Change, Baby, Change

As I now enter my 13th year as an activist, I remain perplexed at how to get humanity to avoid self-destruction.

In the old days I was pathetically idealistic. If there was a problem, I thought we could just all work together to solve it, and if there were differences we could work out compromises.

But even in my 20s I found this impossible because first, one side dislikes the other side so much they won't even TALK to them. As this dislike festers, the two sides create myths about one another. As each side gets angrier, the chance for meaningful communication lessens.

For instance, in my mind I feel that half of this country is so indoctrinated by Rush Limbaugh and company that there is no hope for them. These are people who enjoy being bitter reactionaries, and secretly they are angry at people of color who are munching away at the government trough.

As an environmentalist, there is no hope that these people will listen to me because it's been drilled in their minds that I'm an eco-terrorist. They are likely to believe that I've been swimming around the gulf blowing up oil platforms. So, if I suggest that they recycle their Coke cans or only flush their toilet once a day, they are going to be suspicious.

The partisan rancor in this land keeps everyone divided and angry. While all of us Americans want the same basic things, there is vast disagreement on how to reach our common goals. For instance, one side wants to keep handouts from babies (you know, the ones they said you shouldn't abort), while the other side wants to stop giving the military blank checks. But at least both sides want to lower the deficit.

Bigger Picture

There was a time, during the Clinton years, when this country WAS focused on doing good things, but then came 9/11 and now the Second Great Depression, and everyone is now more focused on their safety and survival. The Tea Party reactionaries, under the leadership of Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, are on the march, but where they are heading is unknown. Beck and Palin don't really bring anything new to the table — they just know how to make money by making the angry white mobs angrier.

Common Sense

So, how about if I say, "Let's all sit down and address global warming." The first problem is that about half of the public denies it. Even though over 1,000 climate researchers support that climate change is human-caused, many people will STILL deny it. These are typically the same people who say that the Gospels are 100% factual, even though only ONE historian, Josephus, corroborates it in a short passage. And the authenticity of this passage is in dispute, yet the Gospels are completely real, and global climate change is a hoax (another victory for the PR staff at ExxonMobil).

At the Fork

Now, I'm at the fork in the road. I really don't know the next step. Over the years I've given many PowerPoint presentations for the Sierra Club on sprawl and population. These presentations always have a "call to action," which is usually to contact a representative or senator about some bill. Maybe a few will do it. If the senator or rep is GOP, they will promptly ignore it because issues like international family planning are perceived as being aligned with ABORTION, and gosh, the "A" word terrifies every Republican.

When I give my population programs, I'm typically just speaking to the choir. My audiences are usually past reproductive age or they are young urban professional women, who have an extremely low fertility rate. And even if I do persuade a young woman to have fewer children, the reduced impact will be offset by the millions of legal and illegal immigrants that flood the U.S.

So, really, I can't decide how I can address the world's serious problems, like overpopulation, overconsumption, global warming, and peak oil. As an individual, there is nothing that I can think of that will make a difference. I HAVE marched in parades for environmental issues. I HAVE organized forums, I HAVE tabled at events, I HAVE given presentations, I HAVE spoken at schools, I HAVE DONE IT ALL. Yet, I feel I've made only a minuscule impact on the serious problems facing our world.

If you tell me to just do nothing, that's fine with me. And while you're at it, please give me the "okay" to be jaded and cynical because it feels good in a weird sort of way. Let me know that it's okay to stay depressed, angry, and bitter. Let me know that it's okay to have my own brand of self-righteousness. Let me laugh to myself and say, "Haha, I'm right. All these dumb people will just have to learn the hard way."

Let conservative America believe they have a right to kill their children in endless wars and drive thousands of animal species into the grounds. See, there I go being a cynical rat again.

And, finally, to end my rant I'll say: Yeah, I did it. I swam out into the Gulf of Mexico and blew up those oil rigs. I'm trying to force our nation to adopt clean energy. It's how I roll...