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Last year, a friend of mine made a bunch of stickers which said,
simply, "Crisis." I thought that was a bit much, even alarmist. But I guess
it's a question of sensitivity and one's capacity for denial. I see we're
in crisis now, and Iraq is just one part of it--a diversionary tactic to
distract the populace from corporate malfeasance, environmental degradation,
and a systematized assault on the Bill of Rights, to name just a few.
I want to make art for art's sake, rationalizing that aesthetics transcends
politics to tap the source of what makes us human; and I suspect that affirming
the universal does more good than any ideological tug of war. But my sense
of history, informed by friends and family who have lived under totalitarian
rule, makes it impossible for me to ignore what is going on. I'm still taking
pictures, making music, and writing, but most of that stuff is being filed
away until democracy in the USA is restored.
How will that happen? Through local action and engagement in our communities.
By turning off the TV and boycotting corporate media. By getting
the news out through our networks of neighbors,
family and friends. By holding our elected officials accountable to their
constituents. Revoking the USA PATRIOT Act and a legitimate election in 2004
would be a good start, too.
When people are apathetic, those "in power" can get away with whatever they
want.
My darkest thought in all of this is that freedom is a minority opinion.
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