BY RUSSELL TURNER
THE ME FACTOR
Having just observed the recent political campaigns it has reinforced my concerns for the future of our nation. Our nation is in serious trouble even though most of the electorate is completely oblivious to the warning signs. Too many of our citizens have heard the words about our government being of the people, by the people and for the people, but they fail to understand the ramifications of not doing our due diligence as citizens of the United States. The founders of this nation sacrificed dearly for the liberty and freedoms that we take for granted. A true patriot is the person that wants to better society without any expectation of personal gain for doing so. The founders were such people; many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence lost all of their worldly possessions and many of them were tortured to death just for having the audacity to oppose the sins of a dictatorial government. Sadly our people have fallen into a system known as, for the lack of a better term, “THE ME FACTOR”.
Instead of looking out for the future of our nation too many of our citizens don’t want to be bothered with the issues of the day. They often think that they are doing their civic duty if they go vote, often they will base that vote upon the lamest of excuses. Most voters do not realize that they are being manipulated on a daily basis. There are armies of political hacks and consultants that have developed a fine art of swaying the voters. I have noticed that the politician who tries to disseminate the whole picture of the problems we are facing in the nation are more often than not defeated. The candidates who do refuse to campaign on the facts and numbers often win with some catchy jingle or pretty post card.
I have also heard people say that they didn’t want to get involved because doing so might hurt business; it has always been my belief that taking care of our country is one of the biggest and most important jobs that any of us will have in life. When you look at all of the past empires of this world they were also infected with the “ME FACTOR” as well. It has become abundantly clear that as government grows more and more people have become addicted to government programs and spending. No matter how foolish or absurd programs become there will be supporters of them. I think it was Mark Twain who said that “History may not always repeat itself but it certainly rhymes”. Many years ago an ole politician told me to always tell the people what they want to hear and, if you have to, just lie to them; then after you are elected do what you want to do. While many people profess a belief in Jesus Christ they don’t understand how the “ME FACTOR” in his day contributed to his torture and execution. If we Americans don’t start learning to recognize the “ME FACTOR” we are never going to solve our problems.
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