I am a “Bad American”.
I look around me, and see this.
I watch the news, and see this.
I talk to people, and hear this.
I gave 6 years of my life for my country. I believe in “America” the ideal. I believe we can be so much better than we are. I know we can be at least as great as we advertise that we are.
What makes me feel like a “Bad American”?
I can do math. Math is difficult for me, but I can mung around and get close enough to the answer. I will work until I die.
Why is this?
With most companies, there is no real concept of a Pension anymore. If you actually manage to work for the same company for 30 years, do you get a retirement these days? For the most part, No. Talk to any corporate recruiter, and they will tell you. “A ‘Permanent’ position these days, typically means 2 to 5 years, with most being around the 2-3 year mark.”
This is a small part of the issue.
Our ‘Fearless Leader’ keeps sending our troops overseas, to two countries that we have no business being in. Why? Because while he may be fearless, he is quite adept at instilling fear in the American public.
There are about 1.4 Million Active Duty members of the US Military. Add the roughly 1.2 Million from the Reserve, and you get about 2.6 Million people.
The U.S. Population is just over 303 Million people. This is what .0462 to .085% of the population Serving this Country at any given time?
What are the rest of us doing? Why, as “Good Americans”, we are out working jobs to make money for someone else. We are putting someone else’s kids through college, while worrying if we can even manage to get our own kids to college. We are buying every new whiz-bang device that’s shoved our way. “Oooh, did you hear? Yoyodyne Industries just released this amazing new videogame system, and people are waiting in lines for hours or days to try to get one. I need two!”
We are wasting our money on distractions.
We are giving ‘Them’ our money to keep our minds off of ‘Them’.
It is not just video games; it’s movies, “music”, books, ‘sports teams’, cable, satellite, internet access, new cars, food that we don’t need. The list goes on.
We do this so we don’t think about ‘Them’ and the control ‘They’ have over our lives.
Who is this ‘Them’ and ‘They’? Am I some kind of conspiracy nutcase?
No. ‘Them’ and ‘They’ are the real people running this country. The Corporations. The Healthcare Industry. The Oil Companies. The Drug Companies. It is not even hidden anymore. It used to be that discreet meetings and luncheons just kinda happened. Schmoozing. Grift. Bribery. Blackmail. Special Interest Groups. Lobbyists. All different sides of the same coin. (It’s a complex coin, not a flat disk)
I was in the U.S. Navy for the majority of the 90′s. In nearly every country I visited, I told the locals that I was Canadian or Irish. This is common practice, or was. Some former service members I’ve spoken to over the years have expressed similar situations.
Did I feel that I had to lie about my Nationality because I felt threatened, or in Danger of repercussions of Presidential Decisions? No. This was the Clinton Administration. One of our less embarrassing Presidents. Most countries seemed to get a kick out of him. He came-across as a well-spoken ‘everyman’. No, I claimed Canadian Citizenship because I was embarrassed that as a country, we have so much, and give so little. Both to our own people, and to the world.
We are well-trained consumers. Consumers. We Consume. We are a health-conscious, decadent, obese, guilt-ridden society that can’t admit that we are new kids on the global block that are getting by the best that we can, and we are failing. Like trying to bail a sinking ship with a sieve.
Where is this rambling rant headed?
Well. I don’t have money. I did not grow-up squeaky-clean like a boy-scout. And not having Money, I can’t cover that up. Being the Puritan-based society that we are, that rules-out politics for me, as well as the popular option of buying a Politician.
What I do have are a strong sense of Free-Will, and a Voice. I also have the resolve to use my Voice.
We pay Far too many taxes with Far too little return on the investment.
Our government exists for the Sole Purpose of Serving us, We The People. We do not exist to serve The Government. Damn The Man.
August 28th, 1963. Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C. One Man had a Dream, and told us all.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”
— Cut for Brevity —
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
Dr. King spoke these powerful words, and the world listened. He spoke on the inequality of Blacks and Whites. His words go far beyond that. He speaks for the Rights of all men, whether rich or poor, whatever their religion. All men are created equal.
We have a document that our Nation is Founded upon. The opening sentence of which clearly demonstrates how far we have fallen.
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
I ask you. Is this merely words? Rhetoric? Propaganda? Hell No! When I enlisted, I swore an Oath.
I, [State Your Name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
Key words: “all enemies, foreign and domestic”
This document has been repeatedly raped and corrupted. our rights are being taken away. This country is dieing as Rome burned, because of rampant corruption at the Top.
We the people of the United States
“We the people”, not “We the rich few”. This together with “All men are created equal” and the next line, all speak for the sense of belonging and the sense of ownership in our Nation.
in order to form a more perfect union
Union:
“an organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer;”
“the state of being joined or united or linked;”
“the act of making or becoming a single unit;”
“a political unit formed from previously independent people or organizations;”
We are all in this together, people. We need each other. We need to unite as a country. Democrat, Republican, Independent (I don’t have room for all of these important, but fatally doomed parties), it doesn’t matter what your political creed is. Unless you are completely deluded, or have grown-up very sheltered, you know that this system does not work. If your toilet doesn’t work, what do you do? You fix it.
establish justice
There can be no true Justice in this country today. When people get heftier fines for trimming a tree, than for when someone murders someone, there can be no justice. Our system is broken.
insure domestic tranquility
There can be no domestic tranquility when people have agendas that try to segregate us, and keep our nation divided and fighting itself.
provide for the common defense
No justice, no domestic tranquility, it follows that a divided nation is a defenseless nation. Besides, All of our military is focused on defending our President’s oil concerns. . . I mean, defending us from Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. Hmm. President and President’s Daddy are in the pockets of the Saudi Government. . . Saudi terrorist cell crashes two planes into three buildings, kill thousands of our Citizens, so we invade Saudi’s Competitors. . . Oh, and while all of this is going on, Let’s try to make it illegal for the Citizens to arm themselves, as outlined in the Bill of Rights. After all, if guns are illegal, then Criminals won’t be able to . . . Oh well.
promote the general welfare
Promote the general welfare. People are afraid of this word. Welfare State. On Welfare. Lt me look at that.
Welfare:
“social welfare: governmental provision of economic assistance to persons in need”
“benefit: something that aids or promotes well-being; ‘for the common good’”
“wellbeing: a contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous;”
Oh, I see where the problem lies. This might cut into Private Corporations’ Profits. After all, Private Corporations controlling our well-being are a good idea. Health Care is one of the highest profit industries. Drug Companies (pretending to be pharmaceutical companies) too. They must be good for the country, since they own most of our Congress and Senate. The two Governmental Bodies that are supposed to be our Representatives in Government. Makes you wonder, though. Our taxes pay them an average of what, $165,000.00 per year, each. That’s a lot of money. You could live comfortably off that kind of money. Yet . . . That’s half of what a lot of ‘contributions’ (Bribes) tally-up to. Why do we allow OUR representatives to take blatant Bribes from these Corporations? Because we are told that it’s OK for them to do so. Hey, if you’re working at a burger-shack, and you’re making about $18,000 per year, and you have someone paying you $36,000.00 per year in a “contribution” because well, they like the way you make the burgers. . . How likely is it that if asked, you’ll slap some mayo on a burger, when your burger-shack puts mayo only on the chicken, and policy says not to for the burgers? There’s a big difference between $18,000 and $165,000; just the same, why make only $165,000 when after these contributions, you can make $495,000.00? ((165*2)+165)
and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
And Happily Ever After. . . Trite, but how about a little levity after this heavy rambling rant? Fine. Seriously, though. This sums-up the statement. Without out the aforementioned items, we have no liberty, no health or happiness for us or for our children, our neighbors, or for that kid who beat you up in 4th grade. (Hey, she was big, and mean.) This is not for just me, or You. This is about “We the People”. We need to come together as a Nation in order to make this country great again. Black America, White America. Straight America, Gay America. All these crutches, these Divisive labels need to die. We are Americans. We are the People. We are many. Individually, we are insignificant. Together, we are Mighty. Speak out. Raise your voices. Take accountability for your own actions. Take responsibility for your own actions. Lift yourselves up. Reach out your hands to your brothers and sisters. Together we can succeed, where divided we have fallen.
One Nation. Many voices. One heart. We The People.