Your Dollar, Your Vote

I found this cartoon today. It was conceived by Mike Adams, the editor of Newstarget.com. I think that this cartoon speaks to so many of the problems you are forced to face just by going to the grocery store. You probably never think of where your dollar goes after it leaves your hand. If you do, it's probably not beyond the corporation you're supporting with that dollar.

It's troubling to think that by buying an apple, you are giving money to a store who gives your money to an international produce distributor who gives your money to a grower who steals land from farmers and abuses their workers. Actually, it's down right tragic.
If you haven't already, and are looking for something to read, I highly recommend One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (come on- it's an Oprah book).

What happened to the empowerment of the sixties?

Once upon a time, actually not very long ago, people exerted power over the world around them. There was passion in people’s eyes. Finally after nearly two hundred years of elitist control, average people stood up. The poor, the young, the old, the colored, people whose voices had been lost in the abyss of hopelessness and disenfranchisement all stood up together and their collective voice shook the mind, heart, and soul of a generation. This was a revolution- at times violent and at other times beautifully and unexpectedly peaceful.
But between then and now, something happened. There was a counter-revolution of mass media- of mass distraction. There are still protests in the streets, but media outlets choose to report on Britney Spears. It was noticed immediately, and there were efforts to inform you- to empower you against it. As early as 1976, films like Network could’ve stopped the counter-revolution, but the media was too good at distracting you.
Why do you let them do this? Is it that they’ve been doing it so long you don’t recognize it? Has it become self-propagating?
It seems as though, those who would benefit from your not paying attention have you completely figure out. Which cars will distract you the most? What music will distract you the most? They’ve packaged ridiculous situations and people in the title “reality,” and you tune in every night. You’re so conditioned to ignore the world that you can’t be bothered anymore. If it doesn’t flash or if it’s not brightly packaged, you just are not interested.
So now, I’m asking you to answer my question. Are you willing to change? Are you willing to unplug from this matrix of distraction that you’ve unintentionally given yourself to?

Votre blog vient d'être créé. Merci.

Well, here we are, you and I.
This will be my retreat for the expression of my thoughts, most of which will be simply the relaying of things that strike me as interesting in my day- news articles, video clips, lectures I attend, etc. Occasionally, I might also feel the need to post an original thought or two.
For you, this will be yet another source of an alternative view of the world, but perhaps you'll find my quirkiness, playfulness, and sense of justice (that is only what strikes me as fair or not) as something that appeals to you. This would make our relationship here mutually beneficial.