We Need Each Other!

The headlines of the county’s financial pages are etched with tales of financial meltdowns, recessions, and corporate corruption. Political battles wage in halls of government and thru the media over deficit spending, tax cuts, health care, jobs creation, and more. We are currently engaged in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as tracking down a worldwide network of terrorist, and all we seem to do is yell at each other. In a time in which this country needs us to come together to solve some critically important issues all we do is scream….

” My ideology is better than yours is!”

    ……and frankly folks it’s time to grow up.

          The main problem as this writer sees it is that we have lost our common bond. That connection that binds us together for no other reason than ultimately we are all in this together. The revelation that as individuals we are all part of something bigger than ourselves and that for any of us to climb to the highest of heights we must help each other because collectively we can rise so much higher than we can individually.

          Currently the largest division that divides our country is one of color, not black or white, red or yellow, but rather green. It is no secret that the division of wealth in this country has changed. The wealthy in America have grown wealthier in the past thirty years than in any time in this country’s history and the middle class continues to shrink as more and more fall into poverty. In the US the top one percent of America currently own over forty percent of the country’s assets and earn over forty percent of the country’s annual income, further widening the gap year after year.

          Politically the two sides are traditionally represented by our two political parties, Republicans the wealthy and Democrats the American worker.  The interesting thing is how the two sides depend on each other but yet politically the two are at odds over just about everything. The wealthy are wealthy because the average American buys what they’re selling and the workers have the money to buy because they are employed by the wealthy. A symbiotic relationship if ever there was one.

           This being true, why have the two sides become so far apart politically? Why do our politicians spend so much time screaming how the other side is wrong rather than coming up with political compromise that would benefit us all? It is not hard to see that our two major political parties the DNC (Democratic National Committee) and the RNC (Republican National Committee) have become extremely powerful and self serving. Both parties control the massive amounts money that is needed for election to political office. They have put their own political power above the good of the country. Their goal is not to make America a better place for all, but rather how many seats they fill in the next election cycle. They will not support any candidate that does not tow the party line and further the party’s agenda. If you step out of line and attempt compromise the money dries up and so does the hope re-election.

          The media can often fuel the fire in the way they report on this clash of political power hungry behemoths. The days of double checking sources and confirmation of facts has given way to biased based reporting that cow tails to a certain demographic to generate ratings to sell more advertising.

Media outlets now pay millions of dollars to political shock jocks like Rush Limbaugh to call opposition leaders names and provide one sided opinions that fuel the growing anger that is welling up between the two sides. This is the way many of Americans now get there political input and ultimately this type of one sided reporting serve little good helping anyone make informed political decisions.   

The problem now becomes how as a nation, do we bring to a halt what has become a lucrative and powerful status quo. Media outlets enjoy the ratings that bring large advertising dollars and the neither party is willing to be the first to compromise for fear of losing power to their long time rivals. In my opinion this is all very short sighted. In the end both sides need each other and this growing gap in America will cause us all to suffer. Strict adherence to either party’s ideology will ultimately lead to further strife and anger between our citizens and not lead to a brighter tomorrow for our children.

The first step in my opinion to bring to an end this senseless power grab is true campaign finance reform. Some type of public funded campaign system which removes the control that our parties have on our elected officials. Let’s let political ideologies go back to being simply a guide for our politicians rather than a set of shackles that bind their ability to lead this country. As far as how to control the media’s influence in all this it’s simple, just change the damn channel!