Activated
I can't sit on my thoughts any longer.
I’ve been a substack person for a while now. I’ve also been a lurker and have rarely posted anything. I know my reach is limited, but snarky comments on instagram and threads isn’t doing it for me anymore. I need to do some long-form content. I’ve been activated.
This post will be the first of a new type of post from me: I’ll be talking about what is wrong in the world, directly and with solutions. The problems I want to tackle right now are:
Universal Inequality
Social Injustice
The Malaise
Inaction
To an Equal Footing
It is no exaggeration right now to say the world in general and America as a microcosm are unequal. In fact to say so is so banal, that most people will skip this section entirely. Since those people are already gone, I will be brief for the few of you who remain. Also, I will limit my discussion to my own experience though
I encourage readers to help me extend my scope with their own.
The distribution of wealth in America is a joke. We’ve created a stratified society that minimizes the ability of our community members to change strata. If you are born to privilege you will almost certainly live a life of privilege. If you were born without those privileges, you will struggle for your whole life to attain them.
And who has privilege?
Those who go about their lives without clear and present danger
Those who are represented
Those whose voice is heard
Those who have enough to get by
Those who the systems deign to bless with a safety net
Those whose ancestors enjoyed privilege
To Justice
Without equality, there can be no justice. Without representation there can be no justice. Without a voice that can be heard, there can be no justice.
Society has deemed that some are more deserving of justice than others. The straight-cis-white-educated-blueblood-Christian man has been set on top with all others in some sort of hierarchy below him, based on diversions from that model. To him, justice bends over to see that he is taken care of from cradle to grave with as little discomfort as possible, no matter how many right of the other are trampled upon.
Addressing the Malaise
Everyone can see these problems—everyone knows something is wrong. Those with privilege live in fear of losing it (however unlikely that is) because they know how poorly those without are treated. Those without privilege yield, knowing that’s just how things are. Those somewhere in the middle can feel the injustice and inequality but tacitly accept it rather than risk personal discomfort or the possibility of making things worse.
But now, things are bad enough that personal discomfort is a daily reality for all but the very most privileged, who keep everyone else blaming each other rather than uniting to level the field.
A Call to Action
This is the time for action, for the ball is still in motion.
This is the time to look for solutions as a united force. If the systems we upheld and believed in are unable to provide sustenance, safety, and providence then it has become time to withdraw our consent and support from those systems and find solidarity together in forming a more perfect system.
In brief I propose,
a universal basic income provided to all—with no means testing—sufficient to provide for sustenance, a safe and secure place to live, and full access to all medical capacities available.
price controls and financial regulation in place to ensure the amount of the universal income is sufficient to afford those benefits.
universal suffrage and equal and apportionate representation in government at all levels.
an end to institutionalized violence and severe consequences for actions that jeopardize the safety, beneficence, and liberty of others—justified or otherwise.
I will further explore these issues and more in future posts
.