The True Cost of Freedom

The more I study the political system of America, the more I realize that our democracy is not really run by the people put into charge in the beginning, us. The average people. There were founding fathers that had great educations, great intellect, and wrote some of the greatest political theory and commentary still used to date. However, the intent of these men was clearly demonstrated when they declared America to be by the people, of the people, and for the people. Yet, in every political debate, it is not the average Americans that are looked upon but instead corporations, coalitions, and PACs. Campaigns are judged by how much money they draw in, as seen by the amount of press given to the financial reports filed every quarter. In essence, it when from common folk holding the key to corporations holding the key and charging for even walking into the building.

I know, I know. Every political commentator likes to bash the big corporations and blame them for being the big shots on Capitol Hill. However, I would like to point out that the people, that's right, average people, are to blame for this much more than the corporations are. Corporations are in business to make money. That is their goal, intention, and motivation. People, however, are supposed to be in charge of things, especially things that keep corporations from getting out of control. It comes back to us. We became apathetic. The generation in charge has kept us completely irrelevant, and in fact, most of their peers irrelevant as well. We are less interested in being part of the system because we cannot see the system doing any good. Health care legislation is watered down to help stave off pressure from providers. Food additives are allowed to be put into our food supply that make us more hungry, more obese, more everything except our lifespans, in order to keep food/snack corporations' money flowing. Electric cars are killed every time they start to present a viable alternative to internal combustion engines.

The point is this. All of these things have happened because we allowed it. Being in charge is a responsibility that we have passed around and around until the corporations have offered to take it off of our hands, hearts, and minds. It is time that we take back our country. We need to recognize the need for us to lead once more. The corporations are only going to look after themselves because that is their objective. It is time that we make ourselves relevant again and become the leaders we should have always been.