I wrote a 10-paragraph deal on Trump’s 2024 election result. But I decided I had nothing to contribute to the cacophony. Instead, I would rather fight a fight that has real value.  In my old age of 25 years, I have come to the conclusion that the only path to change is leadership by example. By exemplifying your beliefs and proving your principles practically in the way you live/operate you influence others without force, threat, or coercion. This trickles up and down into everything. Your nation, your business, your garden. If you adopt the principles of your heart and try to act in everything you do based on them, and it works, then others can follow that lead.

This feels abstract. And it runs in logical circles. How have I come to such conclusions? Through observation. I look up, and I find no one that I wish to emulate. I understand that this is simply life. Circumstance and choice is different for everyone. A friend of mine read a biography on Martin Luther King Jr and told me about it. Turns out he was an adulterer and potential sexual abuser. No one is perfect. Duh. But as a society we can work to buff out the imperfections within our communities.

Here is my point of the following ramblings and wishful thinkings: The age of the innocent consumer is over.

Hearing that, you may jump to blaming the producers of goods and government systems that allow our current system. True. I arrive in a landscape that is not my fault. I have no hand in the past, and my role will play such a small part in the future that it is practically futile. But I am in control of my life. The modern man has been poisoned. His air, his food, his water, his mind. Cry. Detest. Protest. Sure, demand change. Forgive the single mother. Forgive the disadvantaged. Forgive the child. But do not forgive yourself. This is not written as a broad scope fix to society. This is simply a fix for you reading this. 

Boohoo! coca cola runs the world. Do not buy and drink soda.
How sad! Pesticides ruin the environment. Purchase organic goods and grow your own.
Detestable! Trucks are huge. Ride a bike and get a prius*. 

Unfortunately, we live in a capitalist hellscape. But use this to your advantage! Politicians don’t adopt climate change policy, because YOU still drive a car. The FDA doesn’t ban red40, because YOU eat cheetos. You can’t drink river water, because YOU spray your weeds. It is YOUR fault. Everything YOUR FAULT. Assume the responsibility pussy. Evolution is a fact. You can adapt and learn or die. If you make better decisions and live a better life, the idiots and malicious actors cannot compete with your success. Nothing will change unless you change where you expend your time and resources.

Vote. Of course vote. Whine about Nestle on Reddit. Why not. But that isn’t enough. The information age in which we live is a call to personal action. You cannot hope for wiser taller heads to pull you from the hole we’re in. You must climb your damn self. Live by your beliefs. Sacrifice comfort. Sacrifice self. Sacrifice time and money. Prove to yourself you can live by your principles and not be dragged along by consumerism. Do it for yourself, and it will show others that it is not only possible but rewarding. 

Ignorance is no longer an excuse to be taken advantage of. The idea of the innocent consumer is over. Yes, companies are evil. Yes, the government has failed to protect us. But that will not change. You, individually can.
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If I had the power, I would try to start the following societal trends. 

1.) Boomers are going to die soon. They are fat, unhealthy, and swamped by a health care system that will bleed them like vampires until they are enthralled or out of blood. Now that I have insulted them. I must beg them. Your dragon’s hoard that you have clutched as monument to your life in a time of disgusting excess, please, do not sell it to the highest bidder. The largest wealth transfer in American history is about to take place. Housing, land, assets, businesses, farms, everything, is at stake. Your children are as greedy as you. Pass it down to them. Give charity for the first time in your life. Do not take what you can into the grave. I’m being a dramatic asshole. Let me just ask, when it comes time. We, the younger generation beg you, do not sell all your shit to corporations. Sell your home to a young family, even at a loss. Give your small business to a young buck entrepreneur instead of giving it up to some chain. Do what you can to prevent the powerful from growing more so. Pass the torch with dignity, do not snuff out the hope for a free world for money.

2.) Stay where you were born. I understood immediately that many places are unsafe. The world is a cruel place. I am not from a glamorous city in America. I have the world open to me. But I feel an obligation to be here and be part of the community. Steering it in my small part to somewhere better. I did leave for opportunity, but I knew I would return better educated and better able to help my family and friends here. I know not everyone has the ability and opportunity to contribute to a place that doesn’t love them. I know you may not belong where you are. But you should strive to create your place as you want it. Don’t take this to its eventual extreme. Am I anti-immigration? Not in the slightest. But bad places stay bad when good people leave. You have an obligation to the patch of earth that cosmic lottery placed you on. If everyone tried to improve their own community, how much more pleasant would the world be?

3.) Shop less and shop local. You over consume. I don’t care who you are. And you buy cheap shit from who knows where, made by who knows which slave like labor force. You need not but a roof, a few calories, and those you love. Stop buying Christmas decorations. Make them! Find them! Quit buying some plastic crap blow up skeleton on Halloween, and clothing costumes so poorly made you could only wear them once anyway. So wasteful. And nothing special is bought this way. Quit giving money to Olive Garden, when there’s a local Italian restaurant that serves food someone gives a shit about. Keep the money in your community by buying from within it. Make do. Cheaper is not better. If there is a local option, or a self-sufficient option. Take it. Not saying you can’t indulge in modern products, but do so sparingly! Your life cannot be defined by the accumulation of items.

These three changes would revolutionize our political system just by your participation in it. Change isn’t always just votes and acts of congress. Its how you choose to spend your time and resources. You aren’t permitted to play dumb any more. Live well and others will join you.

*I drive a truck.