Amurica

With all the talk about hippies this week - at least in the comments sections - I wanted to bring up something that occurred to me last night.

I went to see a play last night that culminated with scenes of a massive demonstration not unlike the WTO riots that occurred up here in Seattle a few years back. When asked why he took part in the demonstrations, one of the main characters threw out a litany of reasons like trade, unions, oil drilling in Alaska... It was clear he didn't have a concrete reason for taking a stand. I remembered watching footage of the riots while living in San Francisco and being angry with these people, some of who may have been trying to make a point that was important to them, for ruining any credibility they had a chance to have by behaving like retards. I remember expressing my frustration to a coworker who said that these people were shaking up the system at least. I asked two questions, which I never got answers for; how and why.

It all smacked of just being part of another scene.

While I whole heartedly feel that for many of the hippies in the sixties it was just about being part of the scene, I also feel that there were a large number of them who believed they were fighting for something worthwhile. There were individuals fighting for an America that they believed in, and for an America that could be.

The thing is I don't know if I would be willing to fight for America. Americans, for the most part, seem to me to be spoiled, fucking children with a sense of entitlement that is shocking. I'm embarrassed by my country and by its leaders. When you are instructed from those on top that success is gained by lying and cheating, when the laws work to erase the need of self responsibility, when most of the population lives in willful ignorance and continues to make choices that destroys the world around them... How can you stand up and be proud of that?

Thankfully though, my cynicism is cut with a naive hope. There is a potential for this country, on the ideals it was founded on that have never really come to fruition. I don't know how to change the course we are on short of a cataclysmic event, but I hope we can teach, that we can stand as amazing role models, that we can foster poets and artists and people that love and respect one another and the world around them. I hope that we can be brave enough to live every day in constant consideration, never blindly following the line.