Welcome.

My name is Michelle. Like many of you, I am looking around at the world and wondering exactly what's wrong, and what it is I can do about it. 12 years ago, I moved out on my own, away from my family, and for the first time, I didn't have television to watch every day. After 6 months, I realized I didn't miss it. For many years, I just never bothered hooking up cable tv in any of the places I lived. About 6 years ago, I hit a rough spot and was living in a hotel for about a year. Cable tv included. However, it was even more of a joke than I had remembered. "Reality" TV shows made me angry - I knew that it wasn't real at all. Sitcoms bored me. The news - oh, don't get me started on the news channels. But the worst was the commercials. Everything I saw on television, no matter what it was, was a painful reminder that lots of other people in the world lived in luxury while I sat in my tiny hotel room, with crack addicts for neighbors, struggling to pay the weekly rent and eat with my minimum wage job.  At that time, I was mostly concerned with getting out of my little hell. I knew that something about 9/11 wasn't right, but didn't quite know what, yet. I knew that something was wrong about the war on drugs. I knew that there was something wrong with the police. I knew that, for all intensive purposes, I was ALONE in this great big world, that no matter how hard I worked, and how kind I was to others, I would always, inevitably, end up letting the most manipulative and backstabbing people into my life - over and over again.  So I knew something was wrong with society too, because I couldn't seem to find anyone like me, people who held loyalty and friendship in high regard... People who would give you the shirt off their backs... I had always heard these folks existed, but for too many years, I was the only one I knew, and I got walked on repeatedly.

It's sad, but I didn't give up. I moved to a big city, and my ideals were becoming more realistic. I was meeting people who went to protests, co-ops, anarchist demonstrations, critical mass bike rides... I was in my element.  I could walk or ride my bike anywhere and everywhere, eat organic food, talk to like minded individuals... But after a while, I thought that living out in the woods would be better for me. Too many people in that big city. Too noisy, too hectic, sometimes too scary. I wanted to grow a garden and live off the land. I wanted to have solar panels, and have my whole life set up for self sufficiency - because if there's one thing I have learned in my life's travels - it's that I am the only person I can truly rely on in the long run. The system didn't help me when I needed a place to live, or food to eat, so there was no way I would ever get to a point in my life again where I had nothing. When I moved into this little place in the woods that my boyfriend kind of inherited, I was determined to set about getting a garden ready, and making the place self sufficient.  We are still making the transition, and it's possible that we may buy land and have to start over somewhere else, but that's fine. We have the knowledge we need and the courage and work ethic to make it happen. 

But I'm not only concerned for us. I'm concerned for you and everyone else out there. Even the jerks who would have stepped on me years ago when I was in a vulnerable place. We all have the basic human right to freedom - and it certainly seems like the folks with all the money out there would have no troubles seeing all of us lose it all to them.  This saddens me so greatly, because I know, and have always known, that if I were one of the fortunate ones, I would be using my resources to help anyone I could, regardless of whether I think they deserve it or not. No one is really in any place to judge anyone else, because at the end of the day, we are all HUMAN BEINGS. We were all born into this world to teach, love, protect, and take care of each other. But with each passing year, we all grow further and further apart. Racism, sexism, ageism... Political labels such as left, right, liberal, conservative... Societal labels we put on ourselves... It's all just so ridiculous it hurts my brain. Why? because it's all just excuses for us to feel like we're better than someone else. It's about hatred, segregation, and separation.  Forgive me if I sound too idealistic here, but WHY can't we all just accept one another's differences? We're all here, let's make the most of it instead of putting each other down all the time. Because if there is a New World Order, and people start dying in large numbers, in the streets, or in the hospitals... If disaster strikes us in the form of nature or nuke, are we seriously going to shy away from helping someone who needs us just because they are not just like us in some way? I SHOULD HOPE NOT, FOLKS!

Anyway, lately in my travels, I am seeing more of this hatred and finger pointing than ever before. Especially now that people are questioning reality, authority, government, and much much more. One side says "9/11 was an inside job!" while the other side snickers and tells them they are "conspiracy nuts". Who's right? Who's wrong? Well, that's up to you to decide, I'm not here to tell you what you should believe, but I WILL tell you to do your research before you set about having a knee-jerk reaction to something you don't agree with. The maturity levels of many people in this country are getting lower and lower. It's no coincidence that many of those folks get their news from - you guessed it - the TV! And it's not their fault, TV is supposed to be this great thing, everyone's got one. But what you don't realize is that you get sucked into this fake reality, this pixellated world that tells you exactly how to dress, what to eat, what car you should own, who your idols should be... Essentially, it's telling you what to think. And if you are one of the people who doesn't agree with all of that, you are a societal outcast. It shouldn't be that way. When it comes to politics, the TV zombies only know that come voting day, it's either Obama or McCain. But that's not true at all - those are just the candidates that the folks in charge want you to fight over. Do you look at the ingredient labels on your food? Are you mystified by what exactly 'monosodium glutamate' or 'high fructose corn syrup' is? You're not alone. But yet you'll eat it because it's "A brand name that you can trust". Guess what? It's NOT. Go ahead and do the research. Find out what they substitute in your food supply so that THEY save money! Aren't you mad that you've been deceived? Aren't you mad that you haven't had a real choice? Don't you want to investigate and see what else is out there? It seems to me that more people want some real change but they expect a president to take care of it all. No, we ALL need to take responsibility for ourselves and each other. There is no magic man in the sky that is going to make all the bad stuff go away - and I know that those of you who pray every day know that to be true deep down in your hearts. YOU are the change. I am the change. WE are the change. There is no magic wand, there is no mystical snap of the fingers. WE need to take our power back, and make life good again, for everyone.

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