Wake Up

Are you paying attention to the world around you? Really looking at what's happening? I'm trying to, but the harsh reality is painful.

It feels like I've been in crisis for 2+ years, now, and I cannot begin to describe how horrible it is. I need things to change for the better. Then I read the news and it is *bleak*. I do the things that help me feel better and it's never enough.

No amount of sitting in my beautiful yard, gardening, playing with my animals, caring for my chickens, writing, creating, sewing, cooking, or baking is going to get me out of poverty. It won't fix the climate apocalypse. Or the pandemics. It's just...not ok.

And every time I think, "ugh I should get a job," I remember that I *have* a job. I work full time as a caregiver and homesteader. I'm raising a child, keeping chickens, growing food, caring for pets, cleaning our home, baking bread, learning to preserve food, studying herbs, learning about native plants.

I know I'm not alone. I know many of my community are struggling as well. And the root cause of all of this is fucking capitalism. Everything is for profit, not for people. It's bad, now. It can get worse.

What happens this winter when there are too many sick/injured and not enough hospital beds and staff? The healthcare system is for profit, so instead of investing in infrastructure they cut corners and now we have a shortage of healthcare workers during a year of bad flu, RSV, and newer deadlier variants of COVID.

What happens when your house is on fire but there aren't fire fighters because they're sick? What happens when the farm laborers can't harvest, the truck drivers can't drive, the mechanics are out sick? What then? What happens when major storms get worse, when the oceans rise, when the fires start burning down entire cities, when the floods wipe out infrastructure? Oh, wait. That's already happening.

In a capitalist system, none of that is addressed because everything is !for profit!, not for people. They will watch the working class die in the streets before they change their behavior and decide money isn't more important than human lives. 

We only have one planet. We only have one life. And yet we allow the rich to get richer? We would rather eat at a restaurant or go to a packed concert than acknowledge the airborne virus that is spreading and causes about 20% of those who have it to experience symptoms long term and possibly permanently? We let a small minority of people hoard the things that would help everyone?

It's not sustainable. We are not doing enough for our children. Their future depends on us acting right now. And their future depends on the end of capitalism, the end of for profit healthcare, for profit education. We HAVE to act. Find a local organization and support them. Reduce your purchases from large corporations. Buy from small businesses and individuals. Support indigenous sovereignty and landback. Demand your workplaces treat you with dignity. Unite with other workers. Find farmers and barter with them. 

I don't know how we will make it through this winter or the coming storms, but I'm certainly going to try. Build community, folks. It's our fellow workers and social networks that will likely be what saves us.