From Observer to Participant

It's what we all need to do

Leaders are only as powerful as those who are willing to follow them.

And that means we, the people, have power. And we need to seize it in this most precarious of times.

We’re so used to passively viewing our screens, and we’re all creatures of habit.

Both of these can be good things if done with the intention of creating the world we want for our children and grandchildren, and for all of life on our beautiful planet.

Our screens? We can find truly accurate sources of information and develop a keen understanding of what’s going on in the world.

Our habits? There are so many of them, but if we set the intention to make sure our habits serve the kind of future we want, we’ll become automatic activists. A good thing, in my books.

We need to weave together a culture of honesty, elegance and sufficiency. Imagine living in community where we all look out for each other, locally and globally. There’s enough for everyone, and we need to spread it around.

We need to resist the plastic junk, the fake news, the fevered sales pitch, and the inauthentic.

Can we stop glorifying the hoarders, liars and war mongers in our midst? Can we stop believing the mainstream media’s constant BS? Can we learn to see through the false flags, and reject our governments’ interference in the affairs of other countries?

Can we reject the allure of violence and rugged individualism?

If we do this right, we can weave a cultural tapestry of beauty and subtlety that will make these things gaudy and undesirable. As they already are for many. You know, the ones who instigate wars, support genocide, price gouge, ignore the climate crisis and turn everything into commodities, even things like housing that are a human right. These gaudy baubles need to be removed from the rich and peaceful fabric of the society we are co-creating.

In these times, we need each other, and that means we need to cultivate things like honesty, sincerity, decency, humility, and genuine concern for one another. Imagine how wonderful it would be to live that way? The good news is it’s totally doable.

The first step is to create a compelling vision together. Mine looks like a world where all of life can thrive, where we can all be ourselves and find fulfillment in helping each other, making sure we all have access to adequate housing, nourishing food and robust institutions so that everyone has reliable and affordable healthcare, education and transit. To help each other out, and be supportive.

It’s a place where the arts can thrive, where we examine what our ancestors have done, and what western leaders are doing now, to exploit others. We can provide restitution, and examine ourselves to see what attitudes lead to this kind of behaviour. And make the necessary changes together,

How do we make sure our governments represent these interests and not just the interests of the very rich?

And what habits do we need to develop?

Here are some that make sense to me.

• Become very discerning about news sources. If you discover they’ve been lying to you, ditch them like a hot potato. Your time is valuable, and you deserve to know the truth. Don’t let them waste your time and mislead you.

• Money is power, so how will you use that power? How about buying quality (which you can get inexpensively second hand), supporting local businesses whenever possible, banking at a credit union, buying organically grown and fair trade whenever possible.

• Participating in community empowers everyone. Food buying clubs, community gardens, choirs, environmental and social justice groups. There’s something so fulfilling about achieving things as a group.

• Communicating with others: family, friends, community groups, online. It feels good to express ourselves and to share with others. Learning other people’s perspectives gives us a better understanding of the world.

• Vote for candidates who support these values. If they’re backed by billionaires, they probably don’t.

• We are living in extremely interesting but dangerous geopolitical times. Paying attention to world events reveals some of the attitudes we may have inherited from living in western cultures. It gives us global context, so we can understand why things are happening more easily.

And speaking of cultures, how do we changes ours? How do we move from people who’ve been encouraged to look out for number one to vital members of our communities?

Arts and culture can be transformational. As Toni Cade Bambara once said, “The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.”

Music can express so much! Check out a few of these songs and see how you feel afterwards? The first are a couple of oldies: Big Yellow Taxi, He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother, Penny Lane, Respect, Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream, Blowing in the Wind. Here are a few that are more recent: Mind Over Matter, We Shall be Known, Medicine, Palestine Will Never Die. Let’s give a few of them a listen and let ourselves be infected by these messages. There’s so much to choose from, and so much to add to these lists. What songs empower you?

And let’s not forget the amazing films, music and poetry inspired and created by Palestine. These are such important forms of resistance. This book, If I Must Die, by Refaat Alareer, has become a best seller, making it difficult to hide the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

What about our habits of living? I’m in the habit of not viewing ads, and also of shopping as little as possible, of taking public transit, and of being kind to strangers. I’m trying to declutter, and to express an aesthetic of simple beauty, a kind of wabi sabi.

There’s so much I object to and reject about modern life. It seems crass, vulgar, dishonest and manipulative. In any sane world, these traits would not be considered admirable.

Yet here we are. Let’s create something better together.

We can no longer afford to be mere spectators. For our children and grandchildren, for the rest of the world and for ourselves, let’s start participating, and finding ways to bring about the world we want.

Here’s one more old song that seems apt for these times: The Times They Are A-Changin’. Let’s be that change. Let’s make that change happen. We truly cannot accept the alternative.

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I love the BDS campaign and the effect it’s having on Israel’s economy.

Here's an excellent list of products from Israel: https://boycott.thewitness.news/browse/1

Here's a way to help others not in your bubble to boycott Israel: https://www.cjpme.org/stickies_2024_en

And here's where you can support Palestine by buying a keffiyeh: https://www.hirbawi.ps/