"Too many are so quick to call it quits."

[Joe Fields]

So quick to call it quits?

I call bullshit, plain and simple. I don't know about a lot of you. I suspect that there are many here fresh out of school, still with the gleam of wanting to change the world in their eyes. I know that there are many here, who are somewhat older, their hopes beginning to fade somewhat, but still not ready to give up.

Me? I'm 53 and have been fighting all my life, and I'm at the end of my rope. You can only bang your head against a brick wall for so long. Eventually, most people come to the unsettling and unsatisfying conclusion that life is just too short and precious, and that they just want to regroup, insulate themselves and their family from the rest of the world and live out the rest of their days as peacefully as possible. That is the camp that I am in, and, while everyone here is entitled to their opinion on this subject, I have to say that I feel I'm entitled to live out the rest of my days in peace, leaving the good fight to younger, more energetic activists. I resent being called a quitter.

The reality, at least the reality that I see, is that it is either going to take an act of biblical proportions, or a rising up of all the people in this country to take it back, and I don't mean like the teabaggers propose to do. Until that time comes, when people take to the streets, I'm done with activism. As I said yesterday, our activism is just insanity, effecting no change, yet we continue in vain.

So quick to call it quits? I've watched helplessly, as Reagan, two Bushes, Clinton and now Obama have systematically dismantled our government, exposing us all to greater risk, as all we try to do is just live. We are not a first world country anymore.

Please allow those of us, who have fought the good fight for sometime, to step aside with dignity and a thank you for our service.

On a more personal note, these days are a little darker for me, as I am going through a divorce, after 23 years of marriage. I have quite a period of adjustment ahead of me.

Peace out


Joe

[peace frog]

1. You speak for many on DU

who are just too disheartened, too dispirited to reply. Thank you!

[DKRC]

2. Do what you need to do

and take care of yourself.

:pals:

K&R

[izquierdista]

3. I'm with you

Same vantage point here.

[peace frog]

8. Be careful where you admit to it

I had the dubious pleasure of being reamed out on another thread for expressing similar thoughts. There is a surprising lack of compassion in some folks, for others who dare to admit their loss of faith.

Best wishes to you, hopefully we can all recoup our drive and enthusiasm at some point in the future.

[izquierdista]

9. As the post after mine so clearly points out

[KittyWampus]

4. Obama is dismantling our Government? You obviously aren't a smart fighter, no wonder

you are so worn out.

[treestar]

5. You said you've been helpless all these years

Quit, that's fine.

Republicans never do. I'll say that for them. Never heard one claim to be discouraged. Look how old some of those teabaggers were. And they are so far from their ideal.

And that explains it right there.

[Echo In Light]

6. Frankly I want the Corp/Police $tate to expand so fewer brainwashed can smugly deny the obvious

Then you might start to see actual, meaningful opposition. But not until. And 'change' sure as shit won't come from the top down, as it never has throughout history.

[Orsino]

7. Yes. Our strategies for dealing with a house fire and a stove-top grease fire must be different.

Fleeing is an appropriate response to the former, if all the fire extinguishers have been emptied, and the 911 operator hangs up on you.

I'm not sure we're to that point yet, but I won't sneer at anyone who does.

Peace be with you.