A recent NPR poll sites that 68% of Americans think this country is on the wrong track while only 23% say it’s headed in the right direction. Sixty-eight percent. That’s an awful lot of people unhappy with the way our country is headed. My question is this- if 68% of Americans are upset with the way things are going, why aren’t 68% of Americans doing something about it?
Yes, I know that we can all say, “Hey, I voted in 2006 for a change in Congress. Look what happened!” It is our country-given right to vote, and that is generally one of the best and easiest ways to make your voice heard. But, that takes about 10 minutes out of your day, once a year (if that). What happens the next day when you rip that “I Voted Today” sticker off of your coat?
If you’re upset with the way America is headed, do something about it. Write to those representatives that you helped get into office. Don’t forget- their sole responsibility is to represent the people who voted them in. If they’re not hearing from those people, they’re going to just assume that everything is ok. It takes about 3 minutes to write an email to your congressperson, and quite a few social change websites (HRC, Moveon.org, Amnesty International, etc.) even write the letter for you and just ask you to plug in your address so they know who to send it to. It’s that easy.
OR, make your voice heard in other ways- peaceful protests are always a good way to get public attention about an issue you hold near and dear. Get creative. Check out the Rainforest Action Network at the Chicago Board of Trade. Or these folks from Greenpeace. Now that’s creative, peaceful protest. These people are trying to make changes because they’re part of that huge 68% of Americans who are unhappy.
A poll isn’t going to scare anyone in Washington or (insert your state capital here). Look at how low Bush’s approval rating has been all year, yet he still continues to make decisions that anger the majority of Americans. If you’re part of that 68% of pissed of Americans, then do something about it. Please, stop complaining and saying how much you can’t wait until 2009, because that’s over a year away, and we all know how much things can change in a year. Stop complaining and get active. It’s your right and duty as a pissed off American to do so.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Whatcha' Waiting For?
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3 comments:
Very true. It is certainly time that people started actively participating. It shouldn't take something like your child dying in the war to make you try to stop it, but sadly, this is the case most of the time.
Here's my theory about why we're complacent:
http://robbolson.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/my-favorite-hippies/
I completely second your frustration. I get regular emails from move on and am constantly signing petitions and sending letters to my representatives and still we are in Iraq. I've been studying like mad the last couple of days, but did hear very briefly that perhaps some troops were going to be coming home from Iraq? I still can't believe that this country reelected W (can't believe that he was voted in for one term let alone two!). My only hope is that he and his are investigated and there is some sort of criminal charges brought against this administration. Anyway, I think that a massive march on Washington perhaps would maybe get their attention, but I am highly doubtful. It just seems that with this group of people, the tried and true forms of protest don't work. The Democrats need to step up and take a real stand. Since 2001, we still haven't found Osama Bin Laden, Mass destruction and we had the worst natural disaster in US history and the victims are getting screwed out of money to rebuild and never received adequate aid from their government.
People don't make more of an effort to "change" things because its not that important to them. Its not that important to them because their lives aren't that bad.
I am curious about the criminal charges that are supposed to be filed against the Bush Administration. To bring about impeachment of President Clinton, all they needed was him lying about a sexual act. People claim the Bush administration are terrorist and you're telling me the Democrats, who spend 80 percent of their time trying to build a case to get Bush out of office, cannot find any real evidence. Why do you think that is?
Why has their not been a new blog post since October?
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