It’s Time to get up and do something!

               As the saying goes “A roaring lion kills no game”. What a true statement that is.

I could sit here and paraphrase the views of more intelligent and prominent thinkers. But by now anyone who knows me knows I’m not going to do that. What good would that do anyway?

                It baffles me that so many people demand change of the world, but are unwilling to change their own lives and living situations. I’m talking about some of my fellow leftists here. Are we all not part of the world? How can the world then change so drastically if we don’t drastically change our day to day activities? I do believe that socialism starts in the mind but I don’t think it should end there.

               Ideas of cooperative living and working are seen as ‘crazy’ or ‘unrealistic’ to many of the leftists I’ve met.  The main criticism I’ve heard for both communes and work co-ops is that: you can’t have a pocket of socialism in a world of capitalism. Technically this is true of course, but not only that, it’s also quite convenient. So if I have it right, no changes matter until the entire world changes.  It’s all or nothing, so let’s do nothing until everyone on the planet agrees with us- What a useless philosophy.

That’s not to say that cooperative situations don’t have their share of problems. From what I’ve heard power struggles can arise or certain people within the group may try to take over. So it turns out communes aren’t little utopias; who’d have thought? Another issue with communes and Co-ops is that they don’t directly fight social or economic injustice, by virtue of their existence alone. This is curious because mainstream living is, in some ways, counterproductive to leftist’s social justice and liberation goals. So if mainstream living doesn’t get in the way of activism or resistance, then why would cooperative living?

               Needless to say I don’t think some people want the world they advocate for, or at least some are afraid of taking that step away from the familiar world they currently live in. I understand that fear, I share that fear. What I fear more is being old and poor, or sick and poor. It would be foolish to jump into a situation without thinking it through. Unfortunately this common sense is often used as an excuse for people to remain where they are.

               It’s said that we need a culture of resistance; well then Why not resist the current culture. As it is now, we still have the freedom to cooperate financially. We are allowed to share resources. We can resist capitalist culture by living as socialistically as we can with what we can. No, it won’t be complete, and it won’t be global, but it will be a start. I personally think it would be a far better start than chanting empty slogans.

               It’s time to try and build something, even if it isn’t perfect at first. Even if yuppies or hipsters don’t find it trendy it’s about time someone got their hands dirty.

It’s time for me to get up and do something, how about you?

My failure

They say free-writing can sometimes be therapeutic, well here I go.

So, I have this idea for a project. Many people think it’s kind of a far out idea, while others would claim that it doesn’t go far enough. As it is now, not many people take the ideals of my project seriously.

I think the main problem with getting people to consider these ideas is me. I’m not fishing for sympathy or feeling sorry for myself, I’m looking at the situation honestly. People too often cannot separate the person from the idea. This particular idea though, has little to do with me, but that isn’t enough to keep people from dismissing it outright because of my involvement.

That’s not to say that I don’t have some friends, nor am I saying that there is no one who finds me somewhat intelligent. I am grateful for those who are fond of me, but my agenda remains stagnant.

My unpopularity isn’t the only thing holding people away from these ideas of course.

First of all I haven’t had the courage to outright explain my agenda in full. My own cowardice, shyness or whatever you want to call it is a major hindrance. Perhaps it started out as a healthy fear, but I’m wasting my time if I don’t conquer it.

Another failing is my inability to properly explain my views to the few people willing to listen to me. My own social awkwardness is one of my greatest enemies.

In my opinion some people just don’t want to do anything. The project I’m alluding to here would require the people involved to work; not just pontificate. But honestly, I think that most of the people who’ve rejected the project outright have other reasons for doing so. I have little doubt, if people believed in the merits of the project they’d be more than willing to take ownership of it.

The merits of what I attempt to promote aren’t for everyone, and of course there are flaws in those merits. These flaws could be remedied or fixed over time by other minds. And herein lies the paradox. What a hilarious irony. This ludicrous dynamic plays out in so many ways, on so many levels, for so many issues. The person presenting the ideals of this project is its most repelling factor.

Perhaps it’s time I let loose. If people don’t like what I have to say they don’t have to listen.

We’ll see what I do from here. My old tactics obviously don’t work; it’s time for something new. It’s time for me to get real.