The Ostriches of Politics
For a couple of days now, I've been discussing politics on and off with a guy that's studying political science at the university. He's well read within classic literature, is quite smart, and has a good grip on reality. However, perhaps due to some naivety on my side, I was thus expecting someone to collaborate with, concerning political and cultural activism. As it turned out, he had been brainwashed by our liberal society, like most other people we meet on a daily basis.
We could sit for hours on the train and discuss the complete failure of democracy, the eventual collapse of industrial society and all the beautiful nature going with it, and still he would reach the conclusion that we need to hang on to what we got - since, hey, all the other alternatives are Evil. This is a most common neurosis today that is spreading like a social disease; people don't see politics as a means to an end, but as an identity, like wearing a specific outfit, listening to a certain kind of music, or buying a certain brand of product, like Apple computers.
This means that people will take emotional offence if being forced to defend their lifestyle; I know people that have had neighbours turning against them, simply due to the fact that they've voted "Right" this year, not "Left". This means that our people are split between different political camps, without being able to reach consensus on basic values outside of the ludicrous "freedom," "justice," "equality," and similar symbols - that like the commercials on TV, sound great and promise us a life in Heaven, but in the end only bring us further class wars, violent suburbs, and smiling idiots that replace green forests with industries and supermarkets.
People do no longer have a sense of cultural and ethnic identity, thus politics becomes just another accessory through which you're "one in the mass," congratulating yourself for having "important" things to say in discussions with people you meet. Of course, most people are not interested in saving nature, improving the rate of "tolerance" between cultures, or otherwise create an actual change in society - they're in it for the ego trip. Name one person that doesn't feel good by being a part of something larger and socially acceptable, thus outside of the framework that would otherwise impose criticism on his or her ideas and actions?
Don't get me wrong here, I love having interesting discussions with clever people, but I refuse to become another "voter," spending my time on free porn and computer games, while society out there is collapsing from within due to corruption and greed. I'm not in it for the ego trip, but because I care for my people and my culture, and that I see all beautiful things in life slowly being eradicated from the face of the Earth. People who only engage in politics due to egoism, are actually fooling themselves, as they think they can go on living their quiet middle class life, without Mr. Multiculturalism or Mr. Industrialism knocking on the door, asking for permission to grant you the same hell that is plaguing the rest of us by now.
It seems to me that everything in society is connected. If you have a corrupt leader in power, your community will be affected, sooner or later. You cannot "escape" from reality, only face it and do something about the things you see as wrong and destructive. This is where people like the guy I speak to on the train, will fail: you cannot vote on corrupt people after self-interest, and expect that the rest of the problems in society will go away. Shocking news: They Will Not.
I believe most European people are honest by nature. They want to live quiet, stable, healthy lives with their families, working, and taking part of the many beauties found in life. But as soon as we face a problem, many of us seem to transform into ostriches and stick our heads in the sand. As long as we live by our egos and refuse to work for something larger and much more important than ourselves, this madness will continue without a stop. Only we can change it and we do it every day, step by step, until we're starting to see other people following in our lead.
If I had to conclude my thoughts on this, it would be: don't fall into the trap of being "unique" and acting only in self-interest; let go of yourself for a moment and look around you. There's a whole world out there, and if each and one of us grabbed that shovel and started to dig, we'd soon be building us a whole new society, free from that which deep down inside makes us depressed and sad, to free ourselves from our egos and become a part of the world, that is beautiful and thus worth fighting for.
by Alex Birch
March 6, 2007
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