When I was younger, I really loved America.  I believed in the conservative policies that my parents and grandparents believed in; I wanted to be in the American Military when I grew up; I was a Church-going Christian and I wanted to serve what I thought was the greatest nation in the world.

Over time my views changed. From grade 2-10 I lived in South Africa, as the son of a missionary with my parents, two sisters, and my brother.  

This had an influence on me, because I think the separation from what I considered one of my two homes (America, the other being Canada) made me even more “American”.  Eventually when we moved back my views changed.   To me I found my home, but I grew to dislike it over these years. I used to wait for the day in anticipation that I might vote and help decide with the masses who will be leading us. I eventually changed my opinions to that opposite of what I grew up with.  I became a dedicated Atheist who loved anything that had the word “Democracy” or “Democrat” in it.  

I wanted to irritate my past. I guess I didn’t really know what I was in the end, because my opinions changed so radically. Slowly I picked up on what was really going on and how things such as voting, politics, and society’s relation to politics came about. It wasn’t all lovey-dovey “Yay for Democratic Republic USA” that it seemed.  It was brutal. 

People unnecessarily suffer under this system, and they are constantly blamed for it. Elections are supposed to fix these things. We’re supposed to put people in office that can compromise and still remain loyal to who they are and what they represent (human beings).

Yet compromise is considered a weak word in politics these days. Nobody really means it.

The Republicans want the Democrats to “compromise” to massive, crippling tax cuts that will benefit rich people (under the guise of helping the poor), and the Democrats want the Republicans to “compromise” to their undying cause of social “justice”, which they have failed to implement time and time again every time they have had the majority vote and rule in office.  

On the sidelines we have the Green Party that only focuses on a single issue, and the Libertarians who still seem to live in the 1800s, believing the mighty words of John Locke and Thomas Paine in the literal, slightly outdated sense. Then we have 20 different kinds of Socialists who all have these infighting picky conflicts that involve nobody but themselves, and truly defy the original ideas of what Socialism was about (*cough*workingtogether*cough*).

Can’t people get past these things anymore? We are all human beings. We all want to live peacefully, with our own thoughts, and with the ability for someone to catch us if we happen to fall by mistake. In the end, elections these days are useless. We’ll get the same bull crap from the same career politicians.  

This year’s election is no different. Ron Paul isn’t some kind of revolutionary. Obama is basically a hypocrite (says something completely different from how he acts). And Romney is a exploitative millionaire who would love to make more money (off of you).  When will people come to the realization that America is broken?

America is stuck in a mud puddle of ideology and sensationalism. The Founding Fathers were a mixture of racists, slave ridden, misogynist patriarchs who are truly not meant for the modern world. We need a new constitution with new laws. We need less bureaucracy and more citizen and activist activity.  

People can’t sit back and merely wish politicians would do a good job, and hope that voting does the trick. They need to be active in pursuing it. They need to show that their opinions really matter. Some say America doesn’t have democracy, and they would be right.  

But what would be wrong in wanting to claim it for ourselves these days. So when this election comes around, don’t vote Democrap or Republican’t. Don’t hope for the Green Party or the Libertarians to get a grasp. And definitely don’t let those picky, self-righteous Socialists into office. Let the people regain office. 

The only way people can do that is to revolutionize the way we live and think, and to delegitimize the corrupt America we all know exists. 

Without people to acknowledge power, there isn’t any power. But it can’t be done by individuals. This is something we have to do together. There are only two options this election. Continue to act the way things have gone every election, and stop complaining about how bad things are for you; or delegitimize the power in and surrounding Washington D.C.