What to Do What to do?

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

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I am being constantly torn between two extremes.

1.) I want to leave society. I have had enough, and want no part in it. People are morons. I want my cave, my vegetable garden, fresh mountain air, and that's it.

I am sick and tired of the nature of this civilization. It feeds off of the slave-grinding of the poor while the wealthy sit in their palaces and explore the desensitizing joys of chronic masturbation. Its' industries are massive monopolies that, with their billions of revenue, lobby within governments to sway the political language so that they may  grow their fiscal efficiency...even if that means destroying or ruining land, water, air, and the lives of thousands of people.

 If Exxon could make 2 billion dollars for killing your grandmother... what do you think would happen?

2.) Instead of abandoning society and leaving no impact on the lives of others, I want to work from within to change it for the better.

This is great right. The whole noble, not completely altruistic, idea of sacrificing what you would otherwise want for the philosophical "greater good". But that isn't easy. And I don't just mean that it isn't easy to bring yourself to do it emotionally. It is difficult to implement in all directions. If you work as a social worker, you make just barely enough money to scrape by. Sometimes you might not even make that and in the end you have no one to support you. So what would work... spend 1/2 your life building riches so that you can afford to then set your life against what you have been actively supporting for a couple decades? Does it have to be that way?

Where will the most change be felt? Without being a direct political power, for as much as I can tell, one is going to make the biggest impact on individuals. Small groups of organized individuals can work to make a difference by being an influence and building communities that foster progressive ideas.

Check out Tamera, an alternative community in Portugal who are doing some really cool things with community building that challenges the way we view our relationships and responsibilities towards each other and our biosphere.

Still... can't decide. ...but leaning towards 2.