We have latched on to the simple phrase “the government” as a scapegoat, as if we cannot affect it. As if it is not us! As if “the government” has a life of its own and is not constituted by the lives of each citizen.
It is the egocentricity of each of us which makes us feel powerless. Since we cannot change the world ourselves, as an individual, fuck it. I can’t affect “them.”
Holy inflated ego, Batman.
“Look Neil, I tell everybody to vote, and I vote myself, and I stay informed, etc.”
I, I, I…
When was the last time you asked someone why they don’t vote, and listened without interrupting to tell them they’re wrong because they aren’t you? They aren’t your ego.
YOU are part of the problem. Why would someone else expect “the government” to listen when the person standing in front of them will not?
You want action right now, because YOU know all the answers. The answers are simple. Because your ego is simple.
You are not powerless, and either is any other individual you might talk to. But you do not have the power to overturn current institutions in an instant. So your ego gives up. You are part of the problem.
Truthfully, everyone is part of the problem, aren’t they.
That’s not something hard for your ego to swallow. It’s just that your ego-mind doesn’t include you among everyone. This is true of the individual you are talking to also! Are you including them in your world? It is prior “government” that hasn’t included them, and that’s why they don’t believe in institutions, in you, or in themselves.
If you’d like to fix the world, stop aiming to fix the world.
Right-size your ego, for crying out loud. And recognize that your ego is not a small thing, but is more powerful than you ever realized. Think honestly about how conflict evolves. It doesn’t come out of nowhere. It comes out of each way individuals think, act, and speak every moment.
So, if you want to unfriend your adversary today instead of hear them compassionately, future generations can thank your ego for its contribution to their wars. Nice legacy.
You are no insignificant agent at all. There’s nothing you do that doesn’t matter eventually, in enormous ways.
“Election Day” is a day. That’s enough to satisfy your ignorant ego? “No, Neil. I am an activist all the time.” Your thoughts, words, and deeds affect other human beings every moment.
You may not affect a policy today, but you will absolutely affect other human beings a dozen times today.
Your power is – in very real reality – unfathomable.
Neil D. 2022-11-09
Feel with Neil 