We TALK the TALK, but why dont we WALK the WALK?

Anyone with half a brain and an internet connection can come to ATS and share their opinions about anything. And many here even claim to know it all, to know what is wrong and what is right. One criticising the other. Fingers are pointed many ways. And it doesn't matter how different we think or what we believe in, there is a common denonimator with some, if not most of us. We want to change things.

We inform ourselves, we see things happening that we believe are wrong, we talk to each it other and scream "THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!". But we do nothing about it, do we? Here, on ATS, we have all the answers, or all the motivation, but once we walk away from the computer nothing gets done about it.

So, I come here to ask you, individually, be honest with yourself and with the ATS community and try to find the answer. What is stopping you from ACTING? Why don't you act?

It is only fair that I start. Here are my reasons:

1) I wouldn't know where to start
2) I can get people to listen to me, since I am a good communicator, but I don't believe they would stop what they are doing to join me in any of those actions I think are right, like, say, fighting against political corruption
3) I work 8 to 6 and convince myself I only have time to worry about it, but no time to act on it
4) I have this gut feeling that if I try to fight TPTB, I would be putting my family in danger and in the end, it would all be for nothing
5) The "enemy" has power, money and is part of an organised structure that works on his favor, so I would already start in disadvantage. The odds are against me.

What about you?

reply to post by henriquefd


No matter where you try to walk there is a sheepdog waiting to nip your ankles and force you back into the herd.
Until our free thoughts, and free speech can become free actions..we wait on the sidelines, and spread the word.
An uprising takes time, and careful planning, and most of all, strength in numbers.
We need more numbers.

[edit on 25-5-2010 by AccessDenied]

I'll pick up on the itemized list idea

1) I would be acting alone without support and only become another statistic in a bag in the freezer

2) Not everyone is on the same page as me, they would view my actions/stances as contrary to their own resulting in item 1

3) I have a life to live don't feel like living in poverty and fear running from law enforcement for one reason or another.

4) see number 1

having a leader to pull us all together would be nice
i think the numbers to make it happen are there

we just need someone with a little popularity and leadership to join up
with a couple of well defined goals

the best way is if we could get a whole town or state to not go to work for a couple days kind of a cease work stop production kind of thing it would have to be dealt with quick it would be worse than war

the only way to hurt the elite is there pocket book there is nothing they care about more

For me personally these are the reasons

1)I am weak, I don't have the mental strength to stand up effectively to the tyranny of the state. I cannot even stand up to the tyranny of my own mind!

2)I am Ignorant, I know so little of the world, I cannot live with certainty, directly attempt to meddle with human history (no matter how small there actual effect).

3)I am stupid, I know virtually nothing compared to what I am capable of knowing, my knowledge is a mere shadow of my actual capability.

4)I am a fool, I lack the internal strength to be able take a true interest in the lives of those that are even my own friends.

5)I am blind, both to my own emotions but also the wonder of the world around me.


But I have thought a lot on this for most of my life and over the past year or so I have concluded, it is my destiny (weather self determined or pre written I am unsure) to try to overcome these flaws and change the world (not that I believe that its likely I'll necessarily succeed).

1) No money. I'm on a fixed income (and brother, do I feel FIXED).

2) I'd be acting alone. Not only that, but one person cannot do all that'd be required to repair the damage the govt has done.

3) On the up side, what family I DO have? They can be terrorized by the Gubmint.

4) No money.

5) Too many cowards out there, not enough strong minded people.

reply to post by henriquefd


I try as hard as I can on as many levels as I can manage.

I'm a 'Nam vet, Native American, with a highly intelligent but physically disabled brother.

I grow for him (legally, medical), care for him, and freely share what I grow with those who need it. I grow a veggie garden and share that.

This last semester I've been babysitting two young girls (2 & 3 years old, nearly) while their mother attends college. She pays me what she can, and I teach them their words. They really like the Brainy Baby series, and are beginning to repeat the words they hear on it.

I have been called a walking encyclopedia by many of my friends, they frequently come to me for counsel and advice, or for an explanation of something they might have seen or heard on the news. I share my knowledge as freely as I share other things.

I call my congresscritters on a regular basis and give them my opinions, demands, or whatever heads-up I feel necessary. I try to let them know that the public isn't as stupid or uninformed as some would like to think we are. I just called today to warn of the possibility that BP is feeding us a loop in place of a supposedly live feed.

If someone asks for a buck and I only have 10, I'll give him one. If anyone has the nerve to ask, I'll share what I can. If I see something offered for free or cheap online that one of my friends can use I bring it to their attention.

I think.

Hard.

And share my thoughts with those who might find them useful.

One of those thoughts is that as a vet, a blooded warrior, one of the few rights and privileges (and responsibilities) that status bestows is the right to speak up and interfere in bad crap. If I see a child misbehaving in a public place I will intervene to assist the parent, sometimes with merely a look or a smile, sometimes with a quiet word. If I see adult misbehavior I sometimes choose to deal with that, too. I don't tolerate fighting in public, most definitely not physically and rarely verbally either. I've stopped a bar robbery, helped make at least one union less corrupt, and chilled a lot of bad situations by firmly projecting my spirit. It's a matter of both showing and demanding respect.

A long time ago when I was younger and more ignorant than I am now, I spoke in a group about my anger at the Americans for not allowing me to live as an Apache. A fellow named White Bear pointed out that if I truly wanted to live as an Apache, no power on earth could prevent me. I might have to pay a high price for doing so, but it would be worth it. It was an epiphany for me, and I've never looked back. Thank you, White Bear. In the time since I have shaped my life and spirit remembering what I was taught when I was little, following the old ways. I've paid prices, sometimes high for doing so, but mostly it's been worth it.

You can't change the world overnight, but you can change it if you are patient and equip yourself with steady courage. You can change it by thinking through things before speaking or doing and working to prevent yourself from harming others by word or deed, and turning the impulse to harm into helping instead. You change it locally both in time and space. I'm helping those two little girls in self-defense: any child I can help teach to be a good person is one fewer idiot I'll have to deal with later.

It takes, has taken years, but I think I've made a few worthwhile differences here and there. Some people live better lives because theirs intersected mine. Some have harmed fewer for the same reason.

As far as the bigger picture goes, I stay informed, and keep alert for opportunities to help make a change. Those are rare and fleeting, with a low success rate, but if you plan on being a pebble or a butterfly to invoke the avalanche or hurricane (and have a prayer of surviving the experience) you absolutely have to pay attention rather constantly.

At least it gives you perspective.

Why do people think it is so hard to get involved in life.
If you truley believe in doing the right thing "DO IT!"
It takes little time and little thought, and if is new to you start small.
Example , in heavy traffic let someone enter the road ahead of you, slow down and stop for pedestrians, try doing it everyday. "I DO"

reply to post by henriquefd


I guess it depends on the talk.

I study and practice metaphysics. I have taught many meditation classes, seminars and I have had private students for free. I lost a lot of money doing this because I was seeking the experience of teaching not money.

I believe in community and I volunteer approximately 60 hours a year.

I am a "conspiracy theorist", for lack of a better term, and I openly converse with those willing to listen or debate. I willingly admit when I do not have an answer or I cannot oppose a viewpoint. I share information with those who are blind to it. I support other voices of dissent.

It sounds like you are asking why more people are not causing a movement to change things. There is a huge movement and the majority of them (see Ron Paul, 911-Truth, Tea Party, Libertarians, etc.) are manipulated by Media ridicule and distorted reporting. A lot of us are active in "The Movement" but we are not seen by each other.

The louder we yell, the more they ridicule us.
The longer we are here the more they try to downplay us.
The more order we restore the more they claim we cause chaos and are a threat.

We are winning, the people are coming together, the establishment is scared. Don't stop! Don't give up! Keep Talking! Keep sharing! The few will soon be the many and then we can get things back to order.

I think everyone who posts on ATS is 'walking the walk'.

We are all networking. Finding like-minded individuals, sharing commons theories, and opinions. But we are also learning alternate takes on a wide variety of those same topics.

And what do some of us do after we've logged off and re-entered the realm of the living? We talk about it. We share with other people what we've learned here.

See, networking is an amazing thing. Here we chat with the international community. In our daily life, we talk to friends, neighbors, anyone who will listen and not chalk it up to us being lunatics.

And those people (both here and in your daily life) will tell others. And they will tell others.

There won't be a leader to step up until it becomes fashionable.

But does it really matter?

After all, WE are Legion.

I have a feeling that many people that have been talking the talk have purchased the "shoes" to walk the walk, but are waiting for a tipping point when the shoes get put on en masse and we all take a stroll down asskickin' lane. Until then, the hope is that the change we need (not the Obama brand of change) can be brought about peacefully with voting and demonstrating, and hoping the newly elected people keep their word.

That's the HOPE, anyway. It's a slow process.

reply to post by apacheman


If I was Christian I would say god bless you,

but as an atheist, I'll simply say if you truly live like that then I have tremendous respect for you

reply to post by monkofmimir


If you were a Christian, I might check my wallet when you did.

Like I said, I follow the old ways...I prefer Usen to the new guy.

But thanks.

Every time you turn the other cheek you walk the walk
Meditation is walking the walk.
Why?
Because love inside you , is worth more than hate coming into you.
Love and love , then you are walking the walk
And almost no one yet has done it.