Kyle: Hey! Hey, let me out of here! This is a mistake! I agreed by accident!

Guard: You can’t agree by accident. There’s a fail-safe built in. Even if you click on “Agree” another little window pops up that says “Are you sure you agree?” and you have to click on “Agree” again.

Woman: Uh, what are you going to do to us??

Guard: Everything that you agreed to in the iTunes conditions.

Kyle: We didn’t read them!

Guard: Heh! Riiight. Who just agrees to something they don’t read?

People blinded by the trappings of hyper-capitalism, that’s who.

Not surprisingly, a multitude of landowners are experiencing the environmental consequences of those EPA-bashing, land-grabbing, multinational energy companies who are obsessed with discovering new limited sources of natural resources in order to avoid developing alternative technologies.

While the “hidden”, for lack of a better term, consequences of their agreements with these bulldozing, frackers are downplayed by investors, politicos and much of the mainstream media; many of these eager land-owners are now experiencing the misguided and destructive practices of extracting those last precious molecules of gas and petroleum from deep beneath their farms, meadows and forests.

Alas, we cannot place the onus of responsibility solely on the hyper-capitalists who dangle their pouches of gold and silver in front of the pie-eyed, down-on-their-luck farmers and ranchers. Because those who have agreed to the litany of “terms and conditions” of these contracts failed to practice a fundamental cornerstone required for the creation of a truly equitable and sustainable society; they failed to fully educate themselves.

For every hyper-capitalist and politico who professes the need to eradicate environmental legislation and governmental agencies which provide citizens with protections against the environmental dangers of industrial pursuits; there are regular, everyday people who are coming to realize the consequences of such actions with every bottle of water they are forced to use for bathing or with every flicker of the endless flames of excess gas from obtrusive, semi-stable wells.

But in the end, these land-owners are left with a very important lesson; reading is fundamental.

Many of those who failed to read the “fine print” of their agreements or simply agreed to something which they did not understand are now victims of the very same practices which they continue to support with their votes.

If we have learned anything as a society over the past years, it is that hyper-capitalists (and corporations especially), really have no interest fostering or participating in a culture in which the words sustainable or equitable become more than greenwashing fodder for hyper-capitalists or ammunition for fear-mongering politicos.

Does the answer to this dilemma lie in the form of more regulation?

No. Time and time again, hyper-capitalism has managed to bypass, supplant and eradicate any form of legal protections to its pursuit of profit-over-people.

Does the answer to this dilemma lie in the form of sweeping change of the so-called representatives who profess to act on the behalf of the citizens who have entrusted them with leadership?

Not likely. For many of these leaders are active participants and celebrants of the same system. We have seen what a sweeping change in leadership can lead to when based on fear-mongering and empty promises from both ends of the spectrum.

The answer, my friends, lies within our desire to actively participate and initiate a change. If we, as a collective, cannot accept that hyper-capitalism has failed us in every aspect of our lives and the time has come when we must accept responsibility for our own fate; then we will continue to be manipulated and exploited by the current paradigm.

If we are to accept responsibility for initiating this change, our collective efforts must be focused on creating a truly sustainable and equitable society which is devoid of political rhetoric, based on ideals rather than abstract economic theories and steeped in mythical ethos of American hard work and determinism.

Admittedly, achieving this shift is nothing short of a monumental task. Yet, time and time again, we are reminded of the sacrifices and efforts of the pantheon of the Founding Fathers in the establishment of their “Great Experiment”.

As with any experiment,  as one discover how outside forces and factors affect the outcome, adjustments – often radical ones – must be embraced in order to achieve the desired results.

We are experiencing the effects of hyper-capitalism, greed and fear-mongering on our “Great Experiment”. Undoubtedly, 99% of us would be inclined to agree that these effects are not what we had hoped for, not what we have fought for and not what we would like to leave as an inheritance for future generations.

The change lies within our actions.

The time is now, for tomorrow we may be too late.

“Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.“ -General Dwight Eisenhower