People rise to the top who stand for nothing very very very attractively.
James, many of us are living the nightmare. Respectfully I disagree, I replied. I see many existing in the Nightmare, and living in denial of it. At the same time. To live the nightmare is to be at total all out War to stop it. I....... feel very very alone in that. Near totally, more so every day. I see many in sympathy with the cause, almost none committed. This is not a condemnation it is an honest and sorrowful observation. My father's generation said, where can I enlist? Today's generations say, what will it cost me? What can I do? I don't know what to do, and on and on and on and on and on. Endless denial, endless excuses.
Folks are so passionate about lip service, and so passionately averse to life service. So ready with suggestions of what others can do, so averse to doing. The rare exceptions prove the prevailing rule.
Standing Rock update: a group of so-called Warriors just walked past, about an hour after the deadline to leave the camp but they're leaving. These are Warriors, they really consider themselves that and who knows, maybe they are. But by what measure? They've had a lot of food. They've had a lot of sex. They've had a lot of adulation. They had a lot of fun. They've been playing Warrior that's for sure. They've had a lot of power on security and other things and maybe done some good with that. I don't know enough to judge them, but I certainly have my questions. If we repeat what happened at this camp 10000 times what the hell impact is that going to have other than to possibly kill the oil industry with laughter at our cowardly, historically insignificant, impotent efforts?
### I'm sorry, do you really think that we just fought an important battle? Incidentally, I'm sitting in front of my tent expecting that my $12,000 vehicle will shortly be destroyed and that I will be manhandled at best and spend months in prison by the time it's all done. By what f****** historical measure did we just fight an important fight? We showed up for months worth of camping? Months of free food? Months of playing Indian? This compares to the march in the Selma Bridge how? The march on the darsana saltworks how? Tahrir Square how? Well, okay, the women in the water facing mace and brutality, yes that counts for something. That was one day. Maybe there were one or two other days. My God, don't we love our children enough to face how massively far we continue to fall short? Until we do this we can't get serious about what it's going to really take.
The hope is, there is profound commonality between conservative and liberal , secular and religious, values. The problem is, both sides, use their values as mortal weapons, clubs, words to gain access to their respective mobs so that they can overpower the other side, rather than something to live by without excuse.
