Lazy Man's Guide to Changing the World

May 08 2008

Lazy Man’s Guide to Changing the World

Published by Steve N. Lee at 4:57 pm under changing the world

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Is it possible to change the world by doing absolutely nothing?

Some people are just so lazy. They’d like to change the world, but it’s just such hard work! Isn’t there an easy option that involves doing absolutely squat?

Let’s see… What if…?

What if you threw a party and no one came?

What if you rented a hall, booked caterers, hired a band, felt the thrill of anticipation… and no one came?

What if you publicized it, invited everyone you knew and hordes you didn’t, broadcast far and wide that it would be the party to end all parties… and no one came?

What if you splashed all your cash on it, called in favours from everyone imaginable, promised the earth to anyone who helped… and no one came?

When no one came, what would you do?

Blame your moronic guests for not knowing a good thing when they saw one?
Blame all those who’d helped you for screwing up?
Or would you look at yourself?

What if, after long and painful self-examination, you discovered it wasn’t anyone else’s fault, just yours.

What if you learned that the only reason no came was that people didn’t like you because they didn’t trust you - they knew you weren’t doing this for them so there had to be a catch?

And they were right!

You were selfish. Egotistical. Manipulative. You threw the party not to show people a good time but for how it could benefit you. It was all about you. About your wants. Not about your guests. You only threw the party so people would love you, believe in you, trust you… How better to manipulate them? Deceive them? Cheat them?

What if it took this act of gross dislike to shock you out of your narcissistic selfishness? What if it took this rejection for you to realize that the only way to have people help you to get what you want is not through coercion and lying, but by delivering on your promises while expecting nothing in return?

What if this abject rejection made you a better person? Wouldn’t that be the best thing that ever happened to you? Wouldn’t it be the best thing that ever happened to all those whose lives you touched?

What if you threw a party and no one came?

But how could no one turning up to a party change the world?

Let’s see… What if…?

What if you held an election…

So go. See. Feel. Live.
Steve

If you like my blog - the style, the passion, the philosophy - you’ll absolutely love ‘What if…?’, my suspense thriller. What’s it about?

When a mysterious stranger fights to end world poverty, his seeming ability to heal with just a touch catapults him to fame but thrusts him into a deadly struggle with corporate America and the White House that like the world just the way it is: under their control - poverty, disease, wars and all.

But can the stranger heal? Or is he the biggest villain of all, perpetrating the most elaborate scam of all time?

Is it any good?

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Scott Pack, Book Reviewer, Me and My Big Mouth

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17 Responses to “Lazy Man’s Guide to Changing the World”

# Margaret Hartleyon 08 May 2008 at 7:26 pm

People that are into things that are for their benefit never “get it”! They are so focused on “what’s in it for me” that if it falls apart- then it’s clearly someone else fault. It happens everywhere and involves every facet of life from a party to animal rescue to saving the environment. Of course- I’m old and cranky so perhaps I’m mistaken but my eyes and ears and heart seldom lie to me. :))))))))))
# Susan Lon 08 May 2008 at 7:57 pm

Margaret, I feel you have “hit the nail on the head.” What’s left to say?
# Alfiluvuon 08 May 2008 at 10:27 pm

I love the way you wrote this, wondering where you are going with it and then just a short little quip at the end. It paints a great picture.
The shame of it is there are too many idiots out there who actually believe all the crap, you just have to watch them at the rallies fawning over the other idiots in suits.
If only………
# Robyn Mon 08 May 2008 at 11:34 pm

Yep. I call these type of people ‘try hards’.
Personally I don’t think you have to try, just be, just do. Don’t expect anything in return ‘cos that’s not what it’s all about.
The reward is seeing a smile on someones face, to receive a lick on your hand from a hairy friend, knowing that life is just a bit better for them because you took the time out to focus on them.
If I’m ever feeling down, I try to pull my finger out and help someone else - my focusing on them and their plight makes me realize how trivial any problems that I may have are and I feel better.
Is this selfish of me? I know I am going to feel better because I’ve helped out.
Hmmm maybe I’m a ‘try hard’ - I’ll have to think on that one.
# MIchael W.on 09 May 2008 at 1:46 am

A party is a little different than an election eh? In one, money is lost, some ego, maybe self-esteem. The person involved will rarely look at themselves. They’ll experience wonder,hurt, anger then hurt but rarely true self examination. It can be scary what is in the mirror. Like a depression we always counsel to get involved in helping someone else. IN crisis management in conflicts where there have been rapes and mutilations I have found it most effective to get the victim involved with others ASAP. Despair is less likely to settle in.
An election though, where nobody voted, which has been a big controversy on another site, that’s a whole other profile. Even if your vote doesn’t count the act of voting does. The party, the parade, any event nobody showed up reflection probably not, there is only one person affected after all, but an election? Tougher call.
# Kathyon 09 May 2008 at 3:05 am

I’m of the working peon class so throwing huge parties for anybody other than family is out. But what if Dennis Kucinich had not been pushed out of the elections? What if JFK jr. hadn’t been killed, what if he’d married Daryl Hannah? What if Bobby Kennedy hadn’t been killed? What if JFK hadn’t been killed?
I think it would be a much better world.
# Lynn B.on 09 May 2008 at 7:37 am

I like this blog Steve, well done!
I have a friend who has never voted in her life (but has some strong political viewpoints!) and she wrote in one email “what if no one voted?”
It made me laugh because the idea of that actually appealed to me.
Another friend says that the last several elections (for her) have actually been voting AGAINST someone rather than for someone, against someone she really doesn’t want to win and be president. I’d agree that it’s been the same for me in at least the two previous elections (against Bush).
And look who we have to choose from this time, sheesh!
I’m afraid each candidate is, as per usual, promising empty promises, being condescending, pandering, trying to say they can identify with the common man and woman (ha ha ha), and other assorted gibberish.
It’s all about them, it’s all about the biggest ego, it’s all about who wins, and the end results will reek.

How I wish it was a party that no one would come to.
# Glendaon 09 May 2008 at 9:38 am

Thanks again Steve for making me think !!

I hope I would never have that party scenario, I don’t think my ego could take it. But seriously, I have great friends that I have known for 20 years and a couple for 30 years. We only get to see each other 2 or 3 times a year but Wow when we get together it’s so much fun and we really can share anything with one another. I would hope those special people would come to my party. :) Of course the internet is such a wonderful way of making and keeping in touch with friends.

Here in Australia we have to vote or we get fined. I know alot of people who don’t vote ( never heard of anyone actually being fined ) but I sort of feel it’s something I should do, to make a change. I feel that you can’t moan and groan about the government unless you try to make a change. If you don’t vote you are not having a say about who is going to represent you and your country for the next x amount of years.

I really like our new Prime Minister and for the first time I actually manned the polling booth handing out pamphlets for ” Getup” a no party organisation that featured issues that sort of swayed towards the Green Party and Labor. I felt very comfortable doing this hoping it would make people THINK about very important issues.
# Steve N. Leeon 09 May 2008 at 10:07 am

Margaret, Susan - if we assume that no one will ever change, shouldn’t we just gas every convict in every prison in the world. Yes, people rarely change in any substantial way, but you have to hope or what’s the point in ever trying to change anything. The little guy, i.e. you and I, don’t have the power to do anything without the backing of the ‘big guns’, short of mass strikes, revolution, etc.

I’d be interested in a link to the website you mention, Michael. I wasn’t aware anyone else had talked about this.

Yes, Alfiluvu, you’re spot on - too many people simply don’t question. Probably the root cause of most of the world’s ills.

Kathy, I’ve got a ‘what if’ for you - what if Man had never evolved? Think of what a wonderfully peaceful, harmonious, flourishing planet it would be!

Lynn, thanks for the compliment. Glad you liked the post. It’s a little different to my usual ones in that it simply asks one question and leaves the reader to consider everything else. I know just what you mean.

Personally, I exercised my right NOT to vote in the last election. There were so many smug jerks all out to grab what they could for themselves by lying to us about eveything they’d do for us that I just couldn’t face voting for a single one of them. At the moment, British politics is going through quite a grey area - there’s little difference between the parties. For example, Labour has just abolished the lowest band of tax leaving many of the countries poorest people even poorer. Yep, that’s the party of the working man, right there!

I wasn’t aware you could get fined for not voting. That’s interesting, Glenda. But where does the freedom that we in the developed world love to rail on about come into that? Shouldn’t you be free not to vote?

You’re right, Robyn. A smile, a ‘thank you’, a wag of a tail should suffice. A pity it rarely does.

Of course the whole idea, in practice, of this post is ridiculous - it would never work as people would panic and vote for fear of who might get into power if they didn’t. But if by some fluke of mass consciousness we could orchestrate a boycoit of a major election… think of the message that would send. Think of the power that would give back to the people. If only…

Steve
# Kent Butleron 09 May 2008 at 1:37 pm

Well said, Steve. But…

Yes, I am so very tired of voting for the lesser of two evils in Presidential elections. And, yes, people have the right not to vote. But, as I see it, if you don’t vote, you lose the right to complain about the results. Neither this country, nor any other, was ever founded and grown, screwed up and fixed, by spectators. Get involved, even minimally, or shut-up.

Clinton can’t be trusted to give you the right time of day. Her asinine “gas tax holiday” is simply pandering to the ignorant and would likely increase demand for gasoline. How incredibly stupid.

If Obama wasn’t smart enough to drop his racist, hate-mongering “spiritual advisor” immediately, how would he handle a national crisis? (We seem to have several…)

McCain wants to stay in Iraq indefinitely while increasing the number of illegals in this country. Not for me, thanks.

Who will I vote for? Damned if I know - Can we get Harry Truman back?
# Terrie Won 09 May 2008 at 6:09 pm

Love it as usual, Steve! The only thing I can add to everyone’s thoughtful posts is…..what if we didn’t vote as a form of protest…..and the Supreme Court facilitated another usurpation? Like they did in 2000…like they did in 2004….

When a Supreme Court ‘Justice’ (what an oxymoron) comes out and ADMITS they gave the presidency to the looser and then tells the population..smugly…to just ‘GET OVER IT”. What does that tell you? What SHOULD it tell everyone with at least one brain cell left???!!!!

Do not, for one second, think that they will not do it again. Or even more nightmarish speculation….what if…the Twig REMAINED in office…because no one voted for his ‘replacement’. That would be his icing on the cake. That is what he would like to do.

I am so tired of voting for the lesser of evils too, BUT, I will not go into the long dark night without having what little say I can….I will not go silently. I rage against the dying of the light. Cliche’ I know but it fits how I feel.

Everyone needs to rage. Everyone needs to DO SOMETHING! Vote, don’t vote….at least do it, or not, as each individuals conscience dictates. But do it with your eyes wide open and KNOW the WHY of it. Pick your poison carefully, you will have to drink it eventually.

A post thought….write in the candidate of your choice who is NOT on the ballot……that gives me hope.
# *C*on 10 May 2008 at 5:55 pm

Excellent article, Steve!

I, for one, have little patience with people who will not take action without seeing where it will benefit them personally.
# Mark S.on 11 May 2008 at 5:07 am

Terrie W. wrote: “…..what if we didn’t vote as a form of protest…..and the Supreme Court facilitated another usurpation? Like they did in 2000…like they did in 2004….”

But in 2000 and 2004 people DID vote. The Supreme Court wouldn’t let the votes be counted in 2000, and Kerry didn’t bother to ensure that the votes were counted in 2004.

The act of voting alone isn’t a voice in government, only if your vote is actually counted does it have the possibility of being a voice in government.

And when we have computers that count the votes and a Supreme Court that can stop the vote count if it doesn’t like the person who is winning, we have no way to know if our votes will be counted or not.

In the United States, voting is a form of gambling. Election integrity activists call what we have “faith-based elections” because you cast your vote and then you pray that it might be counted.

The fact is that they can ignore a write-in vote as easily as any other vote.

Good article, Steve.
# Allen Mireleson 11 May 2008 at 4:29 pm

Well done, Steve. I always enjoy your posts.
# Karyn Kon 13 May 2008 at 7:59 pm

Very good and right to the point. This should be required reading material for everyone.
# Steve N. Leeon 14 May 2008 at 2:38 pm

The lesser of two evils? That seems to be a common thread here. Thanks, Terrie, Kent and Mark for your contributions on the frailty of the system - not to mention its openness to abuse!

Thanks, Allen, Karyn, and *C*. Your support is invaluable and even the briefest of comments can sound the loudest of alarm bells in someone else’s head so keep them coming!

It is an awkward situation. Who knows if your vote will ever be counted? Who knows if that one vote you refused to give could have been a turning point? Who knows how many elections have been won by underhand methods?

As Kent says, if you don’t participate, what right do you have to complain? I’d add a caveat - if you don’t vote AND you don’t air your views for not doing so at every opportunity then what right to do you have to complain.

British politics is in almost as much turmoil as yours in the U.S.. There’ll probably be a change of power in the next election. And if there’s only one certainty you can bet it’s this one - the common man will come out of it worse off while those at the top will laugh all the way to the bank. To steal an American expression - same old same old!
# Deniseon 21 May 2008 at 6:00 am

If only everyone threw themselves a party & no one showed up…what a changed world & for the better!