Democratic leaders always seem to blame America first. – Ken Mehlman
As the debt crisis looms (“never let a good crisis go to waste”) we as a country find ourselves at war with ourselves.
I have always believed, and the facts support me in this, that politicians are responsible for our ills as a country. Gone are the days of talking issues out and coming up with a solution that is best for the country. Now, now we blame each other for our problems. Democrats blame Republicans, Republicans blame Democrats and both parties blame Americans. I have come to believe that the real blame for our current situation is us, individual Americans.
For decades we as a country never really vetted who we were sending to Congress to represent us. We let other entities determine our leadership, particularly the entities known as the main stream media. Newspapers and television outlets all conspired and convinced us who would be the best candidate, thus a media bias was bred and borne of ignorance, corruption, and hatred for opposing points of view. The betterment of the country took back seat to the politics of the day.
This bias came upon us slowly but steadily as we, the American people ignored all the warning signs in favor of the nightly beast known as a “sitcom.” We the people transfer our responsibilities from us to specialized interest groups and then we voted the way we were instructed to vote.
Over the course of time we let our political interest slip because our leadership was focused on themselves and not the nation. We the people saw this but refused to acknowledge it opting instead for the tired old phrase “crooked politician.” We the people then neglected our responsibility in favor of mindless television.
After 60 years we are now at a cross-road: do we take action and do what must be done to survive as a country or do we bury our heads back into mindless television?
As Americans we neglected our country, our education system, our national security, and above all have failed to hold our leaders accountable for their actions. The “me first” syndrome has gripped each of us in numerous other ways as well such as sending our self-esteem to the bottom of the well or destroying it with ridicule. We as individual Americans have failed to live up to our own expectations and self-worth. I know because I am guilty as hell on this point.
For years I didn’t care about politics or what our leaders were doing, as I was not affected by the policies of the day. Then things changed for me and I was affected by policy, drastic policies which changed my own way of life. It is amazing how much you don’t care about politics until you yourself feel the effects of policy decisions. When you are young and in your twenties the only thing you are concerned about is self-absorption.
My outlook on politics changed that day but not my outlook on self-responsibility. That attitude would not change until one day in late November 2010. Until that day I always blamed my lack of success on bad luck, politics, or some other factor. Never did I blame myself for my own lack of ambition. Maybe blame is too strong of a word but self-responsibility is not. Until that day in November 2010 I never took full responsibilities for any of my actions. Just like the politicians of today everyone and everything else was responsible for my misery.
I look back on that day, just a few short months ago and compare my awakening with what is going on today. The politicians blame everyone but themselves for the mess they created. Before I had my wake-up call I did exactly the same thing. I think a lot of Americans are waking up to their own self-preservation alarm clock today.
I do not know, nor can I predict what our elected leadership is going to do, but I can predict what I am going to do. I am going to work on reaching my full potential in the years I have remaining on this sphere we call Earth. I am going to challenge myself to become the best I can be, to do the best job I can in all I do. I find it very difficult to change 60 years of procrastination and apathy, but changing I am. I am no longer blaming anyone for my lack of success or my lack of a healthy bank account. I and I alone become responsible for my actions or lack of. Thus only I and I alone can change the course of my life and steer it in a positive direction, a direction of my own choosing.
Our current crop of politicians is out to destroy our very way of life (as indicated by their actions) and the only way I know how to stop them is: 1) vote them out of office, and 2) recognize that I and I alone shall be responsible for my actions and my success. Not government, not politicians, me and only me. Period.
As you watch history in the making you need to decide who is responsible for your life. You need to decide who to blame for your success or failure. You need to determine what your future is going to be. And you need to decide if you are worthy enough to take responsibility and become a solution to this problem or stay the way you are and be nothing more than a part of the problem.
And when you decide what your life should be just remember: responsibility can be a real pain in the posterior.
G.
