This is a great interview of Tim DeChristopher from Chris Hedges. I wanted to share it since these words are what inspired me to organize a day of solidarity for Tim after hearing him speak last week. I hope that it proves inspirational to you. Tim does an excellent job at connecting the dots when it comes to the issues that we are facing today.
So much of what we are challenged with today are inter related and basically come down to the priorities most corporations use for decision making (profits at any cost) and the refusal of our government to put us citizens, who elected them and who they are supposed to represent, first. Whether we are looking at energy policy, our food system, medical care or the collapse of our educational system we can see that something is very wrong, unless of course corporate profits are the reason that we all exist.
I think that this is why I see the decisions that each of us make every day to be so important. We have an opportunity to pay attention to what matters most to us and then act accordingly. If we are concerned about the environment what are we doing personally, no matter how small the act may seem.
Do we support local farmers or shop at a commercial market to save a few dollars. I know that times are hard but cooking a meal at home costs so much less than buying prepared food and with that savings you can buy organic. If you have an errand nearby could you walk, ride a bike or take the bus rather than jump in your car? There are so many ways we can all make a difference-just turning off the lights you are not using saves energy and that means less demand for coal or oil or nuclear energy.
Are you on overload or do you take a little time to learn about what is really going on in the world? For a democracy to exist its citizens must be informed and hold the government accountable. Unfortunately this is not happening. Corporate influence in elections is becoming more and more obvious and yet little is being done to change this. In fact the Supreme Court actually gave corporations the same rights as people! It is projected that President Obama will spend one billion dollars in his re-election campaign. This just seems wrong to me. Isn’t this merely seeing who can outspend to convince the American public who to vote for rather than focusing on the real issues and solutions to the problems the majority of the country is facing, not the 1% on the top of the heap.
There are so many critical issues confronting us today that I do not think we can sit back and just wait for someone else to fix it for us. We are all responsible. I hope that Tim and others like him will inspire and EMPOWER you to start your own private revolution to live a life that is more in calling with what you believe. Don’t think that any action is too small-they all matter and you are not alone in this.
If you didn’t read the earlier post on Tim check this out and if you think that it is a good idea sign the petition to ask President Obama to pardon this brave, young man who actually is a hero and should never have to serve time…at least as long as we live in a democracy.
