Winter Hibernation Essay No. 2
Current mood: focused
File under: Edging on self-righteousness, but meant with the most heartfelt and sincere intentions.
In this time of Christmas, which is, by no doubt, the biggest time for commercialism of the year, we see advertisers, capitalists, and manufacturers alike all clamor for the prize of your hard-earned dollar. We have this notion that it gets worse every year; people lined up to drop money in the gluttonous hole of this misguided holiday. While I am only in my twenties, I cannot attest that sentiment - on whether this has always been, or has, in fact, gotten worse. However, my gut tells me the latter.
Still, taking all this into account, this whole process of spending and "feeding the machine", as one could put it, isn't necessarily a dangerous thing in and of itself – yet for the benefit of this essay, it behooves me to point this cycle out, in order to bring to light another far more dangerous area this capitalistic mentality has leaked into: social and political activism.
Social and political activism have increasingly become so prepackaged and commercialized that it has reduced them to an almost superfluous crusade. It seems that every celebrity has a cause; Paris Hilton and P. Ditty tell you to "Vote or Die", coming with them a full campaign of T-shirts, stickers, and commercials. This seemingly noble cause, already on wobbly wheels, is then derailed by photo opts and adverts, and eventually ending with Paris Hilton herself not even voting. In the meantime, other glamorous celebrities are fighting for some impoverished this, and underprivileged that, until, that is, the fast moving news media moves on to the next 'hot' cause, leaving behind a cloud of smoke and Hollywood dust in its wake. To illustrate: what if we, The Everyday Visuals, were to now hold a benefit for the victims of Katrina? Would that not seem somewhat 'passé'? Yet, truth be told, while the media and celebrity circus has moved on from this cause, people need help just the same.
While one could argue we should commend the likes of Paris and others to taking such an unselfish charge as to donate time and money to charity, the truth is, on the whole, their half-witted, under-achievements do more harm than good by cheapening this idea of social activism. To expound further, these celebrities, using political and social activism for their own photo opt agenda, are all backed by corporations that use star power to sell more stuff to you. It would then be a logical counter argument to point out that even with these circumstances being true, these celebrities, for better or worse, do use said star power to expose a lot of causes that may have well fallen under the radar; they help in creating awareness, and that must be worth something. While this is true, we must be careful that even the most genuine of intentions not be exploited by the system. For this system has but one goal: money. With every new cause endorsed by an A- Lister, it seems that we are not too far away from being able to buy your own "Little Activism Kit" from target for $9.95.
After saying all that, the end result of consumerism is, however, the least dangerous aspect of these strategic, thought out, product placement campaigns. What is more alarming and damaging is the stigma that is left over from the media, picking dry the bones of a cause. What this new dynamic in media does is trivialize activism. It makes it seem like wanting change is only for the elite, for the upper crust of society. In all, it makes fighting for something seem downright silly. Which, unfortunately for us, is exactly what the powers that be want.
Make no mistake: If the idea of a person wanting "world peace" seems pandering and immature, it is not your fault: people have spent millions of dollars planting that image in your mind subversively. Think of the beauty queen in movies and on T.V mindlessly saying all she wants is "World Peace". Bring to your mind the image of a foolish hippy, in tied-dye, protesting a war, showing you the peace sign while he smokes (gasp!) marijuana. He just wants "you know, peace, man." These images that cheapen these causes are not unintentional. It is the goal of the establishment to take these causes and social protests and debunk them, discredit them, and downright dirty them. It rings in a new day of apathy among people and brings hopelessness: Even if I were to want to make a change, I'm not a celebrity, I don't have the time or money they do, and besides, people have been fighting this forever, and nothing has changed yet – it's a fool errand. The powers have instilled a mix of fear and someone-else-will-do-it mentality that is so systemic and overwhelming, it even paralyzes people not to vote.
At this point in our history, the time has never been more urgent for us to rise up and make a change. Do not be fooled: We have poverty, we have Vietnam all over again, we have a failing health care system, yet, among that, most importantly, we have the power to change it. Even I have been trapped in the doldrums of "where do I start?" Yet, the answer is simple, start with your vote. Do not underestimate the power of this democracy – write your congress people, demand a change. But most importantly, before all else, do not let wanting a change seem silly, self important, or self-righteous. Do not let the people in charge sully this idea of one person making a difference in this world. It is not silly, or idealistic, or self important to think that you can make a difference. The fact is this: more than ever we need to put behind us the idea that activism is for someone else, or for the elite, or for the hopelessly romantic fool. It is for real people, with a real vote – people like you and me.
In the words of Nick Lowe (made famous by Elvis Costello):
"What's so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding?"
I am asking people to please comment back with links to websites that they feel are a good place to start and join the fight.
To start – there is a bill in the sub-committee stage of congress, H.R. 676, and it is a measure to support a universal, single-payer health care system. Find out what you can do to make sure every American has access to quality health care:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/what-can-i-do/
-Christopher