Why Do I Rant?

Greetings and salutations to you, oh Rambling Masses,

The title of this post is a question I have been asking myself lately. Why do I rant? Strangely enough, this question has a very simple answer - if I don't rant, then I am one of those 80 or 90% of the population that just sticks their heads in buckets of sand, ignoring the injustices around us. I can't do that, despite the fact that thinking about these things brings me some pain, sends my blood a-boiling and causes not a little depression.

The alternative (sand bucketing) is far worse in my opinion. If enough of a groundswell can build up, then maybe we might just be able to change things for the better. I'd like to thank Richard Neville for his wonderful blogs (see links to other sites on the right hand side of my blog to visit his). They are chilling, challenging, gruesome reading, but there is the constant glimmer of hope in there as well. Hope is something that I had recently lost sight of, and his insightful words have helped me to see that there are more of us out there than I thought. Celia, Paul and Dave also played a major role in making me see this new light. Thank you all.

What a brave new world we live in. It used to be the case that politicians would kiss babies to woo the electorate. Now we live in a world where Beige Howard, Dubya and Blair Witch (and the carbon copy replacing him) don't kiss babies. Instead, they kill babies, and then cover it up. Iraqi and Afghani civilians are dying in droves, much worse than when the Taliban or Saddam were at the wheel. The nation that gave us two atomic bomb hits on civilian populations just over 60 years ago (proving them to be the worst terrorists of all), are up to their old tricks, and I am left to ponder how this came about, and even more importantly, how they are allowed to get away with it.

Are we so anaesthetised in our self-centred lives, worrying about our wallets and all of those pretty things we own, that we are incapable of divining a truth so blatantly obvious that it staggers the imagination? Has TV finally sucked out the last traces of free thinking and intelligence from us all, so that we just blithely and blindly accept or ignore the current state of affairs?

Even smokers, who once so staunchly battled for their rights to inhale, are giving up with nary a whimper. Whilst I do not for one minute condone that particular odious habit and am happy that the harmful effects of smoking are finally "general knowledge", it is indicative of the greater erosion of our community voice and fighting spirit. Like Iago's Othello, we are as tenderly led by the nose as asses are, and we seem to be meekly accepting each new slice that is cut away from our democratic pie. What further liberties will our governments take with our liberty before the sleeping Rambling Masses stir?

The duplicity of the mass media can not be ignored in all of this. I see their black hand behind the scenes, spoon feeding us the latest info-tainment titbits. They feed us misinformation, omit any references to the dark truth, and fail in their duty of care to the highest degree.

But, hey, wait a minute. There is actually a heck of a lot of information out there in the public domain. Lots of facts that the pig-troughers would not want us to know. There is a steadily growing counter-culture of bloggers, independent journalists, authors, ethicists, moralists, scientists, artists, futurists, musicians and free thinkers out there, bringing us the real truth.

So, I would humbly suggest to all of you that you get off your asses and do some research, instead of concerning yourselves with the latest twist that Big Brother has got planned for the house mates, or what Paris Hilton got up to on the weekend.

There are no excuses for ignorance, or pretending that it's all okay, because it's not all okay. True democracy can be a wonderful system, and let's face it, it is the best form of mass governance that we have been able to come up with. Democracy is not something that just happens, it is not a natural state that all social structures gravitate towards. It is not that dark and twisted capitalist-driven hell that America is trying to bring to the Middle East.

Democracy is something that we all tend to take for granted, and it is under threat in this, our modern age. It is our duty as members of democratic states to preserve it's true spirit, and to ensure that our democratically elected leaders do not twist and warp it into something that is decidedly undemocratic, leading us down destructive and intolerant paths. As such, we must all take on the role of democracy watchdogs. This is where one of those age-old Australian traditions comes in - keeping the bastards honest.

Well, newsflash! Over the past few decades, we have allowed those bastards to not just lie through their teeth and get away with it, but we have become so fat and lazy in body and mind that we even allow them to commit our nation to untold crimes against humanity, just because Beige Howard's tongue feels so good when he's talking about the economy.

Crimes against humanity are being committed as you read this. War crimes of the most heinous nature are being perpetrated every day by the so-called liberators, the Coalition of the Willing. Or, as Richard Neville calls them, the Coalition of the Killing. That seems a much more appropriate moniker, certainly more truthful.

Just as the sixties gave us "All the way with LBJ", the noughties are giving us "On a killing spree with GWB". I am hopeful and quietly confident that the student and hippie revolution of those bygone days will return in a new wave of public protest, as the Rambling Masses finally find their voice. So go to your rooftops and shout out that we will not stand for this any longer. Send letters to our politicians, asking them if they can sleep at night with these weights on their conscience. Fill the mass media's editorial inboxes with demands to know the truth instead of the platitudes and coverups that run so rampant. Tell the shock jocks to shut up and stop spreading hate and intolerance. Demand that a worthy opposition with real ideals and values stands up at the next election. Rant to your heart's content, but rant to make a difference.

And if you think that you as an individual can't make a difference, then I am sorry to tell you, but you are wrong! If you are numbed into submission, then the pseudo-democratic apparatchiks have won, and you may as well curl up and die in your McMansions. But if you choose to exercise your democratic right to free speech, then you are empowering yourself to make a difference. Individual voices may not be heard, but eventually these voices of protest will reach a critical mass, and the leaders of the world will have no choice but to listen. That is when we can reclaim our pride in the system, when our leaders are forced to rule in an ethical and moral manner, standing up for great ideals and making mankind a power for good on this planet.

If history has taught us nothing, ("and it hasn't" as Homer Simpson once uttered) then it is this - we must not stand by and let our leaders take us down the path of evil. Remember what happened last time people just stood by and watched as a madman brought us to the brink? Sieg Oil, anyone?