Civic Duty

Bob Dylan's calm unwavering voice singing in my ear, the Times they have been a-changing, but only for the worse.

We are in an epic downward spiral, closer and closer to oblivion.

It is preventable, but most people will not stand up and do anything.

Most people will remain complacent,

and sit with there happy little distractions,

and zone out,

 closer and closer to oblivion.

 I am, myself guilty.

I will be the first to admit.

That's just it, though, we are all guilty of it.

The problems are complex.  A seemingly untangleable knot.

I stand up and, like Howard Beale in Network,
shout "I'm Mad as Hell, and I'm not going to take it."

I just don't understand why people just can't get along.

Are our differences really good reasons to hate each other?  Really?  We really can't get past that already?

Whatever happened to the concept Great Society?  Why aren't we having this discourse?

These dreams, while ideals, will certainly never be attainable if we don't strive for them.

Yes, we will never reach the ideal state, but, if we try real hard, we can certainly come closer to it than we are now.

Why do peace and love have to be such dirty, hated words?  Why is our society, right now, so averse to those ideas?  Why can't we have empathy for each other and also accept our own limitations but always strive for better?  Are we, as a society unable?  Is that really too much to ask?

I have more questions than answers, but maybe more people need to be asking questions.  Maybe my individual questions, by themselves, will have no impact upon the whole, but maybe more people should just be asking questions.

Out loud.

Maybe I was wrong.  before.  I make a better dissident than a Lotus-eater.

Civic duty extends beyond merely voting or following the laws, some times it involves asking the right people the right questions.