"Nowhere Plans" a piece by an American who woke up in Ann Arbor

Posted: Sep 27, 2012 at 9:11 AM [Sep 27, 2012]

Nowhere Plans

-By an American who woke up in Ann Arbor

We were the original nowhere men, and women. The Beatles surely must have known about us. Huddling in church basements, empty classrooms, dimly-lit rooms...making all our nowhere plans for nobody. Or so I thought.

Stomping on the American flag, and hating all it stood for...that was okay, because we all knew in our hearts that the flag waved proudly, symbolizing our right to express our ideas freely. It was okay to denounce capitalism, because we could go to the store any time we wanted and buy the cardboard, wooden sticks, and magic markers to make signs with which we could denounce it. Open borders–let anyone into the country who wants to come in. Private property–who needs it? Sympathy for terrorist groups in countries I knew nothing about–who was I to judge their tactics?

It didn’t matter what we advocated, or what we denounced, what crazy schemes we dreamt up, because we were nobodies, looked upon by everyone with the contempt we deserved. No one listened to us. If we tried to hand out pamphlets, people would just walk by, or shake their heads, or mutter: "Get a job!"

No matter how we tried to stir them up, the masses were asleep. And we liked it that way. It made us superior. It made us irrelevant. So we could dream and scheme to our hearts’ content.

"Fascists! Fascists!"we would chant, without realizing that we were actually the fascists, shouting down anyone who disagreed with us, and disrupting peaceful assemblies. It made us feel powerful, even though we had no power and never would.

Because we knew in our hearts that the system could never be defeated. It would always be there for us to rail against, at the top of our lungs. They had the power, the weapons. They ran the businesses, churches, and government institutions. We were nobody. Right?

Then it all became fashionable. Not us, because we were still the same losers we always were. But that candidate on the podium, doesn’t he have a way with words? Catchy slogans, a bright-colored logo...

Be careful what you wish for, as they say. Looks like I’m on the verge of getting everything I ever wished for. And I’m scared.