Like suicide, it isn't worth it. There's a little blip of horror and people flailing around trying to find some explanation that makes them feel good and not responsible, and that's it. No permanent change, except for the dead person, and the killer (if they're not the same).
The BEST solution is to get together with your friends and work for politico-economic changes. The current US values are proto-fascist: conformity and mindlessness are what the rulers want. And if you won't conform, and won't stop thinking, then they want you in jail or dead. Don't give them the satisfaction. Yank the rug out from under them instead. If you're 18, VOTE! and vote against the right-wingers, the fascists. If you're not 18 yet, get together and campaign against them. Work for people who want a fair deal for everyone.
If you want tips on how to do it, get and read a book called _Rules for Radicals_, by the late Saul Alinsky. He was a major hellraiser, and had some very very good rug-yanking moves.
Don't do what the fascists want you to do. Work to dump them out on their butts, instead.
Margaret (a nerdy great-grandmother who knows things don't have to be this bad, and who remembers a time when things were at least a little better)
The only way to change it is by changing the politico-economic system to one that emphasises fairness, equality, and respect for diversity.
Right now we have in the US a proto-fascist system. No, it's true -- my dictionary (Am. Herit. Dict.,New Coll. Ed., 1975) defines it, in essence, as right-wing, government in bed with business, and generally characterised by belligerent nationalism. Sound familiar? If we want a more fair system, we have to change it politically. To do that, we have to work together in ways that the Establishment cannot counter. There are a few ways to do that.
Get and read _Rules for Radicals_ by Saul Alinsky. Alinsky, dead now, was a real hell-raiser. He believed in equality, freedom, and a fair deal for everyone. Rather like Noam Chomsky, today. Alinsky explains in the book how to keep the Establishment off-balance, and take back our political power from the people who want us to sit in front of the TV when we're not at the mall giving them our money.
Making real changes would take a lot of hard work, but it can be done. And nerds are the best ones to do it because we think, we tend to be a little independent, and we can be very persistent in working on a problem that interests us.
Slashdot Mirror
Don't do it.
Like suicide, it isn't worth it. There's a little blip of horror and people flailing around trying to find some explanation that makes them feel good and not responsible, and that's it. No permanent change, except for the dead person, and the killer (if they're not the same).
The BEST solution is to get together with your friends and work for politico-economic changes. The current US values are proto-fascist: conformity and mindlessness are what the rulers want. And if you won't conform, and won't stop thinking, then they want you in jail or dead. Don't give them the satisfaction. Yank the rug out from under them instead. If you're 18, VOTE! and vote against the right-wingers, the fascists. If you're not 18 yet, get together and campaign against them. Work for people who want a fair deal for everyone.
If you want tips on how to do it, get and read a book called _Rules for Radicals_, by the late Saul Alinsky. He was a major hellraiser, and had some very very good rug-yanking moves.
Don't do what the fascists want you to do. Work to dump them out on their butts, instead.
Margaret
(a nerdy great-grandmother who knows things
don't have to be this bad, and who remembers
a time when things were at least a little better)
The only way to change it is by changing the politico-economic system to one that emphasises fairness, equality, and respect for diversity.
Right now we have in the US a proto-fascist system. No, it's true -- my dictionary (Am. Herit. Dict.,New Coll. Ed., 1975) defines it, in essence, as right-wing, government in bed with business, and generally characterised by belligerent nationalism. Sound familiar? If we want a more fair system, we have to change it politically. To do that, we have to work together in ways that the Establishment cannot counter. There are a few ways to do that.
Get and read _Rules for Radicals_ by Saul Alinsky. Alinsky, dead now, was a real hell-raiser. He believed in equality, freedom, and a fair deal for everyone. Rather like Noam Chomsky, today. Alinsky explains in the book how to keep the Establishment off-balance, and take back our political power from the people who want us to sit in front of the TV when we're not at the mall giving them our money.
Making real changes would take a lot of hard work, but it can be done. And nerds are the best ones to do it because we think, we tend to be a little independent, and we can be very persistent in working on a problem that interests us.
Anyone interested?
Margaret