So much outrage, so little outreach

[Dogmudgeon]

I don't care if you're one of US or one of THEM -- however you define it.

Let me pose a question for all of us to consider, individually and collectively. We want change. So what's the best, most ... Democratic ... way to create it?

How do we create change? How do we become effective? How do we register on the consciousnesses of The Powers That Be?

How do we recapture the dialog? How do we set the agenda? How do we force a "reset"?

It's going to take more than Ghandi quotes ("Be the change ..."), Internet warfare, and non-stop verbal (that is, written) aggression. We're all a bunch of anonymous "avatars", remember? We might as well be Turing machines. In-fighting is of no concern; nobody gives a damn except us, and the Future won't wait for us to settle our scores.

The angry DU tribalism, venting, and catharsis are side trips. Frustration and dissatisfaction are irrelevant (at least mine). Politics is not about therapy. I'm as frustrated as anyone else -- so is that DLC lackey, that middle-class boojie Trotskyite, that traitor, that whore. This isn't about ME, it's about the world I want to help build.

I offer neither a challenge nor a rebuke; I have no special place in the universe to preach. In fact, I consider myself rather politically unsophisticated. But I do want change. And I intend to do what I can do create as much of it as I can, even if I look like a jackass doing it. (Hmm ... a jackass ... that could be my mascot.)

What do we do next?

--d!

[Oregone]

1. "What do we do next?"

Hire am immigration lawyer and pack your bags....you want real change, right?

[Chulanowa]

2. Action? From DU'ers?

Bwa ha. Bwa ha ha ha, I say, ol' chap!

[Voice for Peace]

3. apology in advance...

This sidesteps your main point. But "be the change you want to see" is way more than a quote. It's essential advice, and ought to be at the top of the priorities list.

How many revolutions throughout history -- with an original intention of change for the "good" -- transformed quickly into a new brand of injustice? A question for scholars of history: all of them? most? some?

If I tolerate -- & justify -- hatred within myself, I'm going to miss the change I want to see, even if it comes for everyone else. I'll find something to hate and be angry about. I'll find somebody to blame & judge. That's what we do, and it's what we do here amongst our noble righteous selves. We have to quit that stuff or nothing is going to change for long.

I'm sorry if this sounds preachy and I too have no place for preaching -- I'm just learning more profoundly every day: the most important thing I can do, must do, is examine my own life, become the change I want to see.