Comfortably numb

Yes, you read that title correctly. I referenced Pink Floyd, a band I hate almost as much as I hate the Beatles. Apparently my hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Which brings me to the greater good. Or more appropriately, the greater evil that stands in the way of the greater good. Now I've ranted ad nauseum about what I perceive to be the ills plaguing our society. Now I'd like to turn my focus to those smack dab in the middle of it all. The Apathetic. The Fence-Sitters, as it were.

Some of them are totally unaware of their complete detachment from even their own actions. Others revel in their "spectatorship." And that's what I don't understand.

Now I wasn't always a semi-professional dissenter. And I don't think I'd qualify for the AA League now (sports reference, hypocrisy #2). However, the more I read, watch, learn and consume, I can't help but be infuriated. Sure, it's easy to hate the evildoers. But I'm becoming increasingly intolerant of the aforementioned Apathetic Masses.

Worse still, many of them are my friends...close friends. I don't regard them as bad people. I don't pity them. I don't feel morally superior because I read a couple of Chomsky's books. I feel...bah! I'm sure what I feel. Agitated? Anxious to get them to the same information that has my blood boiling?

People always warn against talking religion or politics. Inevitably the discussion ends in heated debate and name-calling. It makes me fear my friends to a certain extent. What if one of them voted for BushCo? What if one of them is a homophobe? Racist? Chevy owner?!

To a certain degree, I want to remain blissfully ignorant--comfortably numb, to revisit--to my friends' socio-political beliefs.

I am no stranger to blurting out an opinion whether or not it was solicited. I'll tell you how it is...or at least, how it is in my little Leftist, people-over-profit world. Most often, my friends remain silent. Or roll their eyes in that "there he goes again...let's have another shot!" kind of way.

I feel bad for my bandmates. Or do I? I write the lyrics. And I write them about things that piss me off...globalization, subjugation, racism. What if they're not buying it? After all, what comes out of my mouth reflects on the band as a whole. Part of me wants to open a debate at practice to see where everyone stands. Maybe there are issues around which we can build a little solidarity.
But then I'm back to "what do they believe?" If one of them were to wholeheartedly agree with amending the Constitution to ban gay marriage, I wouldn't write anything to support it. And in fact, I don't know if I could really respect someone with that viewpoint much less play in a band with him or her.

I've tried putting the feelers out to get a sense of where my friends are at. I know Tom would stand with me to pretest to our last breath that bigoted proposed amendment. I know Todd voted against BushCo.

With as many BBQs we all have, you'd think our conversations would have turned to some of these topics. But sadly, it hasn't happened. Don't get me wrong. I love thrashing on each other. Throwing some washoes. Drinking a beer or five. And I don't want to turn the group into some intellectual douchebag club.

But imagine what we could all accomplish if we were united not around a Weber grill, but around feeding the local homeless population. Or helping everyone we know to get out and vote. Or protesting with our friends any legislation seeking to curb our collective and individual freedoms.

Man, we'd be a force to be reckoned with! We could even get jackets made. But Chris would think the jackets were dumb.

I love my friends. I really do. Maybe I'm just yearning for a slightly deeper connection with them.

Wow! That was a hippie thing to say (hypocrisy #3).