Ring the alarm...

Greetings,

It's been a while since my last post. Not only have I been busy, but I've been overwhelmed by all the "goings-on" in the media lately: VA Scandal, Russia-Ukraine, China bullying the rest of East Asia, shooting in California, Common Core education reform, etc...

The longer the distance of time between my military life and my present status of civilian, the more and more I realize how easy it is to get caught up in the every day struggle of life. Capitalism does have its faults in the sense that it makes us need to focus on money. However, that wasn't an anti-capitalist statement. I'm just sympathizing a bit with the masses that refuse to participate in social and political issues because they are caught up in the struggle to earn a living.

With that being said, we owe it to our children, ourselves, and the longevity of our republic to withstand the urge to ignore politics. All the negativity filling the airwaves today is our fault. We have allowed our country to become ruled by corrupt politicians, corporate interests, and and power hungry bureaucrats. I often hear poor people say that the rich control the world because they have money. I often hear rich people say that time is money. Well, I know that all of us have at least a little time. I see the masses at the malls, sporting events, and in other various places of consumption. However, very few of us get active in even reading about our government and its relationship with "K Street." Shoot, most people don't even know what "K Street" is or what it does.

Now don't take this the wrong way. This is not a plea for the masses to rise up and ask the government to create more bad laws and big programs. This is a plea for the masses to wake up!

You have to realize that the same two parties have been in power for over a century and taken us down this destructive path. Read history, read economics, and read different political philosophy and theory. The classics are a good place to start. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle might help you to understand some of the concepts the Founders held so dear.

I don't want to rant or proselytize. I'm a Libertarian, but I'd be happy to just see people demand that we adopt a new system of voting that doesn't allow two parties to maintain a duopoly on political power and take our country further down the shitter. In most states, you can't even vote in the primary races unless you're registered as a Democrat or Republican. As seen in our last presidential election, the other candidates were not allowed at the debates and were even arrested and detained when trying to enter the debates. Most people didn't even know about the Green Party's nominee (Jill Stein), or the Libertarian Party's nominee (Gary Johnson). Both of them, in my humble opinion, are way more qualified and intelligent people than the two candidates we ended up having to choose between. I don't agree with the Green Party's stance on many issues, but I'd rather have Jill Stein in office than Barack Obama or Mitt Romney.

Lastly, do a little study in Comparative Politics, meaning, look at other countries' political systems. America doesn't have a monopoly on good ideas. As much shit as Americans talk about the French, they have a pretty awesome system of choosing their political leaders. Their semi-presidential system allows for more parties to enter the arena and they don't have a continuous election cycle like we do.

So if you read this, please allocate some time in your schedule to dedicate to being a citizen, just like you allocate time to the gym, watching sports, or anything else you do in life. Our survival as a nation and as a free people depends on all of our participation in this system.

Until next time, stay conscious my friends.

Semper Fi,
Chris Bentley