In the movie What About Bob, Bill Murray (as Bob) is told by his therapist (Richard Dryfuss) to take a vacation from his problems. Bob had a lot of problems. He was afraid of germs, heights, falling, elevators, and a long list of other such things. Like Bob, America has a hell of a lot of problems too, and also like Bob, they are mostly fear-based ones. You know, fear of terrorism, socialism, universal healthcare, peace on Earth, the end of the dollar as the currency of choice around the world, the death of American exceptionalism, a free and open Internet, the right of groups to peacefully assemble in opposition to government policies, and well, for America the list is virtually endless.
As Americans, we need to take a vacation from our problems. We need a vacation from fear mongering; from tyrannical free-market economics; from the War on Terror; from the war in Afghanistan; from the war in Iraq; from having troops in Germany, Japan, Korea, and everywhere else we have un-necessary personnel; from corporately controlled news sources; from fast food; from Wal Mart; from Target; from Bank of America; from American exceptionalism; from the naive notion that humans are the only intelligent life form in billions of galaxies; from allegiance to Democrats or Republicans; from blaming immigrants for the loss of family-supporting jobs in America; from the hateful, racist rhetoric that is rising again so fast; from the War on Drugs; from sycophantic losers like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh being so damn relevant; from corporate radio; from oligarchy; from corporate coffee; and from all the other corporate products that use our dollars to enslave foreign people.
Perhaps most importantly, our government needs to take a vacation from passing some of the most ridiculous legislation in the history of this country. The Obama Administration needs to take a vacation from rolling back the limitations on corporate monopoly ownership of the media; from drone bombings; from imprisoning people in Guantanamo Bay who have no charges against them; from supporting the murderous, imperialistic and apartheid policies of Israel; from cowering to the Chinese manipulation of the world economy; from taking advice from the Clintons; from making nice with right-wing fascist ideologues; and in general from being such pussies! Take a break Mr. President from being so impressed with yourself about the volume of legislation you have been able to pass in such a short period of time. Take a fucking second and recognize that it is not more legislation we need, but better, more meaningful legislation that helps Americans rise out of the funk that the past several Presidents have put us in. Take a vacation from digging the ditch please, so we have a chance at climbing back out someday.
Obviously, I could go on like this forever, but there is a larger, underlying point here. If the American people, and even the government, just took a vacation from all the problems we have - most of which are made up problems that when paid attention to do nothing but make the rich richer - we just might finally see some change in this country. I'm not talking about a six month vacation here, I'm thinking a week people. Just a week or so when we don't buy anything but the most basic provisions; when we take time to sit down and just enjoy a book, some music, some close conversation, or even just some silence for a change; a week with no support for shitty irrelevant television programming; a week of actual civic participation; a week of getting projects done around the house; a week of volunteering at your local homeless shelter; a week of camping with the family; a week of sitting on the couch with a big fat joint in your mouth; a week of just simply doing what it is that makes you happy and contributes to the world around you in some way, even if that is just being happy for a week, as opposed to miserable and poor, or miserable and rich.
A vacation from America and all her false problems, wars, and prophets might just be the most revolutionary movement the world has ever seen. It might cause a collective moment of clarity among the people who occupy this part of the world.
Or, we could just continue down the path we are on, and prepare for the worst. It's our decision, not anyone else's.
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