Last Night Santa Cruz
I came back from the river and from Burning Man to a shitload of overwhelming information about Katrina and New Orleans. Seemed unreal. Seemed unimaginable that our government who makes such a big fucking deal about keeping us scared and then claiming to protect us could so thoroughly fuck shit up for so many people.
I mean, on one hand, did we ever have any illusions that the safety they talked about applied equally to everyone, rich and poor? And did we really think it was much more than an excuse to achieve full US domination of the globe and simultaneously erode our liberties and fatten the wallets of corporate cronies? Good god, I hope we're not that naive. But nevertheless...
I think, we did imagine that our governments and institutions would make a token effort to at least keep us safe and fat and happy. But I think Katrina shatters that illusion.
You knew of course, that the administration directly funneled money away from reinforcing the New Orleans levies just this year for other pet projects and wars? You knew that there were few national guard troops and equipment to help victims of the hurricane because they were all busy in Iraq. You knew that the president was golfing and Condi Rice was shopping for shoes in NY as the storm raged? You knew that local police were not letting poor residents of the flooded quarters of New Orleans escape the city across the bridges on foot?
Our government cannot and will not keep us safe, happy, and free.
I came back feeling like, What the fuck? These are the people we depend on to tell us what we can and can't do? Are we crazy? Our institutions can barely manage their own affairs.
I don't hate them, I just think they are largely irrelevant in our lives. WE make this country. And WE make this city. And WE make our communities. Us. Not a bunch of elected yahoos. We are what make our communities connected and vital and full of life.
When I heard that First Night Santa Cruz, our little city-sponsored humdrum New Year's safe-and-sane entertainment, had finally collapsed in on itself in a corpulent pile, I thought, of course. Exactly.
This is our town, our celebration, our night. Let's do our own parade. A Last Night celebration. A last night of waiting for governments, institutions, or anyone else to entertain us, satisfy us, bring us security, freedom, or joy. We reclaim our streets and usher in the new year with our own celebration.
Last Night Santa Cruz tribe: http://tribes.tribe.net/lastnightdiy
We are radically self-reliant and radically interdependent. The world is ours for the making. A new world in our hearts.
I came back from the river and from Burning Man to a shitload of overwhelming information about Katrina and New Orleans. Seemed unreal. Seemed unimaginable that our government who makes such a big fucking deal about keeping us scared and then claiming to protect us could so thoroughly fuck shit up for so many people.
I mean, on one hand, did we ever have any illusions that the safety they talked about applied equally to everyone, rich and poor? And did we really think it was much more than an excuse to achieve full US domination of the globe and simultaneously erode our liberties and fatten the wallets of corporate cronies? Good god, I hope we're not that naive. But nevertheless...
I think, we did imagine that our governments and institutions would make a token effort to at least keep us safe and fat and happy. But I think Katrina shatters that illusion.
You knew of course, that the administration directly funneled money away from reinforcing the New Orleans levies just this year for other pet projects and wars? You knew that there were few national guard troops and equipment to help victims of the hurricane because they were all busy in Iraq. You knew that the president was golfing and Condi Rice was shopping for shoes in NY as the storm raged? You knew that local police were not letting poor residents of the flooded quarters of New Orleans escape the city across the bridges on foot?
Our government cannot and will not keep us safe, happy, and free.
I came back feeling like, What the fuck? These are the people we depend on to tell us what we can and can't do? Are we crazy? Our institutions can barely manage their own affairs.
I don't hate them, I just think they are largely irrelevant in our lives. WE make this country. And WE make this city. And WE make our communities. Us. Not a bunch of elected yahoos. We are what make our communities connected and vital and full of life.
When I heard that First Night Santa Cruz, our little city-sponsored humdrum New Year's safe-and-sane entertainment, had finally collapsed in on itself in a corpulent pile, I thought, of course. Exactly.
This is our town, our celebration, our night. Let's do our own parade. A Last Night celebration. A last night of waiting for governments, institutions, or anyone else to entertain us, satisfy us, bring us security, freedom, or joy. We reclaim our streets and usher in the new year with our own celebration.
Last Night Santa Cruz tribe: http://tribes.tribe.net/lastnightdiy
We are radically self-reliant and radically interdependent. The world is ours for the making. A new world in our hearts.
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I'm still trying to get my business going, continuing to learn how to communicate better (through NVC), and looking forward to creating goals for 2006. I'm excited about this year.
What have you been up to?