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I’m sure that many of you, like me, have been flustered lately. The worst
president in history has been reselected. The upside is we don’t have
to go through the tedium of voting anymore because Diebold and Triad will decide
for us. Mother Nature has never had a harder time of it. All those industries
I affectionately call “The Beast”, already fat with subsidy and
tax breaks, are having a field day with the repeals of environmental law and
passing of pro-industry legislation. Of course there’s Afghanistan and
Iraq to consider, soldiers and civilians dying and the nagging question: “How
many lives per gallon does greed cost?” The thing I can’t understand
is why I’m feeling so optimistic.
I have long despised the corporate welfare afforded mining companies and, ironically,
I find myself shooting a movie in an area called “The Iron Range”
in Northern Minnesota, where everybody is somehow connected to the mines. As
much as I despise these giant companies, I really like the people here, the
miners and their families. Life has a way of offering an opportunity to connect
with the truth of a situation, in this case the people. And though many of these
folks would disagree with my politics, a lot of them recognize that the mining
company is not their friend. At base we all want the same thing, to be happy
and safe. We want the same for our family and friends. Hell, Bush is daily doing
favors for his buddies, like recently capping class action lawsuit awards so
the good ol’ boys have less to worry about. Makes me wish I were a good
ol’ boy sometimes.
Most people around the world and in the U.S. recognize that this oiligarchy
doesn’t fight wars to spread freedom and democracy. Most people know an
oil war when they see it (long before weapons of mass destruction weren’t
located). Yes, some of the people believe the “big lie” but what
else might be expected with our mainstream media daily singing the company line:
“We’re bringing democracy and freedom to the Middle East”.
We killed over 5% of Iraq’s population, half of them children. I wonder
how much losing a grandmother, a brother and a child excites a person about
the march toward so-called democracy? And what would you call this same person,
fighting back against those who stole so many of his loved ones: an insurgent?
The media won’t ask the obvious questions. For example, when they had
loads of information coming in from several FBI agents as well as warnings from
Russia, Britain and several other foreign intelligence agencies before 9/11,
predicting what would happen, why were reports stifled and investigations stopped?
Investigative journalist, Greg Palast, had this to say: “There is no question
we had what looked like the biggest failure of the intelligence community since
Pearl Harbor but what we are learning now is it wasn’t a failure, it was
a directive.” I am reading a book now called The
New Pearl Harbor by David Ray Griffen. I’ve been stuck in
the position of ignoring my gut…knowing things don’t stack up. Even
though our government obviously took advantage of 9/11 by making it their “Reichstag”,
I told myself, “Surely they weren’t involved”. After reading
this book I can’t doubt that our government was at least complicit in
allowing 9/11 to happen. Get a copy and pass it to all your friends, the evidence
is irrefutable.
God forbid we dissent in these flag-waving times. I read the other day about
the IRS going after the NAACP and several other non-profit groups who just happened
to criticize Bush. The treasury department ordered an investigation and concluded
that the IRS action was not in retaliation for being critical of Bush but conceded
that the audits happening so close to election time could easily have been misconstrued
to appear as politically motivated.
So why am I hopeful? I think back on a conversation I had with one of my favorite
yogis, Eddie Modestini, who explained to me that “God is in everything…
this painting, that chair, that baby, etc.” and I, thinking I was being
clever asked, “Oh… well is God in G.W. Bush?” I’ll never
forget his response… “George W. Bush and everything he is doing
right now is helping to bring about man’s evolution on this planet”.
This statement had a profound impact on me. It certainly doesn’t mean
he and the rest of his greasy cabinet are looking out for our best interests.
But it is one of the natural laws that birth follows destruction. I believe
opposition to Bush and his cronies has helped pull together environmental, labor
and many other disparate groups. Think about it… when Shell raises the
price of gas one penny, look across the street and you’ll see Amoco and
Chevron (they do bunch up on corners) raise the price the same amount at the
same time. Why? Because they are unified and acting together according to a
plan.
Can you imagine if all the cultural creatives, said to be 26% of the adult population,
got together and decided who we will boycott, who we will buy from and what
news we will share? Recently I spoke with a bunch of student activists in Knoxville,
Tennessee and they inspired me with their ideas and enthusiasm. They gave me
hope in hopeless times. It’s not the government who will turn this ship
around…it’s the people. It’s you, who care enough to log onto
this site. We have the tools at our disposal to fight the Beast because we have
truth on our side. Our greatest weapon is not voting for politicians, as they
would have us believe. Our greatest tool is voting with our dollar. Halliburton
would be an ideal boycott but it’s all government contracts. In the coming
months we’ll decide whom to boycott, the biggest profiteers and enlist
our many allies in a united effort:
As the polar ice caps melt, the weather changes, our government pushes to drill
in the Arctic refuge, our forests are razed and half of every dollar we pay
to our government goes to the biggest industry of all, the War industry, I can’t
help but feel the press of hopelessness. STILL I have this glimmer of hope,
looking to gain wattage. I have found my hope and inspiration restored by a
group of dedicated students gathered in Knoxville, excited about ways to help
curb the assault on our sacred Mother. I have found hope from Joe Hickey, my
buddy who works with me on Voice Yourself and who is one of the most powerful
inspiring men I know; and hope from Barbara Moss, who keeps Voice Yourself going
no matter how much I disengage, keeping a steady stream of optimism and love
flowing despite my cynicism; from Tracy Harshman and Sonia Farrell, two uber
goddesses who continue to believe in the Voice Yourself mission and help keep
my eye on the ball (and oh what a wandering eye!). I am inspired by my wife
Laura, who has contributed so much time and creativity to Voice Yourself as
well as to her friends and family (3 kids, 2 children); by Bobby Kennedy, Jr.,
who inspires me with his tireless work for Waterkeeper Alliance and the NRDC;
by Michael Franti for truly evolutionary music and for making a powerful movie
about his trip to the Middle East; by Tom Ballanco for scaling the wall with
his peace flag and… when I stop and really take a look I realize there
are inspiring people all around me… Julia Butterfly, David Ray Griffen,
Howard Zinn, Arundhati Roy, John Pilger, Gore Vidal, Noam Chomsky, Ani diFranco,
Dave Matthews, the Marley family, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ed Norton, Dave
Frankel, Paul Baskis and more than anyone else, my children… all these
folks inspire me and I didn’t even have to think back to Jesus, Gandhi
and Martin Luther King, Jr. I only had to lift my head out of the muck and look
around at my friends. Do your friends inspire you? When they’re down maybe
you’re the one inspiring them. As a religious tyke I actually had the
chance to deliver two sermons and both were on the subject of faith and I still
believe that if we have faith we can move mountains. And mountains will need
moving. The most powerful weapon the Beast has in his arsenal is our cynicism.
So please, my fellow “Evolutionaries”, keep the faith, because our
Mother requires it and thank you, brothers and sisters, for inspiring me to
get religious again after all this time.
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