Government "For the People by the People" is Not Just a Good Idea

I think it is apathy, myself. In other countries people know how to deal with tyrants but it takes a little work, and frankly I don't see that people here are generally "that into it." We aren't victims, and yet those of us that oppose the current administration act like we are. How many times have you heard, or perhaps even said something like: "I didn't vote for him" or "they didn't ask me if they could use my money to do that." They are getting away with it because we allow them. It is that simple.

Democracy implies a system of government "for the people by the people." Pressure has to come through congress from our representatives. Think of it like an embargo: We lay siege on Cuba with an embargo. We prevent the flow of medicine, food and toilet paper in hopes that people will get so hungry and so sick that they will actually blame Castro for their misery instead of the political regime who is actually behind it. "The people" could apply a political embargo here, in the US, by squeezing their senators, but again - the percentage of people who are willing to involve themselves politically is so small in this country that it is largely ineffectual.

Notice the permanent nature of the "temporary" military bases we are building in Iraq. This administration was poised to make that happen all along... they only needed an opportunity... some reason... an excuse. And they didn't really get one after 9/11, but they used patriotism to justify punishing SOMEONE. Someone had to pay and the shocked public didn't care who it was, and collectively the administration got the green light - collectively a large majority of this country's citizen's suspended belief like we do at the movie theaters, long enough to make sure someone payed for what happened to us. And aren't we feeling better about it now?

And now the dilemma we face, the price we have to pay, is a deeply divided country of two types of citizen. One who has left the movie theater and has realized the horror of our actions against a people who did nothing to us, and an undereducated but very patriotic "my country right or wrong" group of people who lack the courage or the moral fiber to face what has been done in the name of freedom and the Americans way. Will we recover? Probably. Americans are strong people, and the greater the obstacles we face, the greater the ferocity with which we will eventually get around to correcting the situation. But the lesson we really need to learn is that we would be better off by not causing problems in the first place. This is OUR country, OUR government, and we need to collectively stop playing the victim and actually take responsibility for what is done in our name.