Give NOW!

With the end of the year my email and postal mail boxes have been filled with the message:

GIVE NOW!

Greenpeace, the ACLU, and Amnesty International were the best known brands.  I think it was over two dozen other brands also writing me to tell me about what a great opportunity I have to do all kinds of things to change the world with my money.  Even the ones from groups that I do support and give money to, sound like cheap hucksterism. 

Frankly, I am stunned nowadays if I get an email from any group about anything without the word DONATE on a button. 

When you get a message that asks you to vote, protest or just be informed and is not a lead pitch for a donation, READ IT; it is from somebody real. 

We Americans are great employees.  We do lots of things, including immoral things, for those who give us a salary.  We are also able to put out a lot of self serving doubletalk in defense of those who pay us.  “Americans will do close to anything for money” is not news. 

I do donate to stuff.  But Non profit corporations and their “advocacy” is not the same as activism.  Doing what you are paid to do and saying what will make your sale is not the same as having a social conscious. 

Have we become so stupid that we think that only MONEY makes people work?  Were we paid to join Occupy?  Was Martin Luther King motivated by profits in the civil rights “industry”? Is there a Neighborhood Watch market?  We spend to much of our lives looking at advertizing produced by people who ARE only in it for the money. 

Let’s not drink the sociopathic money-is-the-only-motivator Cool-Aide. 

That is another blog I should write about the corporate side of non profit corporations.

Right now I want people to GIVE NOW. 

First, I want us to GIVE A DAMN. 

What our government does matters.  It is important.  It affects you, your families, and your communities.  We have a pretty bad government and a bad system of government.  Not caring or thinking that you can just deal with number one in your corner somewhere only makes it worse and makes you powerless when your turn comes. 

Then I suggest that we all TAKE.

We should TAKE THE TIME to know what the hell is going on around us.  City government is complicated and a lot of money goes in a circle without getting spent on us.  Take a few moments read the reviews, look at the numbers, talk to those you respect and trust.

And finally I ask that we all BE HERE NOW.

Look around and see who is doing what and ask yourself uncomfortable questions:
•    What do you think is right?
•    Who do you trust?
•    What can be done about it? 

Give a damn, take time to learn what the hell is going on and then do something real about it such as vote or go see something for yourself.  That is my New Years message.  That was my last year’s message and that is what I would suggest we do before we decide to open our wallets and spend any money to build a better world.  Otherwise, how do you know what you are buying?