
What if I said I was just going to keep my head down and try to enjoy my life because politics is so confusing and contradictory that you never know who’s telling the truth and who’s lying, and besides, talking about it just makes people so angry, hateful, and divided?
What if I told you that voicing my opinion had cost me the friendships of those who didn’t agree with my politics so I decided to let others express their opinions and just go along with everyone else?
What if I decided to believe whatever was on the news because if it was on television or in print, it had to be true?
What if I didn’t care that my government was engaged in illegal spying on me, or had the right to assassinate me without a trial if they believed I was linked to terrorist activities, or could seize my assets, rendition me for an indefinite period of time, refuse me the right to a lawyer, all without charging me with a crime—because, after all, I’ve done nothing wrong so why should I care what they *could* do?
What if it made no difference to me that 90% of the wealth in this country is held by a tiny fraction of people, or that our government bombs poor brown people for their oil—because what’s our oil doing under their sand?—or that the CIA’s collusion with the media is so deep that journalists actually feel they’re doing their patriotic duty by putting out CIA propaganda?
What if I didn’t care that decent, hard-working people could not afford to buy a house—any house—or afford adequate healthcare, or had to work two or three jobs just to stay afloat?
What if I said that I didn’t care if people protested as long as they didn’t inconvenience me?
What if I admitted that trying to change the system was too hard or simply insurmountable and I was going to throw in with the crap shoot of capitalism like everyone else and try to wring from it every last drop I could, and screw the others who were unable or didn’t want to play?
What if I revealed that by going along I had dramatically improved the quality of my life—moved up from where I lived, the car I drove, the people with whom I associated?
What if I started saying things that made you believe that I cared more about protecting my own interests and the interests of my peers than the people who were disenfranchised, betrayed, abandoned, and bankrupted by our corrupt system?
Now imagine a system where everyone felt like this.
^
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