A Country Divided (By Jacob Coy)

       I would like to start off by saying that I am a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, 0331 Machine Gunner. I served in Fallujah, Iraq as well as on the USS Iwo Jima on the 26^th MEU. The topic of this article is to explain the fundamental problem we face as a society today to include the causes, the effects and ways in which to solve this problem.

           The biggest problem that has arisen is the disconnect between the political parties and ultimately choosing the best course of action for the people of this nation. Whether or not you are a Republican, Democrat or Independent, the absolute primary goal of political parties is to devise a way to better the lives of the American people, maintain social and economic stability, create rules and regulations within the confines of the Constitution and Bill of Rights and more than anything, protect its people’s freedoms and safety. What has happened in past years is the political war between parties. If the Democrats come out with a good plan for healthcare, the Republicans shoot it down. If the Republicans come out with good plan for foreign policy, the Democrats shoot it down. We’re no longer looking at what’s really important; the stability, growth, welfare of the people and the longevity of the United States. Political parties fighting each other leads to the parties followers fighting each other and until we can find common ground, we cannot expect to progress as a nation. I’m not saying we all have to agree with each other, but we need to change our motives.

           Step one in this process, is to eliminate corporate influence. Far too often you see politicians backing corporations in an effort to secure profits. What this leads to is an overwhelming influence from those corporations on the politicians, which don’t always have the United States’ best interests in mind, especially when you look at oil companies and defense contracts. These are two areas that bring in enormous profit with very little gains as far as the U.S. citizens are concerned. I’m not knocking capitalism. I’m all for companies making maximum profit as long as it doesn’t come from the weakening of the economy.

           Step two is to take a breather from the bickering back and forth to see what problems are truly facing the nation and not whether you’re red or blue. We’ve become so focused on destroying the other party’s credibility that we’ve lost sight of the weakening financial state, the growing unemployment, the lack of education, the increasing prison population, the foreign wars still being fought and I could go on all day. Sit down together as a nation, because at the end of the day we’re all Americans, and find out ways to better ourselves and our situations. Coming to an agreement isn’t going to be easy but it’s made more difficult when one side is unwilling to listen to the other.

           Before I start this portion, I’d just like to say that these are only opinions and I am open to constructive criticism or educated debate. Taking the economic pressure off of government is going to reap benefits beyond imagining. We have over 15 trillion dollars of debt and steadily rising. The primary cause of this debt is a centralized banking system that controls the production and value of our dollar. I’m not going into detail on the Federal Reserve because if you don’t know its practices by now, you shouldn’t be reading this. Eliminating the centralized banking system would bring our debts down a considerable amount, taking a little bit of pressure off of the government as well as bringing a higher value back to our dollar. Not only does the interest we owe to the Fed go away but the value of our currency going up also eliminates some zeros from the debt.

           As much as I loved the Marine Corps, pulling out of foreign wars will eliminate the trillions of dollars we spend to sustain them, bringing more money into things that we need such as education, job creation and opening up prospects for foreign trade markets. Higher education means more people contributing to society and in turn, creates a better future for the next generation. Job creation employs people to build that better future and secure for themselves and their families, a better standard of living. Obviously, we don’t have all the materials we need in the U.S., so opening foreign trade will give us a better opportunity to get the resources we need at a better price from more countries than what we’re limited to now. Ending these wars also creates a stronger national defense by increasing the protection we have in our own country. We’re spread so thin right now that it wouldn’t take much for a foreign country to launch an offensive on CONUS (Continental United States) with startling results.

           These are just ideas to get the brain moving and these are just my opinions. There’s plenty more to come from my end. I challenge everyone to get involved, to provide input and generally speaking, to care about the state of this country. A country divided is no country at all and I just want to see constructive ideas from some of the most brilliant minds I’ve ever seen: veterans. Thank you for reading and please feel free to add any input you would like to this article. Also, a big shout out to Walter and Dave for setting all this up. I am proud to have served with you and I look forward to the progression of this site.