The Road of Revolution

I often ask myself: "is our condition terminal?"

Will it be enough to reform our societal institutions, or are we so far gone that an entire paradigm change is needed?

Never have i conclusively convinced myself of one position or another. I tend to think that the best government is no government and that people should take responsibility for their own actions and welfare. So in this sense i am an anarchist or at the very least a libertarian. This however is an ideal and i fully recognize that it is certainly not possible these days, if in fact it ever was. The chaos would be tremendous, not to mention tossing our recent traditions of helping the "underprivileged." So then my realistic position falls somewhere in between the real and the ideal. I have compromised my ideals you might say, because of my observations of what is actually going on. This leaves me essentially unaffiliated. It seems the right and the left are hopelessly mired in their own rhetoric, bogged down by the past, and essentially beholden to those "special interests."

I agree with Gore Vidal who thinks the Republic is in terrible danger if not already dead. I do not see any major media addressing real issues such as peak oil (although this is changing) or defending basic constitutional rights. So my internal realist says the only way we will change is if we are forced to. Here is where the question of revolution comes in. We are sleep walking into the future. (thanks Kunstler) We are a massive giant moving forward mostly through momentum. What will it take to stop this?

Localisation and regionalisation is what will result after we stop. But what will it take to actually stop? Or at least slow down...

I am not optimistic about the level of real civic participation in this country. Being an active citizen is the bedrock of reform. This is not happening. Yes there are plenty of activists, and concerned citizen, but they are not really making any difference in governmental policy. They haven't been making a difference for fifty years. Our culture is so good at so many things but citizenship is not one on them. The corporations have the ear of the elected officials. Until there is a "civic revival" then effective reform will not happen. The interests of capital will dominate policy.

Does this leave us with revolution?

Maybe, but not necessarily. Revolution implies there is an active attempt to overthrow the government. I am not sure we have it in us. Rather it could look more like dissolution. Similar to the former Soviet Union, breakdown into smaller parts. This would be better i think, mostly because it avoids bloodshed. It is only a matter of time anyway. The cultural differences of the four or five main regions of our country are growing by the day. Wouldn't it be nice let the South just drift off into their own little world, detatched from ours?