I Would do Anything for Justice, but I Won't do That!

My dad asked me yesterday why I don’t become a politician since I have such strong liberal views. Because I might be crazy, but I’m not that crazy. I would do anything for what I believe in, but I won’t do that. What I told him was that what I would rather do is be a person that revolutionizes the people. Gandhi and Martin Luther King were not politicians, but politicians had to bow down to them because the people demanded it.What do politicians really do? They do things for themselves, to uplift their own egos, very few are truly committed to causes. I don’t want to be a politician, I want to be a game changer.Now, I by no means think I am the female Dali Lama, nor have I ever done anything in the name of justice and peace. However, I dream about it. It’s not about me, though, it’s about a revolution that I truly believe needs to happen in this world. A revolution of kindness and love.Is that hokey? Does that sound like a fairytale? Every revolution seemed impossible before it happened. It would not be called a revolution if it seemed doable. However, people still did it. We “ended” slavery and other unfortunate historical behavior. (Although some would argue that putting every black male in jail is just another form of modern slavery.)That is not the point. The point is: I want to change this world. I think you do too. It’s ugly. It’s nasty. It’s time. It seems to me that no one else is gonna do the dirty work, so I’m willing to pitch in.I can’t really watch the news anymore, especially the real international news about what is happening to the little people around the world. I am a little person. I was watching a documentary by Michael Moore called Sicko. In it, someone says that the difference between Europe and America is that in France the government fears the people, but in the United States the people fear the government.Are you afraid of the government? Is there anything to be afraid of?I also just saw Snowden in the theaters. It became clear to me after watching that, that there is no such thing as privacy in this country when it comes to phones, computers and possibly even life itself. The NSA and the CIA have records of every single phone and electronic action or thing you have ever done. Even that time you tried to buy pot over the phone or talked about how you engaged in 'sodomy.' There is a ‘security’ camera in almost any public building you go into. Someone can bug your home, without you ever knowing. The government can and will use this information against you in a court of law. if it ever comes up.Why would they want to bug me, though, you ask? Because let’s just say Donald Trump becomes president. Let’s say he does an Internet query that shows everyone who has said the phrase, “I hate Donald Trump,” in an email. He then uses this data of people who hate him to torture them in some way. Perhaps he has the IRS audit them, or the DEA find them with a joint. What? You think that's impossible?Think again.The government knows who you sexted with five years ago, before you got married and had a kid. Your kids could actually find this out if they became hackers or the government wanted them to know. Anyone can know your business.You get the point.Are we free?If the government can use all this information about us, our phone records and our Internet browsing habits to control us, who are we? If someone doesn’t like our radical ideas, we could be threatened and possibly harmed by the government in the name of ‘security.’What’s going on here? I thought America was the greatest country in the world?Perhaps the problem lies in that very statement that we are the ‘greatest.’ People around the world hate us because we so arrogant that we think there is no better place than to live in a country that uses up more natural resources than many countries combined.You know why ISIS hates us? Because we think we are all that.Are we all that and a bag of chips?We are more like the bag of chips with extra salt. We are killing ourselves. I’m not sure we are all that. In Europe, people get six-week vacations and unlimited paid sick leave. I missed teaching a class last semester and I got a letter explaining how the University forgot to rob me of my pay for that day and I owe them money. I was actually sick and not even faking it. I will fake it next time. I will not pay them back, they will have to deduct it from my next paycheck. That's my little protest.You are not allowed to be sick in this country. Nor are you allowed to have too much vacation or too much fun. You are honored for working more than one job. The less you sleep you get and the busier you are, the better you are revered and respected.Is slavery really over?Look, the reason I’m not going to become a politician and you are probably not going to become a politician is because one person alone cannot do enough. We need to ban together and do something about this shit show we call a world.No, I am not anti-patriotic. Don’t get me wrong, I love America. Not because I love the government, but because I love the people. That is the reason I continue to live here. (That and I don’t really know any other language.)Yes, I am a hippie. But it’s not a joke. When I say “Peace Out,” I’m not really joking. I actually believe in peace. I know it’s an alien concept to us as a world, but world peace could be real.But who am I? Little old nina, sitting in little old ninaland? What could I possibly do?The only thing I can do in this moment is to encourage you to wake up and realize that perhaps you are being controlled, and not for your benefit or safety, but so that others can use you.If you are a good American you work too much and sleep too little and complain a lot. Those complaints are real. We need to put them into action, together.Now you think: What can little old me, Joe Schmoe, do?I will tell you what you can’t do. You can’t do nothing. We have to all examine our lives and ourselves to see where and how we can make a small difference in the betterment of our society, our world. We don’t just live in a country, we live in a world.If that means something as simple as writing a little blog about how you have big ideas, then do it. For you, if it means joining your local city council to make sure your kids get an actual education, then do it. If it means voting for the underdog, do it. Write a letter to the editor. Every letter you write to the President, they assume that like 100 people believe the same thing as you. Write a strong Facebook post. Speak out. Cry out. Write a song. Start a protest. March on Washington. Say something to someone. Read.Just do something.So you say you wanna revolution?…Well you know...We all want to save the world—The Beatles.I’m saying this to myself just as much as I’m saying it to you.We can’t sit on this one. Big Brother is sitting on us, crushing us.If the people got together, we are stronger than the government. Gandhi didn’t use guns to kick the British out of India, he used peaceful protest. I urge you to peacefully protest something. Anything. Protest this blog if you want to. Just exercise your rights.Because honestly and truly, I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that. I won’t do that.What won’t you do?nina