Grassroots

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We are living in a time when an unprecedented amount of information is constantly enveloping us.  Never before in human history has awareness of the world as a whole, and the constant rush of information that completely saturates us from so many sources and platforms, been such a monumental distraction to the simple truths that we need to focus on and deal with as a society and species.

I used to be glued to the news channels to follow every unfolding event concerning the Trump saga.  What I have learned over the past several years is that we as a nation are constantly being revved up by the media to pay attention to the most ridiculous and frankly unimportant sensational moments surrounding all the people and events having to do with Trump.  Today for example, MSNBC spent the entire day having experts sit in their studio and comment and opine about the “He said, He said” of Trump and Cohen tweeting back and forth at each other, calling each other liars.  

Will somebody tell me why that is more important than coming up with new health care ideas, or taking a hard look at how our government is wasting money and time, or trying to plan for and reverse climate change, or not finding solutions for the great mass of citizens who are struggling with life.

For all of us with half a brain and the awareness of what we have endured as a nation since 2015, there is not a lot of controversy about the realities and truth of our condition today.  We have an egotistical unbalanced idiot with his hands on the steering wheel of our country.  Given all the evidence and the corroboration of his numerous misdeeds and crimes; actually watching the man’s decision making process, understanding that he doesn’t read anything, does no research, and does not consult with experts, we therefore know how he will behave.  We know what danger we are in.  And we also know who his cronies are and how they will behave.  These things are now ‘given’. 

And so, we don’t believe much of what Trump says anymore. In addition to constantly lying, we know he is hiding most crucial decisions and actions from all of us.  And since we have ‘gone to school’ on Trump and his administration, we know that what fills the airwaves as ‘news’ is just fluff and distraction with no real substance. 

So, we continue on every day, feeling like there is not much we can do to alter the state of things.  We simply feel we have to wait until the storm passes and hope there is a country we can lavage back into existence as something more compassionate, smart, honest and humanistic when his term is over----if he leaves.

We also know that the posse from the House of Reps is galloping into the box canyon to try to put an end to the madness, God Bless ‘Em!  They will make some headway and slow down the catastrophe, but they will not vanquish the Trumpers.  It needs to be a more comprehensive solution…either impeachment or an election, both of which are arduous and long term.

I recently saw an online video piece that ‘starred’ Jennifer Lawrence.  It was the first piece I have seen that clearly talks about how our political system has failed, and how we as citizens have essentially lost control over influencing legislation and making our majority prevailing moods and opinions be congruent with the actual policies and legislation that get passed.  I have been thinking about it a lot.  You should all try to find it and watch it.  It is non-partisan.  It is pro-citizen.  Here is one of many links:

Jennifer Lawrence

The founders of our nation intended for us, the citizens, the people, to be the decision makers in our country.  We have surrendered that most sacred power to a mean spirited and greedy cadre of people and organizations whose interests do not align with the majority of the people of the United States. 

The group producing this video, Represent.US,   proposes a really pragmatic solution:  We need to support and start passing laws and legislation that everyone can agree on: defining corruption and prohibiting it; and increasing voter turnout.  This needs to start immediately at the local, the state, and then the federal level. 

But let’s start with the local level: Towns, cities, counties.  The premise is that if we propose legislation, generate bipartisan agreement, and pass local statutes prohibiting corruptive activity, eventually it will result in the kinds of people representing us that we all instinctively know will do the right thing in Washington.  If you think about it, it is the only real solution.  It will not be easy, but it’s the way our system was designed to work.

This is the kind of grass roots movement that can restore integrity, honesty and truth to our government.  Isn’t that what we all yearn for?