It's so hot.. I'm delirious..

Movies are like drugs. If it's good, it will take you to a different place, give you feelings that you normally wouldn't have, direct thought processes onto different paths and give you an experience that, without it, wouldn't have probably happened. And, just like drugs, they don't last very long and they're expensive (even the mantinees these days are too high).

I saw 500 DAYS OF SUMMER today and it offered some insight into what I think are parallels to just a portion of my life. Unfortunately, movie endings rarely occur in real life. But it did reiterate what I've always believed. Fate doesn't exist. Everything is coincidence. And the universe doesn't answer requests. One thing is for sure - I loved the film.

So I was listening to some black guy talking about black youth, how they are sometimes oppressed and how they're not the cause for their misfortune, unlike what the president seemed to have indicated (rough paraphrase of what this man had alluded to). There's a revolution in order, I came to understand. A revolution. We must all rise up and change the system, because the system is broken.

We're beyond revolution. In this day and age, revolution is no longer a viable option. Not for us in this country. Not for this age. Why? I'll tell you why.

We, as a population, are too complacent, too lazy, too distracted to care. I think we, as a nation, as a people, think that just electing a black president was revolution enough. Oh what a scam that was.

Revolutions are for the tired and idealistic. Revolutions are for people who want real change but are willing to sacrifice something for it. The people of these great United States, they don't want change; they want lip service. They want to be told that everything is okay, regardless of how fucked up everything is around them. As long as they hear it's okay, they'll believe it. There was a quote I remember from a Michael Douglas film where he played the president.

People want leaders, Mr. President. And in the absence of genuine leadership they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage and when they discover there's no water they'll drink the sand.

Well, we're drinking sand, people, but not because we're so desperate for leadership. We're just too stupid to realize it isn't water.

While the societal fabric breaks down around us, there is nothing filling that void. Sure, there are idealists everywhere trying but... they're trying to plug a hole in a dam made of paper.

You're probably wondering why I'm so bitter.. Jesus Christ, the cost of a unit at the local community college just went up six bucks. Six fucking dollars. That's what I'm talking about.. Complacency. And those who complain? WTF are they doing about it? Nothing. Maybe they're hoping Arnold Schwarzenagger will blow shit up in Sacramento. All I know is - I need to find out what I can do about it because it is unacceptable. It's bullshit. If it were Starbucks and they raised their prices $6 per Venti Mocha-Soy-Latte-Half Decaf with some ice you know people would start breaking shit apart. There'd be riots.

I'm done. I'm going to go drink something now, and not from Starbucks.