A month ago, I decided to take a break from writing about anything overtly political. I’m glad I did, as the last few weeks have allowed me to step away from the shrill pitch and tenor of our national debate about which candidate (s) is less tainted than the others. Today, I’ll covertly brush up alongside the topic, albeit briefly.

Be careful where you place your deck chair.

Whenever you frame things in an either/or paradigm, you severely limit possibilities for change. Merely mentioning “hope and change” won’t alter a thing, unless you open up a dialogue vastly different that the current one centered on maintaining the American status quo. To do so would require all of us (not just the “other side”) to dramatically reorient how we think and ultimately, how we live. No one (save for a few) are willing to do this. Instead, we’re left with re-arranging deck chairs, to reference one of my favorite writers/bloggers, John Michael Greer. I’d highly recommend this week’s post, about merely “rearranging the deck chairs,” once more. Better, bookmark The Archdruid Report, and spend some time working your way back through what I consider some of the most thoughtful writing out there on the interwebs, about our present malaise.

One thing that really resonated with me was when Greer touched on (in the comments section, no less) how rare it is these days to meet those “old-fashioned liberals of the pro-civil rights, pro-grassroots organization, ‘let’s roll up our sleeves together and make America a better place’ sort.” I’d concur.

Part of that is probably the fault of Mark Zuckerberg, with the rest of us shouldering our own share of the blame. Mere likes without action are never going to move the needle and stop our downward drift.

Neither will voting for four more years of what we’ve had for the past eight, or choosing a man who merely promises greatness, when most of our national vitality has been sapped by inaction and believing in quick fixes. There are no political revolutions on the horizon.