The willfully and contented ignorance of the Commonwealth is the poison which a democratic republic slowly chokes on. The days when Civil Disobedience was written on a wall in graffiti and the collective ambitious cry for "change" was more than just a compellingly false slogan has long since passed. The scary ideology of "Amusing Ourselves to Death" is no longer a worried author projecting how the world might become, but is now a sickening warning sign of "cliff just ahead" that we failed to pay attention to and are now careening in a hot rod with the break lines cut and our faces jammed with fast food.
Lethargy, not apathy, is the crime we tolerate and excuse. I can no longer idly stand by and give mass to this growing malignant woe which self-propagates within our society. I choose, now, to change. To change the world around me as I see fit. Because I, being lucky to be alive and to die at this time and am evolutionarily constructed to be self-aware, empathetic, and intelligent enough, in respect to choice and communication with my own species, can. It is not a question of if we feel the pain of others; we are biologically created to do so and those who are not are seen as socially inept. We are missing the spark or drive that once coated our innards as we breathed fire on the oppressive powers that be. We now sit slack-jawed on a couch watching shows we have no personal investment in. We do this, not only to amuse ourselves, but to drone out the snarl-toothed dilemmas that hide behind our front door, constantly knocking like a metronome to come in. The world will not wait forever. At some point it will splinter the hinges of our seclusion and deliberate delusions, track mud in across our newly shampooed and Febrezed carpet to grab us by the scruff of the neck to scream, "WAKE UP DAMNIT!" and it won't be asking for help. It will be demanding retribution and back rent.
We cannot sit back and allow our greatness, and know that we (the human race) have the aptitude for greatness, to be squandered over hours of shows in which criminal wives complain about their criminal husbands or one spoiled rich girl feels her wedding dress is not frilly enough. The world is waiting to come in and it won't be kind and give us a two-week notice of foreclosure. That time has long since passed. Evolution does not wait, those that prosper survive and those that are not able to acclimate to the progression of the outside stimuli squander themselves by not procreating and progressing into the future. Each generation is a test to see which genes will be passed on, and our society needs to evolve in order to press on as well. It is not only species that evolve but societies and social constructs of the world. The old ideas and dogma must die in order for the society to flourish and proceed into the future. Otherwise we face extinction. Yes, we all feel the problems of the world around us, the inequalities that we see on TV or read about. We burn with anger while privately shouting for CHANGE!... to our close friends when they ask what we think.
But, again, apathy is not the issue. The issue is that lack of action which inevitably follows these fiery emotions. Somewhere we have lost the connection between the lit flame and dry fuse. We lost the connection to our past which has the key to propelling us into the future. This country was founded on the principles of freedom from an oppressive alien government, but now our own government seems alien at times. Massive conglomerates and corporations that sway politics for their own monetary gains are not our government of which we are lead to have faith in, but yet they are the ones we ignorantly pledge allegiance to. And don't get me wrong on this issue, capitalism helps the economy and socialism would destroy it at the same time. It is in what way our capitalistic drive is leading us that is helping to kill our great nation. And it is a great nation. Outsourcing jobs and not having an industry of our own, as well as the pollutant means of energy which we still cling to like sucklings, needs to change.
But fear not hopefully panicking reader. Maybe all can be done in one thoroughly calculated plan as long as action takes place among us slothful Americans. "What?" you say, "can this be?" Yes, I eagerly respond. Capitalism and environment can coexist at the same time. Though one is usually battling the other, the combination may be the solution we need. But we also need action in order to implement these ideas because as of right now large corporations make easier money by using oil and other harmful industries to fuel their plants, assembly lines, and what not. So the overwhelming feeling is that it is too hard to dislodge the two industries from each other in order to abolish the harmful one. But we abolished slavery. Slavery: the oil of the southern plantations. Free work and a way to make easy money for influential businesses. They didn't want to stop making a profit and develop with the rest of the nation, even though what they were doing was morally reprehensible. They were stopped once before and the strength of a moral good prevailed. We then pushed our country into the position of a self-proclaimed "Super Power" of the modern world through hard work, ambition, and American-made industry paving the direction of the new world. There is a need to do it again -- though the seeds of corruption are planted deeper and the grip of the bittersweet vine is stronger. We must band together and show that we won't be taken lying down and unawares. We won't stare with cataract eyes into a soothing 3D TV screen piping on "medical" marijuana while our world is turned to sludge and dust and there is nothing left but stale air seeping into our pores and the freedom of Americans is a whisper, a myth, long since passed and the dream of becoming greater than your born class through hard work is a lie only now told to keep us dreaming, never to wake up. We won't drink the Kool-Aid that is handed to us by a grinning grey suit with a Made-In-China American flag buttoned to the lapel bought by corporate sponsors, reassuring us that everything is fine. We won't give in to lethargy and comforting lies that swaddle us while Death coos through rotten teeth a lullaby softer and sweeter than our mothers ever could. The Lethargy. The Lethargy! We will no longer sit and idle in place waiting for others to move first so that traffic will let up and give us an opening to make the world better than it is.
At least, I won't. I will take action. I will make an opening.
But right now the TV is on.