Sunday, July 02, 2006
Where is the outrage???
Everyday, I hear something that pisses me off, makes me mad, makes my blood boil, supplant with your own cliché at will. But why is it, that we don’t hear anything from anybody? Why is there no public outrage anymore? I don’t mean we have to protest, or tear down buildings, or be violent. Why are we not being rebellious?
The anti-war protestors are still out there, but the media has moved on. Does no care about Japan trying to buy votes to start hunting whales again – wait, that’s not it – they want to be able to manage whaling by using sustainability as a model – political speak aside, they want to kill first and then decide if they have done enough damage to decimate their populations.
There’s more news about constitutional rights being subverted to the administration’s policy on managing the war on terror. Yet, I hear nothing, apart from a few angry tirades on the radio. What is the common man or woman to do? Blog? Register their protest? Fight for their rights? Go out and vote? There are institutional provisions to voice your discontent. The hard part is to keep your passion going until you get to your computer to write and then, to find the responsible party. I recently did something, probably nothing of consequence, but it felt really good. I was driving to the Bay Area and was stuck a mile or two from the exit. Ahead, I could see black smoke and knew that there was a fire. I was sure it was a thoughtless, ignorant smoker, who threw his/her lit cigarette butt out of the car. (I don’t care if you pollute your lungs, but I do care if your carelessness will put others at risk.) So anyway, we’re all stuck and waiting to see what was going on and if the other lanes were moving faster and the guy ahead, oblivious to the smoke, lights up a cigarette in the car. Fine, smoke, I don’t care. Then, after his fill, he proceeds to throw his half-smoked cigarette onto the road! Idiot!!! Can’t you see there’s a fire ahead, I wanted to scream. Do you really think your cigarette is out? What if you started another fire? Granted, he was in the middle lane, but do you really think someone like that would stop if he was close to the median that needed just a little spark to set off a raging fire? So I called 1-800-Tell-CHP and stayed on hold forever, (or so it seemed), and reported the guy to the officer, who indulgently took down my name and number and the license plate of the guy ahead.
So, you may wonder, did I accomplish anything? Most probably not, but I was elated. I did something about it. It felt good to report that act of mindlessness. So what am I saying – yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying – we have somehow stopped communicating – I don’t mean yelling or abusing a sales clerk or indulging in road-rage incidents, but we have stopped being concerned citizens. Democracy, even at the local level can only function if local people react to measures or pass measures that they are passionate about. I want to say this to everyone who complains about something – did you do something about it? Did you vote? Did you write to your Congressman/Congresswoman? Did you attend the City Hall public meeting? Or do you just want to sit back and complain that the world is going to hell?
