Before I investigate the question that is the title of this blog I would like to set the stage properly. This weekend my husband and I experienced a noticeable shift in our psyches. The kind of shift that moves you to become a different person overnight. I could call it an epiphany, but it's more than that. I not only came to a few new realizations about my role in this world, but I also acted upon those realizations. This blog is one of those actions so I want to set it up properly.
I recently realized why I have not been motivated to keep up with entries in my blog. Unlike my closest friends who use their blogs to showcase their travels and their wonderful talents as bakers, seamstresses, scrapbookers and overall artists I do not possess any of these blog-worthy qualities. When I first began the blog I imagined it would be my online diary that I shared with others. That seemed like a good idea, but in reality it felt forced. Why should anyone care what I have to say and what I'm thinking? What good does it do anyone to read my thoughts, feelings, reactions, etc? My friends and family take interest because they care about me and are wonderfully supportive of my every thing I do, but my hope is that with their help I can write about topics with real substance and potentially impact people outside my immediate circle of friends. I stick by my initial claims that I do not have all the answers. I know this to be true and I don't want anyone to get the impression that I'm pushing my beliefs on others. The situation is quite the opposite. I am in fact aiming to help others formulate their own beliefs and opinions, not by blindly listening to any of the mainstream media moguls that currently hold our social consciousness hostage, but by actively listening to others and researching on their own. I aim to do that in the simplest way I could come up with, and perhaps the most classic: through questioning and debate.
I renamed my blog today in the attempt to capture my shift in consciousness. Socrates is to this day an infamous philosophical personality. For those of you who do not know much about him take a day or two to read the book Socrates by Anthony Gottlieb. It is from a series of books entitled The Great Philosophers, and Gottlieb's brief account of Socrates is thorough and easy to read. From there I have no doubt that you will want to actually read Plato's dialogues, in which Socrates is the main character and his methods are laid out more thoroughly. I read it yesterday to brush up on my knowledge of Socrates after watching the Michael Moore film Capitalism: A Love Story. What could Michael Moore and Socrates possibly have in common? That's a great question, and three days ago I would have said absolutely nothing, but that was because I'd never bothered to ever actually watch a Michael Moore film. His reputation as an extremist, left-wing asshole and warnings that his films focused on over-the-top conspiracy theories and right-wing bashing kept me away for a very long time (I tend to avoid the extremes, on BOTH ends of the spectrum). It wasn't until my husband, Erich, and I were once again talking about the need for real change in this country that we decided to finally give him a shot. Within the first 10 minutes of the movie we had paused to consider and discuss the points presented to us for about 30 minutes. This trend continued throughout the entirety of the film. Watch, stop, discuss, repeat...Until the movie was over and we felt as if we were being called into action.
Moore didn't shove anything down my throat, he simply had made a movie that came to the same conclusions I had already come to on my own. He did help me de-mystify some of the more complex aspects of American economics and politics. I can say that thanks to his movie I now actually understand what the 2008 housing collapse and subsequent bank bailout actually meant for our country. Whether Moore is right about everything he presents in his films is beside the point for me and Erich. What he got us to do is THINK. He woke me up in much the same way Socrates woke up the citizens of Athens. What makes his documentaries so important is that he takes the time to really talk to people, to ask them what they think is happening and what they think ought to be happening. This is why I am comparing him to a modern day Socrates and this is why I think his message is so important. The people need to reclaim their thoughts and their voting power. How many of us admittedly waste our votes? How many of us feel impotent in matters of government? THIS IS NOT HOW IT SHOULD BE. Our country was designed to give us all a voice. If we don't like what our representatives are doing then we need to get them the hell out of there and replace them with people who truly have our interests at heart.
So what would Socrates do? I phrase the question this way because he stood up for virtue when no one else would. He urged people to take a moment now and then to consider the things that truly matter. He did not begrudge anyone their material comforts or their wealthy lifestyles, in much the same way that I do not condemn my fellow Americans for taking pleasure in their leisure time or watching Jersey Shore. This is America, land of the free. If you want to watch shitty television, buy things you can't afford and eat way too much food then so be it! BUT...there is a danger lurking in the kind of indulgence we glorify on television, the kind of danger that doesn't fully present itself until it's too late. In our constant quest for material possessions, power and money we have allowed greed and selfishness to become the norm. We have allowed the misguided belief that the poor are poor because they are lazy and the rich are rich because they work hard to become a driving factor in our decision making as a society.
I am going to stop there for now and leave you with something to consider. Below is a link to a video of President FDR. In it he proposes a second bill of rights that he calls the Worker's Bill of Rights or the Economic Bill of Rights. Up until Moore's documentary this piece of history was conveniently kept from my view. No school teacher ever even mentioned it. I never even came across it in my studies as a college student. I am curious as to know how many Americans are aware that a piece of legislation such as this ever existed. If you knew of it before now please comment and explain when and where you heard of it. Likewise, if you are as outraged as I was that you have never heard of it until now please comment as well.
As you watch this video try to imagine an America where these laws are passed. Think about the positive consequences of such legislation. Give me feedback. What are the pros and cons of trying to bring this document back into the limelight? I'm reaching out because I am unhappy. I'm unhappy with how we treat each other, with how our country is viewed by the world, and with our value system that is no longer focused on virtues but on money and power. But mostly I'm reaching out because I can't change things by myself. I need your help. Together we can do better!
