I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted from all the bickering and fighting over politics. And I’m exhausted from all the angry bitter posts on social media. And I’m frustrated that if I post something in response to a friend’s post, people who are complete strangers feel it’s okay to attack me, call me names, and accuse me of things when they don’t know me. As Glenn Beck so elegantly stated in his book “Addicted to Outrage”, our society is addicted to outrage and anger and always being right. It doesn’t matter what it costs us as a country. And it doesn’t matter what it costs us as individuals.

I believe that for many years, the US politicians have used a divide and conquer mindset to try to disrupt our country. They keep us all busy by fueling our anger and infighting while they keep passing bills that benefit themselves, and little by little take away our liberties and freedoms.

I’m attacked on social media if I suggest that change starts at home and in your own community. If you read our Constitution and Bill of Rights, the Federal Government is supposed to have the least amount of authority and influence on our lives. We were supposed to rule locally with representatives that live in our neighborhoods and understand what we need. Instead, the Federal Government has been slowly, over decades, taking away the local and state powers by enacting bill after bill that usurps the power of the local governments.

Our country was once called the melting pot. We were called the greatest nation. And evidently, we must still have something very special if you look at how many people want to come here. Being a nation comprised of immigrants meant that we had to figure out how to fit in and how to become part of what already was here. It meant assimilating into the culture. It didn’t mean you forgot who you were. It meant you wanted to bring your best to contribute to the overall good.

If we look at just the 19th and 20th century immigrants to the US, we see a diverse group of people who came here for various reasons. Some came here because there were no jobs in their home country and they were looking for a better life for theirself and their families. Some came here to escape horrible regimes. People were willing to die to try to get to the US. They came from Cuba on rafts that were not seaworthy. They came here from China to escape the Communist regime. They came here from Southern Italy to escape the extreme poverty and high joblessness rate. People came from all over the world for a better life.  And people are still coming here for that promise of a better life.

Now we see our politicians wanting to emulate other country’s political organizations. Why would we do that? The people from those countries are coming to the US to have better lives and more freedom. How many Americans are going to those countries to escape horrible conditions in the US?

Are we a perfect nation? No, we are not. Do you know why? Because we are made up of a multitude of imperfect people. People who have faults and make mistakes. And yes, people who have evil in their hearts and wish to harm others. If we look at our politicians, we see people who have been in office for decades blaming newcomers for all the problems in the US. The same people who came into office with average financial standing and after decades in office, are now millionaires. How did that happen on the salaries they earn and the lives they lead? Do you believe that these people are doing what is best for the American people? Or are they doing what is best for them even if it hurts the average citizen?

If you look in your own neighborhood, do you see the level of intolerance that the government and media constantly berate us about? Or do you see neighbor helping neighbor? I would venture to say that the majority of hatred and venomous speech comes from the politicians and those who are manipulated by those politicians. You may wonder, why would they do that to us? It goes back to what I said at the beginning – to divide and conquer. While you and I are fighting over whatever crazy thing the politicians throw out to the media, they are passing bills that continue to cause damage to the average American. All while telling us how they empathize with us and are going to make things better. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think things are better. I have never seen this country so divided and so full of anger and hatred.

I’ve always tried to judge each person I meet based on how they act and how they treat others. I’m not saying I like everyone, because that isn’t true. We are all different and we tend to like people that are similar to us. People who share our values and morals. I cringe when I hear a politician publicly criticizing based on race, gender, ethnicity, religion, etc. And I hear it a lot! And I also cringe when people give a pass to someone because they are affiliated with a group that person associates with. I cringe because the world is watching us and these people are not representing this country in a positive light.

Having said that, I also believe that everyone running around being offended all the time is not helpful. I was taught as a child “Sticks and stones will break my bones. But names will never hurt me.” We have to get over the notion that we should prosecute people for hate speech because they said something that offends us. I have heard more dumb blonde jokes than you can even imagine. Guess what, the jokes on them because this blonde knows that she is smart and valuable and has done very well for herself. Don’t misunderstand me, there is a time to take words seriously and act on them. And that time is when imminent threats are being made which could result in injury or death to themselves or others.

I believe we have to get back to “one nation” and stop tearing ourselves apart. We were all united by a love of a country that is the greatest in the world. That has the most freedoms of any country. That takes in thousands and thousands of immigrants a year and offers them a chance at a better life. A country that has made itself better and grown beyond things that divided us in the past. And now we are allowing politicians and news reports to divide us again. I maintain that we have come too far to allow this to go on.

I’ve heard certain politicians say hateful, negative things about the following topics: Israel, Jewish people, Christians, the United States people, whites, blacks, Asians, Muslims, the US flag, Democrats, Republicans and many others. I’ve heard politicians call each other names. I’ve heard politicians say it’s ok to lie or be deceitful if it accomplishes the end goal. Tell me, why do we keep electing these people? Because there aren’t always choices. Because people who have integrity and morals are often not willing to put themselves through the horrific pre-election process of digging up every little transgression or misspoken word that anyone has ever uttered – even if they were a child when it happened. And if the opponent can’t find anything real, they make it up. And those that hold themselves above the mud slinging and refuse to stoop to that level are not interesting because they don’t feed the frenzy.

Our country has very humble beginnings. People who came here to be free to worship as they wanted. To live their lives without fear of government oppression. Our government structure was put in place specifically to keep any single person from gaining total control over our country. It was created with checks and balances. Presidents have been usurping the checks and balances for decades with executive orders. The House and Senate continue to hide all kinds of things in high profile bills so they can get their pet project through without due process. And then lie and tell the American people that the opposition didn’t approve the bill because they are mean and want to hurt the people Meanwhile, they don’t tell you they are so upset because their little addition exempting them from something the rest of us have to abide by or funneling money to some pet project that helps them and their business cronies at our expense is why the bill wasn’t passed.

We are being fed superficial information that is emotional and inflammatory intentionally to keep us preoccupied while the government gets larger and more bloated. We need to take back our emotions. And take back our government. And we can begin by holding both sides accountable for what they say and what they do. We can educate ourselves by reading the bills that Congress is telling us are in our best interests. We can lobby our politicians to vote for things we agree with and vote no for those things that are going to ultimately harm us.

We can take back our power by no longer feeding into the frenzy created by sports figures and Hollywood darlings. Those people are there to entertain us. Not to tell us how to think. The best thing that can happen to America is that we heed the warning of our forefathers about the evils of the two party government system and start acting like we all belong to the same country. We can go back to being good families, good neighbors and good citizens. We can stop calling people names because of where they worship, what color their skin is, what country they came from, or who they voted for. We can start conversations with people in real life to understand why they think the way they do. I believe that you would find we have more in common with people than we disagree on. But you will never know unless you try.