The Glass Is Refillable
https://continuousrev.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-glass-is-refillable.html
The earth looks so beautiful from space. Let's keep it that way.
The Glass Is Refillable
by C. A. Matthews
Most of us reach a breaking point at one time or another in our lives. There’s simply too much crap being thrown at us. We’re in pain both mentally and physically, and we’re long past the point of caring at work, school, or home. Since nothing is going our way, and it appears to be the last days of the Late Great Planet Earth, the urge to do absolutely nothing but tear down others who voice even an ounce of optimism is too tempting to resist.
So, we sit on our backsides and insult absolute strangers on the internet whenever they suggest possible solutions to our or the world’s problems. Simply put, we don’t want to hear that the glass is “half full.” Oh, no, no, no! We bitch up a storm and tear those faceless internet posters a new hole and make them feel as horrible as we feel, because we don’t have any optimism left when we’re in the midst of a breaking point.
Well, pardon me for breathing, but I think you actually can generate some enthusiasm for life even when the sh*t has hit the proverbial fan.
Optimism is Mother’s Nature way of keeping us alive and functioning and not wallowing in self-pity or destructive behaviors. Because while we’re wallowing, nothing is getting done, and we’re actually adding to our own problems as well as the planet’s. Screaming—or the online equivalent in all caps complete with asterisks and exclamation points—that the glass isn’t even “half empty” because it has been spilled and smashed into a million pieces only provides a mere nanosecond of relief. The pain inside remains.
The goal for intelligent, rational creatures is to rid ourselves of pain, not continually do things that ask for more of it. We are hardwired to take action to end the pain, and we can do so without killing ourselves or others. (Editor’s note: If you are feeling suicidal, in the US please call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. If you’re feeling homicidal, put all weapons out of reach, take a deep breath, and contact Emotion Anonymous to find a meeting near you.)
Rash actions are often regretted and cannot be rescinded, but wisely planned and deliberate actions taken toward a reachable goal can ease our pain and provide possible solutions to the challenges facing us.
For all those who feel hopeless and see no way to fight against those who are destroying Earth’s biosphere, I feel your pain. Peter Kalmus, a NASA climate scientist, recently said in his keystone address at the Green Party Annual National Meeting how much it hurts him to see what’s happening in the world, too. He told us: “Don't lose hope—but don’t have false hope.”
This means we can’t deny what is happening any longer. We need to educate ourselves about the main causes behind the environment’s degradation. For example, we have to look at our outdated economic system. It is disheartening and maddening to watch heartless capitalists turn the precious planet we’ve come to know and love into one huge polluted cesspit for the sake of ever bigger profits for a tiny handful of billionaires. It makes no sense. Don’t these a-hole billionaires breath oxygen and drink water, too?
It's the senselessness of the mega-polluters’ stupidity that causes us the most pain. Their asinine and self-centered attitudes reveal the true cause behind these insanely short-sighted behaviors: they’re a-holes and selfish bastards.
There, I said it. Now, what do we do about the situation? Do we allow the super-wealthy to continue wallowing in their a-holery and selfishness?
Nah, that would be wrong of us. We want the sick-o billionaires to be happy and healthy functioning human beings, right? They can’t remain these hideous, soulless creatures, raping the planet of its natural resources, filling landfills and oceans with toxic wastes, poisoning life as we know it. It’s time to take action to turn the billionaires into actual human beings even if it impoverishes them in the process. It’s time to take away their power and their playthings and stop others from cooperating with them in the destruction of Earth.
How we go about this awesome feat depends on our own individual/personal philosophies. Some activists will take to the streets in protest and boycott products from countries that are greatly contributing to the biosphere’s demise. A great example of focusing attention (and possibly bringing about some real change) on how destructive the fossil fuel industry is to our environment is happening on September 17 at the March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City.
If marching down Broadway while screaming at the billionaires doesn’t bring you out of yourself and generate renewed determination to become a doer and not just a wallower in your pain, please find someone to talk to, such as a professional counselor. Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness, and we need all the strong people we can get.
Environmental activism (protests, marches, sit-ins, demonstrations, etc.) can include resisting and preventing the growth of the military-industrial complex (MIC) and fighting for peace as well. The US military machine has not only killed millions of innocents, but it’s also the fifth most polluting organization in the world, ranking far ahead of actual countries.
Shutting down America’s endless wars for resources would help stop the MIC’s pollution, and it would also create friendlier conditions among nations to cooperate and fight climate change together. Once everyone is on the same page and talking to each other, without fear of having an American nuclear bomb dropped on them, it would go a long, long way in solving all our planet’s problems.
Isn’t it better to take the “half-full glass” of optimism and run with it than to throw the glass on the floor in a fit of existential pique?
Some activists will hack into banks’ and corporations’ computer systems and take the power away from those who do the most harm by financing the resource wars that increase pollution. Relieving billionaires of their wealth and redistributing it to those who are in need will end most social ills, too. Once income inequality is addressed many good things will fall into place. In the US that would mean the end of homelessness, health care for all, and free education from the youngest to the oldest of students. Solving those issues could lead to the end of racism and classism. Less pain for everyone!
Some activists feel more comfortable working “within the system” or at least attempting to overthrow the corrupt system from within. They put time and effort into electoral politics and assisting political candidates and causes. Is this the most effective use of their time, energy, and intellect? The jury is still out.
One thing's for certain, to sit around and scream obscenities online at those who are involved in the electoral process is definitely a waste of time, energy, and intellect. Acting like a “troll” online does not solve anyone’s problems, let alone the planet’s. It doesn’t meet the challenges of ending wars or fighting for the environment or preventing income inequality, for instance. Perhaps the people who have tough skin that can handle the media smears and nasty hit-pieces in the press about their characters while they run for office are the ones most capable of inspiring the majority of populace to take action.
Human beings need honest and hard-working leaders because the game of life is tough and the goalposts seem so far away. Let’s not run the worthy leaders off the field before they’ve had their chance to convince us otherwise. But let's not be afraid to expose and run off the dishonest and unworthy leaders, either. Perhaps a two-pronged approach of direct action as well as electoral action is the wisest route to take after all?
Many people think they have the sole responsibility to fix what all needs fixing in the world. But that’s not true. We’ve got to do it together or not at all. The “not at all” happens while we wallow and criticize others’ optimism and actions. It only adds to our “empty glass” pain.
Taking action by becoming an activist is one way to fight the pain in our hearts and the depression that clouds our thought processes. When you focus your energies toward a common goal—tackling climate change, for instance—then you’re no longer alone in your pain. You no longer have the time to wallow and criticize needlessly. You’re busy doing something worthwhile, and you’ll feel better about yourself and others.
At the very least, you’ll have more things to criticize later when you give activism up and go back to the wallowing and destructive behaviors. So, why not give it a try? You’ve got nothing to lose.
Remember, the glass may not be “half full,” but it isn’t “half empty,” either. The glass is refillable. We’re still here. The planet is still here. We need to get to work now. It may sound hokey, but tomorrow is another day. Let’s use our glass wisely and together.
Another way to look at the necessity of activism:
Nuclear brinkmanship. Yemen. Iraq. Starvation sanctions deliberately targeting civilians. Deliberately imposed poverty crushing people to death at home and abroad. Arming neo-Nazis, violent jihadists and right wing counterrevolutionaries in foreign conflicts to advance geostrategic interests. Police brutality. The relentless push for online censorship. The nonstop barrage of propaganda to manipulate our minds. The increasingly loud drumbeats for hot war with Russia and China. The ecocidal nature of global capitalism.
All of these things are profoundly horrific, but people don’t really see them, because they’re being conditioned to look past them.
Our task, then, is to get them to look. Really look, and really see. In this way we can actively abnormalize what has been normalized, one pair of eyes at a time.--Caitlin Johnstone, Abnormalize the Empire
Related Articles and Interesting Links
The March to End Fossil Fuels: https://www.endfossilfuels.us/
The Choice https://continuousrev.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-choice.html
Suicide and Crisis Lifeline--Call 988 in the US and for more info: https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/988-fact-sheet.pdf
Find a meeting of Emotions Anonymous (worldwide): https://emotionsanonymous.org/find-an-ea-meeting/general-information.html
Montana Youth Turned The Tables And Won An Unprecedented Climate Victory https://popularresistance.org/montana-youth-turned-the-tables-and-won-an-unprecedented-climate-victory/
The Imperialist History Behind the Maui Fires https://www.leftvoice.org/the-imperialist-history-behind-the-maui-fires/
Environmentalists Owe An Enormous Debt To Julian Assange
https://popularresistance.org/environmentalists-owe-an-enormous-debt-to-julian-assange/
The Media’s Role In Criminalizing Climate Protest
https://popularresistance.org/the-medias-role-in-criminalizing-climate-protest/
Japan to release wastewater from Fukushima nuclear plant into Pacific Ocean https://www.nationofchange.org/2023/08/25/japan-to-release-wastewater-from-fukushima-nuclear-plant-into-pacific-ocean/
The U.S. Military Is Driving Environmental Collapse Across the Planet https://www.leftvoice.org/the-us-military-is-driving-environmental-collapse-across-the-planet/
How Ohio’s Chamber of Commerce Killed an Anti-Pollution Bill of Rights https://theintercept.com/2019/08/29/lake-erie-bill-of-rights-ohio/
97 Percent of UAW Workers at Big 3 Automakers Vote to Authorize a Strike https://truthout.org/articles/97-percent-of-uaw-workers-at-big-3-automakers-vote-to-authorize-a-strike/
Double Punishment: California Prisons Set Up Thousands of People to be Detained and Deported by ICE—Including Citizens
https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/24/double-punishment-california-prisons-set-up-thousands-of-people-to-be-detained-and-deported-by-ice-including-citizens/
Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Has Failed—It’s Time to Reevaluate
https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/26/ukraines-counteroffensive-has-failed-its-time-to-reevaluate/
Zelensky Cracks Down on Draft Dodgers, Forces Men to Fight & Die in This War https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/25/zelensky-cracks-down-on-draft-dodgers-forces-men-to-fight-die-in-this-war/
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I'd send you some fresh mint for tea if I had the money. Does the thought count?
I realize you were/are a counselor and given that have a belief in counseling. Counseling however is a way of alleviating pain while not addressing the real underlying issues in most cases. It attempts to bring a person into the "norm" of whatever is normal in society at the moment. For difficult cases the answer is psychotropic drugs. Alcohol is an unprescribed medication which is frowned upon because it makes no money for the medical profession but functions the same. Counseling is a means of directing people to the "proper" societal norms/beliefs. It's actually a weapon against those who choose not to believe in the system as it really is. Ask yourself how many counselors actually see the system as it really is. Very few perhaps? As an example, the homeless are being demonized as drug addicts or mentally ill and dangerous and this is accepted as truth by the majority. How many psychologists have investigated or countered that claim? None that I have seen. Lack of money is never once mentioned in the press. (I should have defined "counseling" as psychological as there are other types.)
Emotion anonymous is another example of control of the people. Anger as an emotional response is now being considered unacceptable in all respects. "Anger management problems" are a neat way for people to throw their own issues back at you. "I've decided not to pay you, so suck it up" is a good one. One of the biggest problems in the country is that people aren't getting angry enough. Marx believed that a violent overthrow of capitalism would be the only way to accomplish a revolution. He'd be horrified by what's happening today. The French revolution didn't happen because of overwhelming love for the elite. Nor did the American.
Let's take a moment for a fantasy scenario. Capitalism has magically disappeared over night. Tomorrow. The "Deep State (whatever that is)" is gone. They were about to unleash a virus and inoculated themselves against it, and it kills them instead for example. Given our current society what would be the outcome? How would society be restructured? In reality it's an incredibly difficult task. No one wants to give up their "luxuries" their entitlements. Tourism is one of the most polluting industries on the planet and the most useless. And yet it's promoted. Hawaii is screaming for a resumption of tourism to Maui before the bodies have been counted due to an economic collapse. How many homeless died? Who knows, who cares. Want to slow up climate change? Stop consumption of useless junk from the box stores. Frugality is a toxic word now. My idea of a consumer strike for some reason is thought to be too difficult, won't work or just plain idiotic. If the problem with capitalism is profit based then the people shutting down the profits would seem to be an answer. And a strike would just be a start.
In my opinion the problem is not solely with the elite. Most of the blame rests with Americans who are benefiting from the system. The "Boomer generation" is largely responsible for the problems in the world. The majority of the elite are in that group as are the politicians who are actually in control. Those who are younger and in power have been brought up with the same morals and ethics . The rest are left behind to deal with the future. The ones that I have been trying unsuccessfully to do something have given up hope. They feel completely powerless and have retreated to a fantasyland. Weed, mushrooms and LSD help the retreat. Do you think it's a coincidence that Americans were flooded with opioids, cannibas is being legalized and hallucinogens are being studied at John Hopkins as a cure for PTSD, depression and anxiety? It seems that psylocibin (and Ayahuasca or DMT) has a unique property for making people more susceptible to suggestions. How wonderful for the propaganda machine! We can program people to ignore the depression and anxiety of living in the streets starving.
As a final note utopian communist systems have existed. The !Kung are the best example as they never waged war. Native American tribes are another to name two. Polynesian society was warlike likely as a means of keeping population down due to limited resources. The commonality of all was a lack of technology and small groups based.on survival with no economic system other than sharing. Population was maintained to what the land could provide. With the current world population and reliance on technology, a hunter gatherers lifestyle is virtually impossible. None of the attempts at utopian society have ever succeed in modern times.
While the glass maybe refillable, it's got a lot of cracks in it. So I continue to try very unsuccessfully to try to move people into some form of action. I hope to one day not hear "I don't want to hear it", "there's nothing I can do about it", "everything is fine, what's your problem?" and the like.
Do you think it's possible to convince people it's not the homeless deficating on the sidewalk, but the corporations and the politicians? Just wondering....