This will be my first journal-style post chronicling my experiences as I try to reshape my life to embody my social an political convictions. Like Gandhi said. “Be the change you want to see in the world.” So I am doing just that… then writing about it.

My writings on this topic will likely resemble the musings of a person compulsively thinking aloud. I know that I can organize my thoughts best when describing them to a friend or putting them down in print as stream of consciousness. I also expect to be sharing many victories and failures as I experiment with different habits and routines which might lead me in the right direction.

This will be a long process of self evaluation, major life changes and various trials and tribulations on the path to being a truly liberated human being. The question is… where to start?

There are so many facets of the world that need to change, and many of them I still unconsciously support due to habit and convenience. A good place to start is by looking at my day to day life and identifying my core daily actions. The first to come to mind are Eating, Productivity and Transactions. Let me break down each of them to how they relate to my own personal shortcomings and their applicable injustices within society.

Food

Where to improve:

While I love to cook I don’t always have the time to. Don’t get me wrong, I steer very clear of fast food. But I am no stranger to the frozen meal section of my local Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. I would also love to save money by eating out less. Lunches being the primary thief of my hard earned money. Huh, does that mean I am my own bully, stealing my own lunch money?

The other aspect of my consumption dysfunction is what I eat. I have never been a huge carnivore. I remember being about 7 years old and the only thing with a pulse that I wanted to eat was from the sea. God for bid a New York Strip was on the menu for the night. I have always been conscious of the connection between the over eating of meat and health problems. But now that I have been seeing a vegan I’m uber conscious of the fact that I have been eating an unnecessary amount of flesh.

What I’m supporting that sucks:

The first thing that comes to mind when I ask that question is “how are my habits supporting my arch nemesis, Corporatism?” Or crony-capitalism if you are unfamiliar with the term. Monsanto is the godfather of corporatism when it comes to food-fascism, and most all “Big-Agra” companies like Kraft and ConAgra also flex their power of influence in the government with billions of lobbying dollars. No bueno!

The other big contributor to food-borne injustice is factory farming. It is one of the biggest polluters hands down. It also has a bad record of creating super-viruses due to the unnatural processes of production. I can’t forget about all the drugs, chemicals and hormones they pump into those poor creatures… that find their way into another poor creature, us! Lastly, being a long time student of Buddhist philosophy I find it kind of hypocritical that I feel guilt at the idea of killing a cricket that finds its way into my home (so I don’t), but I don’t bat an eyelash when I’m out getting some beers with my buds and mowing down a plate of hot-sauce smothered chicky wings. Hmmm…

The answer as I see it:

Step 1: Create a black list of companies who I cannot in good conscience support by buying their edible goods. No matter how scrum-diddly-umptious they happen to be.

Step 2: This will be hard because I do live in a meat crazed society, and nearly all my friends and family place meat at the top of their food pyramid. BUT, If I am to promote good health while speaking out against factory farming it seems only logical that I greatly reduce or even eliminate those tasty little critters from my diet.

Conclusion:

Black-List… Easy! Plant based diet… Not so much (I blame 28 years of good German style eatin’. Meat and Starch. It’s what’s for dinner… and lunch… and breakfast.). I will start the former, but have to do some more research and planning on the latter. Luckily I currently only eat meat in about 1 out of 5 meals, so the change won’t be too drastic.

Productivity

Where to improve:

I’m not just talking about showing up to work on time. Even though I don’t exactly have the best record there. I am talking about maximizing my time and efficiency. I am constantly bursting with ideas, but have convinced myself that the only way to accomplish them is by first figuring out how to slow the earths orbit around the sun to stretch our days out to a modest 32 hours. Obviously that’s not going to happen, so I might need a plan B.

The other aspect of productivity that seems to eat away at my personal well-being is not setting enough time aside for my activist outlets. Obviously that’s why I have a blog. But my publication regularity is, shall we say, in a constant form of creative constipation. Although what you are reading right now is my mental laxative. So I can check this one off the list! The next two areas I need to review as an (in)effective activist is my boots-on-the-ground activities and my larger profile projects. Right now I am working on an incredible project with EndtheFed.us’ Steven Vincent. The new project that is so near and dear to my heart… AntiCorporatism.com. You will definitely be hearing about this as it progresses towards reality.

What I’m supporting that sucks:

I’m pretty much just supporting my own procrastination and ensuring I don’t make the mark on the world that I dream of.

The answer as I see it:

Establish a routine. Plan to the hilt, and maximize my time/efficiency. Easier said than done, I’m sure.

Conclusion:

Find the most organized person I know and pick their brain. Then take whatever cerebral gold I scrape off, culture it and apply it to my own life. I see a list in my near blogging future. Maybe not the best for my first transcribed undertaking though, since its more about determination then making a few quick but permanent changes.

Transactions

Where to improve:

If you haven’t frequented my site here, you probably wouldn’t know that I am a HUGE opponent of the Federal Reserve system and debt based fiat currency. How I would love to opt-out of that scheme! Baby steps. First I need to eliminate my debt-based lifestyle. Then I might be better prepared to take on the big dogs.

What I’m supporting that sucks:

Monetary monopoly. Currency instability. Bankster economies. And worst of all, living paycheck to paycheck.

The answer as I see it:

There are two things I can do immediately. The first is get my money out of those damn “too big to fail” banks and into a member owned credit union. Second is work with a financial adviser of some sort to engineer a plan of attack in my personal war on waste and debt.

Conclusion:

I think we may have found a winner for a solid first step. Easy to accomplish and I get to stick it to the man at the same time! One of my next entries will cover how I chose my vault of choice and what the experience was like. I wonder if Yelp.com has reviews on Credit Unions?

Side note: I will end all my journal posts with a recap of any personal accomplishments or failures I happen to experience between the time of the current and previous entries. Should keep me honest.

Daily Victory

• Started my journal. (in case it wasn’t obvious?)
• Whipped up the logo design and main infographic for AntiCorporatism.com. Sneak peak coming soon.

Daily Fail

• Wrote a journal entry that was too fucking long!