It would seem I got so wrapped up in the analysis of the question that I never got around to giving you an answer: should I be glad about all that political bad news or not?
Truth be told, I don't know. When looked at in a short-term context, the answer is probably "no". We've had protest votes before (for example, the Ross Perots and Ralph Naders, the Pirate Party, and more, come and go) and I'm sure we'll have more in the future (assuming, of course, that nothing is really going to change, and I'm pretty sure that most people I know won't be trying to change anything). What is more, there's always some movement left and right in modern politics (but that's because we're stuck in the 18th century politically and some places are so close to the edge (and I'm thinking about my home country here) they're going to go over the edge of the abyss before they step back from it), so nothing's really all that different. Mid-term? I doubt it. I find it amazing how people who will tell you every day that time is running out (for whatever reasons) have no trouble waiting through another election cycle to see if something does change (which it doesn't, and hasn't for the last 10 cycles they've been waiting through, but you never know, do you?) And when looked at strategically; that is, in a long-term context, well, anyone with the sense God gave a dog should see that we're not only digging our own graves, we're building and finishing the coffin and headstone, and are organizing the funeral as well.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not Chicken Little: the sky's not falling, at least not now, but our inaction will ensure that things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better. As they say, it's always darkest right before the dawn.
And I think that's my problem. For all my gun-totin', militia-leaning, gun-owning, true-'Murrican friends: don't worry about it; you'll be dead before you live your dream of whatever it is you're dreaming. For all my, you-gotta-work-within-the-system friends: don't worry about it; before the system lets you change anything and when the "system" finally goes away, you'll be lost because that's all you know. For all my there's-nothing-us-little-people-can-do-about-any-of-this friends, don't worry: you won't have any input to make in the chaos that will most likely ensue and since you've shown you've got no imagination, your silence will be welcome when people are trying to figure out how to pick up the pieces and move on. You see, most people I know either think they're tough, don't understand the situation, or don't trust themselves in the first place. And that means that when things really do get tough, the tough-thinkers will be dead and everybody else will be more or less lost. Yep, that's my problem.
Things cannot continue as they are going now. Almost everybody's dissatisfied but hardly anyone I know has the desire, the willpower, the energy or the desire to start thinking about possible solutions. Things are certainly going to get worse before they get better, but there is every indication "out there" that better is possible.
The not-so-old American saying, "You can't fix stupid" is taking on new meaning. It's accurate in and of itself, and for that very reason, all those things we think are just given -- our economic system, capitalism in its current form; our political systems; our religions; our nationalities -- are what are going to break, and everyone who is holding on to any, or all, of these, is going to get hurt, when we find out how unsustainable all of them are.
So, am I happy about all this bad news? No, for the simple reason that too many people are going to get hurt. It doesn't have to be that way, but that seems to be the way we want it. You get what you pay for, and not enough people are investing the time and energy that is necessary to avert the obvious disasters that are facing us.
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