Why Politics is Secondary. Or Less.

Photo by Samantha Sophia on Unsplash

We are in a post-political age. Now what matters is movements.

I donated monthly, and canvassed exhaustively in a failed attempt to elect Kamala Harris— motivated largely by a desire to defeat Trump.

So why, less than a month later, am I diminishing the significance of politics?

There IS A Difference Between the Parties, BUT…

I voted for Harris because she is (mostly) a kind person and Trump is (mostly) a cruel one. I value kindness and have no use for cruelty.

Some bashed Harris because she was part of the Biden administration which has been supporting Israel as that country brutalizes and kills Gazans. Now, in the United States, the VP does not make policy. The VP has basically one power-to vote in the Senate when there’s a tie.

Nonetheless, she was part of the administration that’s been supporting Israel. She, and every single administration in history since Israel’s creation, supported Israel. Harris did nothing different than every other politician who got to the executive branch.

Including Trump. He loves Netanyahu and who objected to his policies only because, according to Trump, the Israeli Prime Minister wasn’t killing Gazans fast enough.

Those who call themselves Pro-Palestinian have “won.” The guy who wants Gazans to die faster, and who instituted a Muslim ban at the start of his previous administration, is coming to power again.

I didn’t vote for Harris because of her policy on Gaza. Both candidates were largely the same on this. I voted for her for her differences with Trump, and because Trump is significantly crueler than Harris.

But politics is not that important because no administration will help us with the two most critical issues in the world today:

1. The abuse of the Earth which is now culminating in climate collapse and
2. The fact that literally billions of people, in servitude to elites, are wasting their lives in senseless labor and, as a consequence, destroying the climate and their own children’s future.

The first is a widely recognized problem. Considerable effort has been made to ensure that the current and ongoing CO2 emissions continue with the inevitable catastrophic results.

The second issue is invisible. It’s like water for fish. We don’t see it. We have been told all sorts of lies about work—that it builds character, gives us meaning, creates wealth, and that it’s the road to success. These lies keep people passively serving elites everywhere—plutocrats, dictators, communists, whoever.

The entire world of elites passionately support the glorification of work-something that they never do.

People don’t ask, why do I spend the best hours, days, years, decades of my short precious life in a cubicle or on a factory floor? Is that necessary? Is that the best use of my time?

We do all this for money, for “the economy” and because in this civilization, it’s nearly impossible to live without engaging in this ridiculous servitude. What should WE do? WE should change the civilization because it’s a dead end, it’s doomed, it’s destroying life for humans and other species. We should end it because it’s astoundingly immoral.

It begins by talking about this situation. WE need to do that. WE need to decide what’s important, and control our conversation and ignore the bullcrap that’s being elevated by a self-centered and clueless elite.

What’s important? Our planet and the quality of life for people and other animals. Not politics. Not celebrities. Not the sound byte of the day.

The change won’t come from politicians or businessmen. They don’t listen to us, they aren’t moved by our petitions or votes or protests. They will keep demanding that we extract oil, that we work for them every day, that we are desperate and subservient, living paycheck to paycheck.

They want us passive and weak and afraid and, ideally, fighting with each other.

The Coming Change

That’s coming to an end. We are rediscovering people power. And it’s not what you think. It’s not about violence (which is both morally wrong and ineffective). It’s not about persuading people in power to change. (They won’t.) It’s not about working through the system in any country. (The systems are designed to protect elites against you.)

People power is THE POWER TO DO THINGS. You must think about, remember, and remind others: the “powerful people” don’t do a damn thing. They get YOU to do everything for them.

Changing the world starts with our slow, subtle withdrawal of our cooperation. We do this in stages. As we begin slowing and then ending our labor on behalf of elites, we build alternative structures so we can provide the necessities for ourselves and others—outside of the systems that are enslaving us and ruining the Earth.

We create co-ops and vegetable gardens in place of useless lawns. We work with doctors and medical experts to provide healthcare-for free because we care about people, not profit. We stop—I mean STOP—producing yachts and private jets and all sorts of luxurious toys for undeserving elites.

We start calling in sick for work, slow down our work, “make mistakes’ and subtly weaken and end work as we know it. We shift the entire world from a dead end system of competition to a life-affirming system of cooperation.

From hatred to love. From greed to generosity. From violence to peace. From cruelty to benevolence.

What kind of world do YOU want to live in? What kind of world do you want for your children? What kind of world do you want for EVERYONE

Join us as we build this new, better world. Read about the movement at WeAreSaners.org. Sign up at WeAreSaners.org/join.