This is a nice summation of it all. Truth be told, I never paid any attention to politics or issues in general because I grew up in an environment that was pretty apathetic to politics. Then after college and moving out, I started to feel it. My breaking point was when I was recently told by my doctor “… We do have better medications that will work, but I can’t prescribe them to you because you don’t have insurance and are paying out of pocket."
No one should ever be told that.
How much time ya got buddy?
I like to think of it as more of a cumulative breaking point. It’s centered around an unfair wealth distribution which has caused problems for a lot of people in this country, but it is a combination of many things.
We’re fighting two pointless wars which are costing billions per month, killing our own troops as well as innocent people caught in the crosshairs. A large number of people in the US can’t afford, or are unable to receive health care (myself included.) My generation was raised being told the only way you could get a decent job was to go to college, and many are graduating only to find their job has been outsourced while they have $80k in debt that they have to start paying off within a matter of months. The most frustrating thing for me is having a government that has decided it no longer cares about what the people want, or need for that matter. There are people in this country who have become so insanely rich that they can now influence policy to their benefit, while at the same time, polluting the only planet we have to live on.
The short answer: A fight to restore democracy and the rule of law. People have had enough with this plutocracy.
Some things I would like to see come out of all of this. (Though I would be surprised if a single one of these things happened.)
- Health care for all
- Prosecute those responsible for our current economic depression. We are told nobody is above the law, let’s prove it.
- A new voting system, like the Schulze method.
- Ending the wars.
- Tax reform, closing of loopholes. A system that is fair for all, and healthier for our country. Billionaire hedge fund managers shouldn’t be paying a significantly smaller tax percentage than someone making $60k a year.
- Dismantling monopolies which got us into this whole mess in the first place. If a bank is “too big to fail” it is simply “too big” We could start by repealing the Gramm-Leach-Blily Act.
- Get money out of politics.
- Equal rights for all.
- Decriminalization of all drugs.
- Lastly, I would like to wake up one day with a feeling that the people we elect to office are actually looking out for the people, and not corporations. I voted for Obama in 08’ with the delusion that he would at least TRY. What I got was a charismatic Bush.