After long debate…

Figured I’d actually put this up after all. Wrote it back in July and it’s been sitting as a draft since. Easier using this as a response to some of the feedback on my latest episode of MoM than keep having to type it out…

July 4th was two weeks ago. Our nation’s birthday, the moment in time when we officially broke off from the tyranny of England for what we felt at the time was their unfair taxation. A 2% tax. 239 years later though we have no problem with our own government asking for 5% on everything we purchase, or 25% on what we make, can’t forget the 15% states need on that income, another tax on what you already own, list goes on ad nauseam- and yes those numbers vary depending on where you live. More and more of our money is going to balance a budget on which we get little say because our representatives know what’s best for us. Our country’s revolution was built on the motto “No taxation without representation”. Yet we’re allowing it happen every day.

What kind of say do we really get in where this money is going? It’s constantly leaving our pockets and bank accounts and from there…. Our infrastructure is decaying. For all the talk of how much welfare and out reach programs there are, why are there still so many people living poverty or on the streets? Look at how much is dumped into the war effort, and what as a country have we gained from it? The middle east is still fighting one another, as it has been since before America became a country. No real progress has been made. We’re still using the same power supply as we have been since the early 1900’s, still use combustion engines, list goes on. Our lives haven’t changed much at all from our ancestors of only 4 generation prior, save we now have more things to keep our minds occupied off what’s really going on. Rome had the coliseum to keep it’s populace from focusing on the shortcomings of their “Leaders”. We have internet, smart phones, cable, Netflix, Hulu, think you get the point. Every day I see more and more people buried in their respective screen of choice and ignoring the world around them. There are more ways to keep your attention off what really matters than ever in recorded history…

The latest generation gets a lot of flak for it’s apathetic outlook, but few have stopped to ask the simple question of why. Could it be we have a whole group of young adults who are not happy with how this country is run and the status quo? I don’t like their views when it comes to comedy and speech, but I can’t help but think they might be right that this life shouldn’t be such a struggle. Just look at how much food is wasted every day by not being sold by their expiration date instead of going to a family or individual who needs it. We’ve become a society of waste and greed.

The worst part is we allow this behavior to go on. No one wants to rock the proverbial boat. We accept this is the way it is and keep ourselves quiet. Voting is only part of the fix. The whole system needs a shake up from top to bottom. You can vote all day long, but the people those votes put into office then go on their own agenda, they do what serves them and what will line their pockets. Why do corporations too big to fail get bailed out? Because they were why that representative was in office in the first place, funding their campaign and buying their vote. We say it on Vapor Reporter all the time, it is always about the money. It shouldn’t be. People should matter more. History shows us though just how little we care when it comes to people in this country. From the killing of its indigenous population, to the indentured servitude and slavery, to the fact we said no we won’t take your Jewish refugees Germany before “The Final Solution”… We talk a great game about caring for people, but that’s all it is in the end- talk.

We live in a time where we could have true democracy. No representative but yourself. Even the homeless have cell phones, use that technology to allow every person to vote on every bill. Would be a lot easier to get things passed and implement changes when there will no longer be any dog ears and pork projects thrown on to a bill about speeding for example. There would be no one person’s agenda to be fulfilled in order to make a law pass, it would be true majority rule. It would be a government for the people by the people again for the betterment of all, not just a few. It’s why I’m actually looking forward to the 2016 election. As of right now Bernie Sanders is leading Hillary by a few points in the early polls, and Trump is leading the republican party. We’ll get systematic change one way or the other. Either the people of the country will speak and say we want true representation from our elected officials, or that it is all just a Hollywood production and since we can’t elect the Terminator as Commander and Chief we’ll go with a reality TV star…. But what do I know, I’m just an idiot behind a keyboard or mic….