Conditions are being created, don’t ask by whom, that results in passive herding of populations from what was open sky country, rural areas, to more densely populated urban areas and it seems by design.

Why is this important? Because it signifies a deliberate attempt to move people in to areas of greater concentration where they can be more easily controlled, contained and in a sense, confined.

What’s particularly eerie about this is that we think of prisons as a place with walls that keep the dangerous people away from us, not as a place that keeps society, you, me, your neighbors, your family, your friends, everyone in check and watched to be sure that no one and no group steps out of line or beyond the ever encroaching parameters of what amounts to invisible bars disguised as in the public’s best interest and that’s showing up everywhere as if George Orwell wrote while looking through the lens of a frighteningly clear crystal ball.

How is this being done? In many ways. First, by taking our eye off the ball and keeping us distracted, misinformed and misled. By breaking us up in to smaller parts and getting us to disagree with each other with such vehemence and vitriol as to disarm and immobilize us so that any threat of organized dissent is diminished. By putting a camera in every phone and on every corner and if Google has its way, on our eyewear. By turning us all in to antennas and tracking stations, all part of a larger global labyrinth and calling it smart. Smart for whom?

Why should we care? Because we did not ask for, would not choose and should not accept a purchased government run by a privatized, coporatized, plutocratic, outsourced, expatriated, monolithic, military-industrial oligarchy whose sole purpose is to own everything it sees, take everything it wants and squash anything that gets in its way including a free press and net neutrality; the lifeblood of a critical thinking society.

What can we do? Unclench our fists, lock arms, demand our destiny and expect nothing less than leadership that responds to those they purport to lead.

Where do we start? Here. Now. In our homes. In our hearts. On our streets. On the job. In the courts. In our lives. From ourselves to each other.

Let us sing it from the rooftops that if there is that thing as the one percent, then there is no power, no matter how mighty or well organized, no sword swift or sharp enough, no amount of money, no means of oppression that will silence us, hold us down, deny or defy us, once awakened and united, emboldened and reminded that we are the people. This is our country. Our world. Our air. Our water. Our planet. Our life! Reclaim it!

Howard Glasser

Kelseyville