Ten Political Truths in the USA
It is my belief that these are things that should matter to everyone.
This is not my usual post, but I cannot remain silent. I feel the need to share what I believe are truths that need to be taken into account, in especial given current events.
First — The United States is NOT a Christian nation. Period. Every single religion in the world is accepted and practiced in this nation.
Second — Separation of Church and State was put in the Constitution for a REASON. No single religion was intended to dominate this nation. Ergo, passing laws in favor of any given religion and its specific morality is unconstitutional.
Third — Women are equal to men. They are also people. Women are not inferior, lesser, or otherwise second-class citizens. Laws being made dictating the rights of women are abhorrent. If you think what is happening in AL, GA, or any of the other states passing Draconian abortion laws is about the lives of unborn children, you are completely missing the point. This is about dominance and control.
Fourth — Asylum seekers are not criminals. These are people leaving their homes because their lives and the lives of their children are in danger. Treating them like criminals and caging them and their children is reprehensible and utterly unacceptable.
Fifth — People of color are equal to white people. How is it in 2019 we are still having this debate? Laws that suppress voters and gerrymandering only exist to keep a very specific group of people in power. Period.
Sixth — Sexual preference should have no impact on people’s ability to marry, adopt children, or make financial decisions together. It also should have no impact on employment and basic human rights.
Seventh — Transgendered people are not automatically sexual predators. End of story.
Eight — We do not need to spend the money we do as a nation on our military when that money could instead go to education, health care, infrastructure, and other things that will help sustain and grow the nation from within. We are plenty safe, folks, our military spending is absolutely obscene.
Nine — Nobody should go bankrupt in the name of their healthcare. The for-profit system serves nobody but the insurance companies and their shareholders at this point. All of the lies used to deny the idea of some form of Universal Healthcare have been disproven by other nations across the globe. The system is seriously broken here, and that needs to be addressed ASAP.
Ten — The wealthy should pay their fair share of taxes. Between ridiculous tax breaks, off-shore accounts, and other matters, the really rich get away with paying far less than their fair share. When you are making PROFIT in the billions of dollars, there should be no tax breaks. Profit, people, is monies above-and-beyond operating expenses, and purely gain. It should be taxed, whether an individual or a corporation.
Take a stand
It is important to do something about this. However, there are limitations to what you and I can do, in particular because a lot of this is way outside of our control.
We can keep the truth out there. A lot of the people in power would like to have these ten truths buried and ignored because they do not favor them and their power. We need to be louder and more in-your-face with these things because the other side already does that with their falsehoods.
March in protests. Support causes like the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the like. Vote in the elections.
In 2020 we get to vote for a new President. There are currently something like 20 plus people running for the DNC nomination. NONE of them are perfect. ALL of them are better than what we have now. Whoever wins the nomination needs to be supported by EVERYONE who sees the lies, the crimes, and the disregard for the Constitution on the part of the current administration.
Another truth that I don’t like, but we need to accept — a third party candidate cannot win the Presidency. Between the Electoral College and funding issues, this is simply the truth of modern American politics. What is going on in the nation currently demands counter-action, so don’t vote in protest, because that will just keep us heading down this dark path.
Feel free on the local level to vote independent. This can even work up to and including candidates running for Congress. But we need to get everyone who does not vote out there voting, if they even remotely care about the future of the nation and, not to put too fine a point on it, their lives.
Change can happen
I know I am an optimist. But pessimism doesn’t spur action, it causes further distress, anger, sadness, frustration, and other negatives that change nothing. The United States was founded on lofty ideals that we have frequently failed to uphold, to be sure — but we still have more rights and freedoms than many other parts of the world.
You need to exercise your rights to effect change. We are empowered to think and feel for ourselves and use that to choose and decide how to live our lives. When you do not exercise that power, however, you need to be mindful of the fact that it can still have an impact on your life. And not an impact you desire.
Kindness and basic human decency frequently get bulldozed in politics. Keep that in mind in regards to who you vote for. Anyone who creates lies to deny rights, freedoms, or body autonomy is lacking in this department — and that should matter to people.
It is time to restore America to a land of opportunity and potential, rather than one of hate and intolerance. You are empowered to have an impact on that.
Finally — I recognize that you may disagree with my opinion here. I accept that, but I would ask you to consider this: Do you like your freedoms? Do you like having the ability and the right to make choices based on your own personal moralities? If so, how would you feel if you lost them due to people who think and feel differently from you? Please take this into consideration before you support something that may not impact you, but might utterly impact the life and freedom of others.
