Society, governments, and couch potatoes

Where is our society going? We've got a government that is quickly turning into a police state with checks and balances disappearing faster than i go through gallons of milk. It seems like 7 out of 10 people you pass on the street either completely ignore you just because, or have headphones on and pay you no attention anyhow. Sitting in a cafe everyone is engrossed in their own personal tasks, for the most part ignoring the world around them.

For example the other day i was in my preferred cafe when there was a brief scuffle outside. Apparently one homeless guy owed another some money and wasn't willing to pay up, so the other guy punched him in the face and walked away. I regret to say, but myself included: everyone in the cafe just sat there and watched it happen. From the initial "Hey man, give me my fuckin' money" all the way to the final blow -- and no one did anything. Even when they were shoving each other, obviously leading up to a fight. We all just sat there with our espresso drinks and wondered if we should do anything -- but of course, nobody did.

Isn't something wrong with that? But then again, isn't something wrong with our current government & their actions?? Portions of our government [read: the executive branch] are doing their best to eliminate our freedoms and eventually take over the world, and we're not doing anything to stop them. Isn't this a time when we, the people of America should be rising up and doing something about all of the shit that our government is doing.

And just a side note: i found all of those links in the last 24 hours. If i really searched around for shit, it would have gotten worse. Let's say that those make for some good light reading.

So in the midst of all this political crap going on around us, we're still sitting around -- myself included -- reading news articles, talking about how bad things are getting, posting about it on forums, being appalled by the most recent news, looking to Darfur and wondering just what our government IS doing.

But wondering aloud, posting on forums, talking to friends... while it's great to spread the word, none of these things can directly accomplish anything.

There, i said it.

Sure, i'm glad that there is plenty of reading available about this, and people are concerned, complaining to senators, writing congressmen, probably sending hate-mail to the president. But WHEN will we break, when will we hit that point, where suddenly people get up and DO SOMETHING??

I'm talking about something like the scene in Pink Floyd: The Wall when abruptly all the students jump out of their desks and start a full scale riot -- that is what i want to see.

But i'm losing faith in Americans. We've been singling ourselves out from society too long, wearing our headphones too much and caring too little about the strangers around us. How can we start a real revolution (if that's whats needed) if no one wants to talk to strangers on a daily basis? If all we want to do is post blog entries and complain about sketchy government actions on forums?

I think that Zack de la Rocha says it best in the song "Know Your Enemy":

Ive got no patience now
So sick of complacence now
Ive got no patience now
So sick of complacence now
Sick of sick of sick of sick of you
Time has come to pay...
Know your enemy!

Come on!
Yes I know my enemies
Theyre the teachers who taught me to fight me
Compromise, conformity, assimilation, submission
Ignorance, hypocrisy, brutality, the elite
All of which are american dreams

politicsrantgovernment