When I was a music producer and audio engineer in Los Angeles, I worked at a small studio in North Hollywood. The owner was an interesting man, into UFOs and other oddities. And he had a great sense of humor.
Those were the days when the walls of a studio were lined with racks of audio processing devices __ reverbs, delays, compressors, flangers, EQs __ and the inside of the control room looked like the Starship Enterprise.
One of our modules, however, was very unique. It consisted of a single multi-space panel, maybe 11" wide and 4" high. In the center of the gray panel was a single huge knob. Below it read one word . . . Quality. As a joke, when we were in the final stages of completing the mix of a song, one of us would go over to that knob and say, 'I think we need to up the quality here just a bit.' Then we'd make a big show of adding some "quality".
Of course, it was just a big laugh. There was nothing attached to the knob. Behind the panel was empty space. But our clients joined in the fun and got a kick out it.
That knob makes me think of this election.
Sure, we'll go in and pull our levers, push a button, hit enter on a computer-based voting machine, or in the really archaic voting districts, punch holes in a card.
Make no mistake about it. There's nothing attached to the lever. There's nothing behind the panel.
We'll all join in the fun and get a big kick out of it, eh?
But nothing will change.
The wars will go on. The plundering of our national wealth will continue. The waste of our valuable talents and energies through unemployment and underemployment will march forward. Social Security and Medicare will be chipped away until sometime in the future they are hollowed out and meaningless. The rich will get richer and most of us will be grateful for the few scraps we get.
The media is full of dramatic proclamations and everyone is talking about what a historic election this will be, how we are at a fundamental crossroad.
But given the choice __ or more accurately the lack of it __ represented by the two major parties, beholden as they both are to the tiny few who own them and command the real reins of power in our sham democracy, there's nothing profound or historic about this coming election day. It will not be a day that changes anything!
It could be. It could be a day that changed the world. But this would have nothing to do with our voting for a Democrat or Republican.
The day that changes the world will be . . .
- The day we by the millions pull our money out of the big banks and put them in small community banks or credit unions, where the people who own the facility and work there live down the street, know your name, and care about you and the quality of life in your area of the town or city you live in.
- The day we cut up our credit cards and start living on cash __ which might be the day we tell the banks to go screw themselves because if nobody made their credit card payments, there is nothing the banks could do about it.
- The day we stop buying any products that are made in sweatshops or under any unsavory conditions for less than a fair wage __ which is also the day we commit ourselves to careful buying, putting quality above quantity in what we purchase.
- The day we stop shopping from multinational corporations and at major corporate outlets, who treat their workers poorly, who have no loyalty to America or to its people, who don't "pay back" __ that is, who don't pay a fair and reasonable portion of their earnings back into our communities, our country.
- The day we stop eating and giving our children food that poisons and fattens all of us, refusing to buy the unwholesome and unhealthy garbage being offered by big food conglomerates and fast food chains __ which is the day we start buying our food from local producers and stepping back into the kitchen and learning again how to cook.
- The day __ April 15th seems like an obvious choice __ when en masse, instead of filing tax returns, we send a letter which in a nutshell says, "I am no longer paying taxes to fund wars I oppose, and for constructing unnecessary military bases across the planet which are only creating animosity and hatred of my country; I refuse to underwrite the intrusive spying on me and my neighbors by countless national security agencies, and no longer will function as an ATM machine for the fraudulent War on Terror."
- The day we turn off our televisions and say, "Enough of this garbage, I no longer am a dumping ground for this kind of insulting, mind-numbing crap."
- The day we go out and meet our neighbors, find out who they are, what they're interested in, maybe even suggest doing some things together, like cleaning up the neighborhood or helping that family down the street that's struggling.
- The day we go to our local schools, meet the teachers and administrators, talk to the board of education about what really can be done to improve how and what our children are learning, maybe volunteering to tutor or coach or just organize some interesting activities where the whole community participates.
- The day we just stop. Stop buying unnecessary junk, stop wasting precious time, stop living as we're told to live, valuing what we are told to value. Just stop and look around. Look at what's really important. Look at our kids, our loved ones, our friends, our parents, our neighbors. Stop and spend time with them. Look and see how much we have within easy reach that is so special, so beautiful, so amazing __ all the things we don't have to go to the mall to buy. Things that don't require a credit card and won't need replacing during the next round of frenetic holiday shopping.
That will be the day that changed the world.
You can't turn up the quality of life by turning a knob.
You can't change the country by voting in a rigged election.
You can't make a difference by choosing where there is no choice.
But the good news is . . .
YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD!
[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]
