scribbles @ griffonage studios

The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis. ~Dante Alighieri

The presidential election in our “United States” is days away. Given the unprecedented political and economic events of the moment, who among us could possibly be undecided in these tumultuous times?

I must admit that I am in awe when I hear people say that they truly have not yet made a decision in this election. What makes people back away from confrontation and change? And what in the world does it take to light a fire under citizens of a country which was founded on freedom of expression, the right to speak one’s mind and the liberty to act as one chooses?

There was a time in my personal life when the world seemed to be doling out a heavy dose of acid rain on my existence; the people who were operating the controls were having massive fits of schadenfraude on a regular and energetic basis at my expense. Those whom I had thought were my friends, or at least had presumed to be my associates seemed to quickly disappear as if sucked up into a vast vacuum of noncommittal safety. A kind beigeness overtook the landscape and the inertia and process of crashing and burning, a freefall from grace occurred rapidly and unkindly… while many who could have helped stood silently by hoping not be swallowed up by the demonic purveyors of cruelty themselves.

The aura of a beige landscape still evokes a deep overwhelming nausea in my mind’s memory, even with the passage of time.

And now, watching as the United States economy melts down, as people are losing their homes in droves, as savings and retirement accounts are reduced nearly to worthlessness, as my future takes on yet another quality of potential bleakness, I have to wonder why we all sit motionless and watch in horror while such monstrosities occur?

Is it because the shock and awe of a situation is simply paralyzing?

Being paralyzed under these circumstances seems a sure fire way to make oneself a target for ruin. Movement seems to be the appropriate survival response. I hope and pray that even the most sluggish will feel a call to action. Hopefully it will be considered action and not simply reaction.

Proaction. A word first made popular by the corporate world. Proaction has never been a better, more apposite word, or one which has obviously been less appropriately implemented as is evidenced by the multitude of very scary conditions now crashing into place and spiraling beyond our control.

Now that we have been non-proactive, how shall we proceed to pick up the pieces and plug the holes? And furthermore, can we? I am at a loss for an answer; so I move to look for answers that may emerge with the friction generated by nudging the static.

Wake up now all you curmudgeons! And abandon thy hiding places.
Move.
Shake.