Are we just living bad theater?

I watched the movie, hunger games, yesterday.  I had a hard time reading the book, and never finished it.  I suppose my age makes teenage angst seem silly.  The movie eliminated some of that by being visual rather than melodramatic.  They did a decent job, with actors that seemed like ordinary people and costuming among the capital-dwellers that was good at pointing out the decadence of the ruling class versus the hopelessness of those that had dared to consider not serving them.
It reminded me of an extreme version of the 1% elite that own the world versus the 99% that feel they have no options but to follow the rules and hope for mercy.
I live in a state in which the "havenots" constantly support the rights of the "haves".  They never notice that they have almost no chance of becoming one of them, but rather are so fearful of the "haves" not providing jobs, and whatever else it is that they provide (this is usually where I get lost? what else do they provide, anyway?  they pay lower taxes than I do, get perks from all over the place, and why, because the "almost haves" want their crumbs.  So why are so many people in our state living below the poverty level and worried that they will tax that 1% at the same rate as everyone else?  Because?  Someone please explain how so many people can believe so much garbage just because they are told it is right, it is American, it is the only thing standing between them and communism.  Amazingly, receiving state moneys doesn't help them realize that  is ridiculous.  I heard a man with fully paid health insurance go off on a rant because with Obamacare he was going to have a tax increase and not be able to get in and see a doctor.  I have heard people panicking because all the doctors are going to leave the profession.  Where does this come from?  Will the doctors leave--most of them will then qualify for the same minimum wage jobs that everyone else is seeking, Europe and Canada has not seen Doctors leave medicine.  Will the man I work with be taxed for no insurance?----he has insurance,  will he not be able to see a doctor--he hasn't been to the doctor in three years, having insurance doesn't make you sick, but if you are sick, it would be nice to be able to go somewhere besides the ER.
Why all the panic?  Because it is what most of us do--we react--usually to what some manipulative jerk puts out there for us to react to.
If you have not seen the hunger games, consider it, but in light of our own political situations.  Watch the capital-dwellers egg on the tributes to acts of demoralized cruelty, watch them manipulate those that are trying to be better by throwing in problems that are not acts of nature--why, because of there personal gambling profits and the joy of winning.  And note the costuming of the ruling class--a people that have nothing better to do than dye their hair to match their dress and shave their beards into ornate decorations.  A people that feel good sharing feast levels of food to the people that will be dying for their enjoyment and seeing that as a kindness. Its extreme.  But having seen our own rich folks names in the society pages for donating 200$ worth of turkeys to thanksgiving at the mission, then spending that per plate on their family meal, I'm not sure it is that far off..

changing the future

Yesterday I started this blog, then posted it to Facebook as I had no idea how to let it be seen.  If you have seen the commercial on TV with the girl complaining about her parents lack of friends on Facebook, they make me look like a hermit.  No comments were made, so I assumed nothing happened. I did my part, taped the list to the bathroom mirror so I could not miss it. It reminded me of how self-centered most of my desires are--vacation, lottery, pool in the backyard, I could literally go on forever...but looking at my drought ravaged yard, the birds crowding the pan I set under the dripping water hose, articles about how to keep old trees from dying in it, warnings about starting a spark and burning down the state, I realized that the planet is having a bad year, and I'm far from the only creature on it.
When I checked the blog-thing that tells who looked, one from Europe--I'll have the check the map to see what country as geography is not my strong suit, one Alaskan, and one U.S.A.  The internet creates a strange community.  A small but anonymous world which has already hidden many predators, criminals, and scam artists.  I like to think it can also do good, connecting people that can't meet, allowing us to see beyond our own small viewpoints and find a common good.  The future has seemed out of the control of most of us--in the hands of powerful, wealthy men, or extremists that wish to control everyone else.  Today I will try to do something to help and will focus on what I can do to improve the world.
7/25/12--I sat around yesterday, painted on some pictures, watched some TV, thought about all the things i could do if both arms were working this week, piddled.  Mid-afternoon, i watched a straggly looking raccoon walk to the pan under the hose and drink, then slowly wander off. It was midday, and while I have seen some creatures at night, that day visit was odd, so I sat in the window and watched a rabbit and a multitude of birds wander to that old skillet.  I put another pan from the garage out the side door and filled it with water, then threw the apple and orange that were past their prime off the porch.
Today it is supposed to rain, but the headlines are for dangerous thunderstorms.  It seems ironic that the thing we need most is coming with danger hooked to it.  Seems almost political, as if a good thing can't be had without something bad attached---sort of like a birthday.  The sky is gray and the grass is mostly yellow and the skillet is almost empty so I must do my part to save the world.

How many people have to want to fix the world for it to get better?

How many people have to want to fix the world for it to get better?

I propose an experiment—to see if the thoughts, prayers, desires of regular people, people without powerful positions or great amounts of wealth or names known in every household, can have a positive affect on the world around them.  Right now, most of us are wanting things to get better—but we do not all want it the same way.  We are thinking of personally helpful things like “I need some money”, or “I wish so-and-so was well” or worse, we are hoping some group of people seen as the enemy is destroyed so everything will be  better.

The first types of prayers and thoughts and desires are weak as generally only one or a few are thinking it and it is usually very self-serving.  The latter type is worse as it is destructive, and inevitably, whatever group we feel we belong to is in the cross-hairs of the group we want to see destroyed. 

What if, a growing group of individuals could focus on three things in a daily prayer, thought, meditation, mantra, (call it what you want—it doesn’t change it)  and that group grew and grew, sort of like the internet, so that people of many countries, beliefs, religions, political parties, races, genders, (you get the idea) were focusing on the same three things everyday at their time of stillness and contemplation.  Would it change the world like magic?  In a day?  In a year? In ten years?  How long would you do that to make the world a better place?

And if it wasn’t like magic, like a miracle, could the act of thinking of those three things daily change the individuals thinking them? 

I have seen that moment—critical mass, the tipping point, in which an idea went from pushing against unbelievable resistance to becoming the new normal on a small scale.  Think fashion—when was the last time you saw a room full of women in dresses?  One-hundred fifty years ago finding a room with a woman in pants would have been shocking.  Or living conveniences—in 1900 a house with a bathroom was a luxury, now a house without a bathroom is condemned as unfit to live in.  What was the tipping point, when did pants quit being rebellious and unseemly and start being OK for the most modest and conservative lady.  When did indoor plumbing become a requirement of all but the homeless?

Every change comes from somewhere, whether from plans or serendipity, but wouldn’t it be interesting to see if perhaps, instead of a small group at the top making the plans for the change they wanted, then beating everyone under them into submission, the small group could start in the middle and let the change flow to both those seen as most powerful/wealthy/influential, and those seen as most destructive/violent/dehumanized.  (I do realize those two ends may contain some of the same individuals)

The three thoughts I propose are:

•      Let the earth be healed so that it can continue to provide our sustenance.

• ·   Let people find their greatest joy in helping each other.

• ·     Let our leaders be filled with a need to serve that surpasses their desire for power, money or glory.

I will put those three things on a card and read it every night before go to sleep, and every morning before I start my day.  My goal is simple---if I do that, perhaps it will help—change the world, change me—I don’t know if it matters which.  If someone else starts doing the same, that will be two of us.   How many of us want a better world?  I would love to win the lottery, this is cheaper, and takes less time than my morning and evening ablutions.  This is not a chain letter; nothing bad will happen if you do nothing.  All I risk by writing this is the ridicule of friends and family and we have all had a bit of that at times.