Quite a show, this time around.
We've watched dark mud and dried blood slide right off the backs of both major parties. We've watched the cash-collared media work both sides, keeping the story artificially small. We've seen alternative voices and candidates marginalized and edited out of this movie. Whispers of those deleted scenes are drowned out by the din of consensus in a desperate shot at maintaining a sense of control. We've been worn down enough to play ball against ourselves.
Since the first hominid picked up the first bone club, a certain kind of person has always sought dominion through force, and a certain kind of person has always sought control through deception. Morality is an option to that subset of our species. We forget that we are the vast majority, not this sliver of sociopaths that weave their webs around us.
There will always be those among us who see past the Hologram and work for change. Some will be cut down. Some will be corrupted and absorbed. Some will just get tired, for it is exhausting to be shown again and again that there no limit to depravity, no level of horror impossible.
But this is not the whole picture, just the crude oil on the surface of the deep green sea. We must remember that there is also no limit to kindness. In our Great Game, people take on the character that calls to them, either dragging down others for power or lifting up others for its own sake. And here we all are to play our parts.
As in all things, the difference is choice. Personal choice, based on one's own direct experience and the wisdom that comes from mistakes as well as success. Hivemind is great for building fortresses and invasions, but we are not here to mimic the ants.
As the next sticker coming out from Apocalypse Fatigue will say, "No masters' voices, just true will and choices." But for today, vote with your conscience, whatever that means to you. May you meet no obstacle and no adversary.
Today and all days, choose love over fear whenever you can. The greatest good for the greatest number, where possible. More options and opportunity. Incremental positive change. Rome was not built in a day, and it won't be taken apart in a day.
I have temporarily overcome my disgust and voted because the local ballot initiatives may help others, but it is only one small act. Enjoy the dopamine but understand that The Work is bigger. It is not enough to rise from the grave every four years and enable a ruling class. Vote, and then keep going. Keep your ear to the ground to hear the music beneath the noise. Flip over rocks to find hidden truths and act on them when called. Lift up your neighbors and we will all rise above the pyramid schemes.
Acknowledge the darkness, but bring a candle to your corner. Make great art, tell your story and support others who do the same. We can only build a better world from inside out. Whatever happens today, the real game is yours to play.
Continue?