your dogma ran out in front of my karma

A friend of mine from facebook and from the real world shared this image with me the other day, I think because we often jibber and jabber about how the world could be a much better place than it is. The "infographic" above is pretty much a perfect encapsulation of the utopian starry-eyed nonsense that's becoming more and more commonplace these days, and I'm pretty sure a little piece of me dies every time I see a new poster appear.

The premise is flawed from the outset: "Doing nothing but COMPLAINING about the system or demanding that our "LEADERS" CHANGE THE WORLD FOR US is no different than going at a theatre and throwing tomatoes at the stage." Bullshit.

Bull. Shit.

In the real world, I've never been forced to go to any theater, to see any show. If I want to see it, I see it. If not, I don't. The real world isn't like that, though. The day-to-day that we all experience is a part of the framework in which we exist, not a diversion put on for our entertainment. You can't just "walk away" and "create a world of your choosing", and with nebulous terms and undefined goals, all I see in the above is this:

I don't have any problem with anyone who wants the world to be a better place - quite the opposite! Our world is a pretty neat place, but at the same time, it can be a festering shitehole. Improvement is always possible.

What I DO have a problem with is anyone who's peddling a "Phase 3" of create a world of our choosing UNDER NO AUTHORITY BUT OUR OWN as a follow-up to a "Phase 1" of WALK AWAY AND UNITE followed by the standard "Phase 2", ?. If I thought this particular "Phase 3" was a realistic goal, I might ask a proponent of it to suggest ways in which we could achieve it. Because it's not a realistic goal, though, I have to wonder what "Phase 1" entails. If you're not interested in running afoul of the law, probably it's "going to Starbuck's to have lattes and talk about how great it's going to be to live under our own authority in a world of our choosing, with other people who no longer vote".

If you're slightly more determined, you might stop paying taxes on everything you buy - "take THAT,  The System!" - and for a time, feel like you're really making progress. Until they catch up with you and punish you for not paying the taxes. And compel you to pay fines. AND taxes.

If you're as determined as you can be, if this is a do-or-die, all-or-nothing situation, you quit your job and go guerilla. What then? Even if you were sufficiently funded to take on your government and its military - and para-military - the numbers aren't going to work out in your favor. You'd be better off buying yourself some "democracy".  

So, in this example of "create a world of our choosing UNDER NO AUTHORITY BUT OUR OWN", you can 

1. act minimally and legally, become discouraged, and give up
2. get illegal enough to cost yourself some money, get a record, and maybe wind up in jail. then give up
3. go full outlaw, get an asterisk next to your name, and become an example for others

Wouldn't it be better to establish a realistic "Phase 3"? Something small and achievable, but meaningful? Something that, once you've done it, you can think to yourself, "I helped make that happen!"?