sos

I feel that maybe I should better explain my need to remain at home, isolated, as the election results rolled in this past Tuesday.  For one thing, I was exhausted.  This election cycle essentially began the day Barack Obama was voted in the first time in 2008.  But, too, I knew that I could not watch folks be jubilant over the national elections, especially if their involvement in politics is perfunctory.  An Obama win is good, but it only means our work has doubled instead of sextupled.  It meant that a little over half the nation aren't completely bonkers. We were able to hold the line and maintain the status quo, nationally.

As a state, Arkansas has taken several huge steps backward.  In my view, we had no reason to celebrate.  I'm sure no one wants to hear that, but hear this:  if you live here, it will affect you.  If you consider yourself an Arkansan, here is our reality, properly summed up by ATM:

Here's things you can bet [our legislature will] try to pass: anti "voter fraud" measure like i.d. requirements etc., put anti-gay stuff right in the damn constitution, block Medicaid expansion and other "Obamacare" measures thus leaving our already poor folks even worse off, cut environmental protections on the state/local level to ease the burden on the poor poor rich developers, and the list goes on! It's gonna be a nightmare.  And if the Gov. vetoes the worst of the measures, they know they can just override it! 

I really hope that my family, friends, peers, and acquaintances pay attention because we've got, no shit, a lot of work to do.  Maybe challenge yourself to be 10% more political than you already are.

A good way to start, honestly, is by paying better attention, taking action when you are able, and being helpful to someone in need.  Just a few days ago, Occupy Wall Street launched Rolling Jubilee.

From howtosharpenpencils:

Now OWS is launching the ROLLING JUBILEE, a program that has been in development for months. OWS is going to start buying distressed debt (medical bills, student loans, etc.) in order to forgive it. As a test run, we spent $500, which bought $14,000 of distressed debt. We then ERASED THAT DEBT. (If you’re a debt broker, once you own someone’s debt you can do whatever you want with it — traditionally, you hound debtors to their grave trying to collect. We’re playing a different game. A MORE AWESOME GAME.)

This is a simple, powerful way to help folks in need — to free them from heavy debt loads so they can focus on being productive, happy and healthy. As you can see from our test run, the return on investment approaches 30:1. That’s a crazy bargain!

Now, after many consultations with attorneys, the IRS, and our moles in the debt-brokerage world, we are ready to take the Rolling Jubilee program LIVE and NATIONWIDE, buying debt in communities that have been struggling during the recession.

I'm so blown away by this action. This is people taking care of other people in a meaningful way.  Compassion and forgiveness.  Not the easiest thing to do, at times. I'm just...totally fucking impressed is what.  Please give. Please. I just donated $11, which is not a lot, but it appears that a little goes a long way.  Too, I hope that this helps ease some doubts that one may've had about the Occupy Wall Street movement.  From what I've read and heard from firsthand accounts, Occupy Sandy, an offshoot of OWS, has been and is more effective than FEMA and faster than the Red Cross.  Somehow, they've simplified helping people directly.