Government: for the people?

For as long as I have cared about politics, and even back into recent history, the American people have seen huge ‘debates’ fought tooth and nail, back and forth, over the “inalienable” rights of people. Debates over what they can and cannot do, both to and for themselves and others. We see huge 'debates' about second amendment rights, whether or not people can carry glorified assault grade weapons. We see people decrying, and others defending, the first amendment rights of the hateful Westboro Baptist Church. We see, nay we sit by and watch, people who are only non-violently standing up for what they believe in, being treated like criminals, and then feel good about ourselves for calling them a ‘disturbance’ and telling them to just “go get a job”. We sit by and watch while two people in love are told they cannot have the same rights as any other ‘normal’ couple, simply because of how they were born. Then worst of all, we sit by and watch as our country wages a ‘war against terrorism,’ sending our boys and girls overseas to die, all in the name of ‘freedom.’ Whatever happened to a government by the people, for the people?

What happened to pledging “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor” to upholding a government that protects its people, and enables them to make this the greatest country the world has ever seen? We sat by and watched as politicians stopped caring about their constituents, and began to care only about what would get them re-elected, so they could continue to line their pockets with ill-gained money from lobbyists and corporations. We have watched politicians lie through their teeth about their plans, their opponent’s plans, and damn near everything else, so that they could stay in their seat of power for just a few years more. So what have we done about it? We watched. We sat by and watched as the media failed to report their falsehood, failed its duty to truthfully relay the news, failed its one and only job of keeping the American people informed. Even now, we sit by and watch as politicians tell us what we want to hear, mask the truth about their own plans, and then unceremoniously kick the chair out from under their opponents, taking what good they have managed to accomplish in a term beset with challenges and obstacles, and then beat it into the ground, twist and deform it, until it no longer represents what it once did, and present it back to us as a rallying point. Whatever happened to a government by the people, for the people?

We sit by as the charlatan Paul Ryan lies through his teeth, twisting and manipulating what we see and have seen, attempting to use it for his own gain, whilst he skulks around, waiting to finish off what little rights and safeguards we have left. We accept as truths his lies, about how he will ‘save’ Medicare, about how he believes that “the truest measure of a society’s merit is the degree to which the strong protect the weak.” We unflinchingly consume his rhetoric, without a second thought, without any care that it may not be true, despite the number of times we've been lied to. Like a moth to a flame, we reach for that which we desire with no regard to what it may actually be. We believe the wolf in sheep’s clothing, and put ourselves one step closer to the destruction of a great many things we hold dear. We cannot simply let him walk all over us.

We can change all of this. We can cure this diseased, bloated government, remove the cancer that has been the slow death of a once great nation, and breathe life back into its people, its heart and soul. We simply need to act. We need to get off of our couches, stop watching the news, and take action. We need to inform ourselves, without media bias, and we need to encourage those around us to stand up for what is right, for what we believe in. We need to show the world that the American people are strong, that we still have fight left in us, that we support each other, and that we refuse to lie down and die. We have to step up our game, gather together, and take action against those who would watch us squander our lives in poverty. Even just through our right to vote, we can ensure that this nation lives to see better days. We just have to make our voices heard, organize together, and put into place a better system. We can show the world that this government of the people, by the people, and for the people still lives on, and that we are truly a force to be reckoned with.


http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/08/30-2
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/08/30-8
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/08/30-4