Here I go again, analyzing and philosophizing, when I should be out sitting in the midday sun. This little outburst began as a response to one of our writers, Robin Buckallew. In her most recent article, which I just posted, she questions whether or not the environmentalists are making a measurable difference, and why we as individuals haven't made greater strides forward in changing our own outlook and habits towards our environment and our world. She makes the case that environmentalists just aren't getting through to that mythical populous we like to call "Mainstream America". In her own words, "The environmental scientists persist in discussing such abstruse concepts as CAFÉ standards, pollutant loadings, maximum contaminant levels, and parts per million."
She's absolutely right. Most of America wants a better planet, we want to conserve our resources, but very few of us in this attention deficit world are equipped to hear the usual technical arguments that most spokespeople for the environment espouse. We've been raised to view everything in three minute music videos (punctuated by images that last no more than a couple of seconds each), 30 second commercials, and 10 second sound bites. You want me to pay attention for longer than 3 minutes, concentrate on something serious, and actually follow through with some positive action? 7-Up Yours.
This attitude extends far beyond the confines of environmental issues. As you can tell, my frustration of late has been increasing as well. Here's my biggest complaint: I can research and write a serious, thoughtful piece, one that I think has really meaning, and get little or no feedback, and then get pissed off and spout off sarcastically about something that I consider trivial and inconsequential, and it gets reprinted throughout cyberspace and discussed at length by every faulking person who has a computer. American Idol and Blockbuster? Hell yeah, let's talk about that. Politics, the environment, and the demise of our democratic society? Don't wanna hear it.
Truthfully, I've learned to "pander to the masses", so to speak, by injecting healthy doses of sarcasm, using wacky catchphrases (look at some of my past titles, and you'll see what I mean), and let's face it, dumbing down just a little to compensate for our short attention spans. Plus, it helps to be "timely", and write about the topic of the week.....it sucks, but I'm trying to bring people here by looking at everyday issues a little differently, and then hoping that they'll stay to read the important stuff. When I write about American Idol, I'm really using that as bait to point out just how insane it is that we're so obsessed with pop culture, and hopefully, make a couple of people recognize that there's more to life than (dare I say it?) mindless escapism.
One other point, and this one belongs in the "sad but true" category. I'm also learning that people want an extreme viewpoint.....either laced with biting humor, or tinged with over-the-top anger. I joked recently that it was nice to see people enjoy my nervous breakdowns, but in reality, it's no laughing matter. For some bizarre reason, they do respond to that, maybe it's because they feel just as frustrated and helpless as we do sometimes. They don't want to see the well-adjusted guy with the rational, well-thought out argument about how to make the world a better place to live in, they want to see the guy who twists off and climbs the 18-story crane, and yells incoherently at passersby.
That said, for all of you out there trying to make a difference in this faulked-up world, let me offer some unsolicited advice (my specialty.....as most of you know by now). First of all, do not give up, I repeat, DO NOT GIVE UP. We need to know what you're telling us, whether we want to hear it or not. Even when it seems as if you're being ignored, do what I do: consider the alternative. Hmmmm......give up and let the "other side" win, hands down, without a fight. Nope, can't let that happen. So what if I'm not reaching every single person in the universe? All I have to do is reach the right people, those who can carry the fight to the next level, and hope that they reach those who can carry it yet further, and so on and so on. I like to think of the truth as the Olympic torch, all each one of us has to do is carry it until we can't carry it any further, and trust that the next person will do the same. It's as simple as that.
Simplify the message if necessary, throw in a few one-liners to get their attention, do a little song and dance routine while you spoon feed them the harsh realities if that's what it takes, but DO NOT GIVE UP! Is anyone really listening? is our message getting through? Who the hell knows? All we can do is put it out there, speak the faulking truth, and hope it does some good. I can't tell you for certain that we are doing any good, but I do know this: if we don't balance out the rhetoric from the right, then we're screwed. Plain and simple.
What if you give up, and the guy next to you (that would be me, in this case), gets discouraged and decides to give up as well. After all, what good am I doing here anyway? Why shouldn't I sit in my big overstuffed leather recliner with my remote control and watch one of the 250 channels that some satellite circling our insignificant little planet is beaming down to my 72-inch flat screen TV? Why? Because if I do, then the person next to me might do the same thing, and the person next to him might give up as well, and then the next thing you know, the commies are knocking at your front door (sorry, the updated version of that should be "the radical Muslim extremists are knocking at your front door").
So, the next time you feel like giving up, do this instead. Go take a break for awhile. Do something shallow and mindless, just like the people who every one of you complain about, and maybe you'll understand it from their perspective a little more clearly. Who knows? Maybe they're just taking a break too, and regrouping so that they can rejoin the fray, rested and rejuvenated. Mindless entertainment has its place, without it, we'd all go insane from the constant pressure and the endless negativity that can so easily consume every one of us at any given time. We are all just an emotional breakdown away from being the guy on the crane.
And that, my fellow activists, is the Faulking Truth.
(Editor's note: This is an entry from The Faulking Truth blog, ingeniously entitled "Blogfest 2005". If you'd like to waste more of your valuable time blogging, go to www.faulkingtruth.com/blog/ )
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Blogfest 2005 Archives:
Keep on Blogging in The Free World (Mark Faulk, Sep 21, 2004)
"It's the Issues, Stupid" (Mark Faulk, Sep 21, 2004)
The Trust Factor......mmmmmm, donuts (Mark Faulk, Sep 30, 2004)
The Vice-Presidential Debate Primer (Mark Faulk, Oct 5, 2004)
Is Bush a girly-man? (Mark Faulk, Oct 7, 2004)
Kids! Time to come in and get dressed for war (Mark Faulk, Nov 1, 2004)
"I Think We're all Bozos on this Bus" and "Dude, Where's My Bong?" (Mark Faulk, Nov 5, 2004)
"We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!" and "The Ministry of Truth Strikes Again" (Mark Faulk, Nov 9, 2004)
Vacation....Had to get away (Mark Faulk, Nov 11, 2004)
A 'Tribute' to Steve Martin (Mark Faulk, Nov 14, 2004)
How Long Can You Tread Water? (Mark Faulk, Nov 17, 2004)
"Give the People What They Want" (Mark Faulk, Nov 22, 2004)
Home on the Range..... (Mark Faulk, Nov 27, 2004)
Coping With Loss: How to Deal With the 2004 Election (Mark Faulk, Dec 7, 2004)
Peace Kills (Mark Faulk, Dec 21, 2004)
A Tale of Two Psychos (Mark Faulk, Dec 27, 2004)
Hurtling Headlong Through the Blogosphere (Mark Faulk, Jan 4, 2005)
The Faulking Truth Gone Wild (Mark Faulk, Jan 6, 2005)
Palestinians Elect Abba by Wide Margin (Mark Faulk, Jan 9, 2005)
"Look everybody, we've found WMDRPAs!" and "Supporting the Inauguration Day Boycott.....Sort of" (Mark Faulk, Jan 12, 2005)
Confessions of.....a Christian (Mark Faulk, Jan 18, 2005)
Seven Degrees of George W. Bush (Mark Faulk, Jan 20, 2005)
Dear IRS...... (Mark Faulk, Jan 25, 2005)
What Democracy Means to Me (Johnny Carson, Feb 5, 2005)
"I love you...no, really, I do...." and "Have a Crappy... I Mean... Happy Valentine's Day" (Mark Faulk and Kelsey Renee Faulk, Feb 14, 2005)
"THE END OF BLOCKBUSTER!" (Mark Faulk, Feb 19, 2005)
The Poor get Poorer..... (Mark Faulk, Mar 8, 2005)
Refinancing your home the 'hard' way..... (Mark Faulk, Mar 19, 2005)
A Fall From Grace - How Bush is Alienating Mainstream America (Mark Faulk, Mar 26, 2005)
I'm not schizophrenic....and neither am I (Mark Faulk, Mar 31, 2005)
Pope Dies of old Age (Mark Faulk, Apr 4, 2005)
America to Dateline: Tell the Truth Now! (Mark Faulk, Apr 7, 2005)
How I Spent my Weekend (Russell Tharp, Apr 18, 2005)
How Many Lesbians Does it Take to Screw in a Lightbulb? (Mark Faulk, Apr 27, 2005)
Four Dead in Ohio (Mark Faulk, May 4, 2005)
Some Mother's Son (Mark Faulk, May 8, 2005)
"lalalalalalalala.....I can't hear you!" (Mark Faulk, May 22, 2005)
The Man on the Crane (Mark Faulk, May 28, 2005)
NOW Do You Feel Secure on the Internet? (Mark Faulk, Jun 1, 2005)
Taking the Faulking Truth to the Airwaves (Mark Faulk, Jun 17, 2005)
Wall Street: Destroying the Evidence (Mark Faulk, Jun 21, 2005)
And now....Page two (Mark Faulk, Jul 1, 2005)
Help Wanted- President Seeks New Brain (Mark Faulk, Jul 11, 2005)
Bush Picks "French Fry Judge" for Supreme Court (Mark Faulk, Jul 19, 2005)
Praying for a Miracle (Mark Faulk, Jul 23, 2005)
Send in the Clowns (Mark Faulk, Jul 28, 2005)
"What's Wrong With This Picture?" or "Gas Prices Set Record High.....Win A Free Hummer!" (Mark Faulk, Aug 15, 2005)
Pat Robertson's Case for the Assassination of President Bush.....I mean, Hugo Chavez (Mark Faulk, Aug 23, 2005)
The Faulking Truth...in (Black) and (White) (Mark Faulk, Aug 25, 2005)
They're Trying to Wash Us Away.... (Mark Faulk, Aug 31, 2005)
"Not Acceptable" (Mark Faulk, Sep 2, 2005)
And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch (Laughter.) (Mark Faulk, Sep 6, 2005)
Who Says FEMA Can't Relate to Blacks, Yo? (Mark Faulk, Sep 15, 2005)
Faulking Truth to Senator Shelby: PUT THE DAMN FIRE OUT! (Mark Faulk, Sep 21, 2005)
George Talks to God..... (Mark Faulk, Oct 8, 2005)
For the Greater Good..... (Mark Faulk, Oct 27, 2005)
Coalition....What Coalition? (Mark Faulk, Nov 21, 2005)
Confessions of a White Gentile (Mark Faulk, Dec 4, 2005)
The World Just Got A Little Less Funny (Mark Faulk, Dec 10, 2005)
MySpace is the Devil (Mark Faulk, Dec 18, 2005)
Desecrating Christmas (Mark Faulk, Dec 29, 2005)
Srecna Nova Godina....od tim Faulking Truth (Mark Faulk, Jan 1, 2006)
On Kurt Vonnegut..... (Mark Faulk, Jan 8, 2006)
Taking it to the Streets (Mark Faulk, Jan 14, 2006)
Desecrating History (Mike Bohling, Feb 4, 2006)
Congress Uses "C Word" (Mark Faulk, Mar 13, 2006)
Conspiracy....or Conspiracy Nuts? (Mark Faulk, Mar 18, 2006)
Roddy Boyd: Choosing up Sides (Mark Faulk, Mar 28, 2006)
Emotional Casualties of War (Mark Faulk, Apr 28, 2006)
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