My first political post. More about me than anything else.

[hypatia42]

I find a remarkable level of unrest in myself after seeing a movie this evening. I admit it. I went to see "V for Vendetta" and it made an impression on me. I left with anger. Anger at the thought that it may take something as destructive to shake the general populace of this country into wakefulness. Anger at the thought that I have cause to fear my government. Anger at myself for allowing that fear to keep me silent for so long. Anger that my government is using terror against its own people. Anger that we as a people have moved so far from what our forefathers stood for as to support the very kinds of things they stood against. All in the name of fear. THEY call it safety. "Its for your safety." "We are doing this to protect you." And we have given up our rights and our freedoms in the name of safety but in the reality of fear. If only I could take the fear from people's eyes and show them that what they think is safety is truly illusion. There is no such thing as safety as they promise it.

I don't even care who planned 9/11 anymore. The things done in its name shame those people's memory and rival the atrocity. It angers me to think that I cannot say what I really think here because I am being watched and listened to for signs of dissent. It angers me that the fear is being used to create dissent in the world. It angers me to think that not showing support for this terrorist _______ is un-American and worthy of suspicion. Un-American my ass. Part of my rights as a citizen of the United States of America is to disagree with what my government is doing. It is intrinsically part of being "American."

I do not know if I am strong enough. I have never been in the situation to test me so thoroughly. I do know that I would rather not run. I would rather stay with what rights I have left and be an example of what could be in this world. Despite my anger I have hope and I am willing to share it. I know with every fiber of my being that a new generation is coming soon with new ideas and new priorities. I have hope I will live to see it come to pass. I refuse to despair because that would be giving up and I am not willing to do that. I did not survive my life thus far to give up on something that I believe in. I do know I am that strong. Or stubborn. I hope I never have to learn whether or not I am willing to die for what I believe in. That would mean sad things for this country.

Despite my wondering if it will take something so very drastic to wake this country from its stupor I remain vehemently opposed to violence. Violence begets violence. Only love and compassion can truly change the course of the world. I truly believe that. Is it possible that the only course left is to raze what we have to the ground and start anew? A new country? With new ideas? What would that be other than turning back to the beginning of the cycle? We must learn to break out of out cycle and create something with what we have that is good. Something that is worthy of respect, that is worth the energy we put into it, and deserves everything we have to give because it is fundamentally good for all, not just a select few.

I refuse to let this fear that is being disseminated have any more power over me. I defy it and stand firmly in my hope, knowing that the love and compassion I hold for the world will make a difference.

This took on new meaning for me this evening;

Fire cannot burn me
Earth cannot bury me
Water cannot drown me and
Air cannot freeze me

For I am Air
I am Fire
I am Water and
I am Earth

I am all things and
All things are me
I am a perfect child of the Gods and
I AM FREE!

Comments

[amber-phoenix.livejournal.com]

you are not alone.

[lapiswitch.livejournal.com]

If you want to put that fear and that determination to work, I'd be glad to help you find your political passion and point you in a product direction.

[equinesnob.livejournal.com]

Once again, I am reminded of tht bumper sticker.

"If you want to live in america... be american"

What does that mean, anyway? (see my post about it, somewhere in the sea of madness, probably over a year ago)

"Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power." ~poor richard

[darker-dreams.livejournal.com]

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.... The chain reaction of evil -- hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars -- must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Strength To Love, 1963

forsake not the wisdom of the founding fathers;
only the shroud of hate and foolishness which have been shrouded around them.
only the ignorance and selfishness required to pay for their inception.
only the once neccessarry evils which have become so rooted in humankind's image of this world that the common person can not seperate them from the proper course to the bright future promised...

... welcome to the dawn.

the hard course is never to die for your convictions-
the hard course is to truely live for them.