A Vocal Civil War

Information travels in seconds rather than the hours of a half a century ago, or even the days of a century ago. We learn about news as it happens rather than once it has been confirmed and processed.. Opinions are expressed and repeated in minutes. Twitter streams facts, and supposed facts, faster than people can keep up with the posts. Unfortunately, this also means misinformation and lies are spread just as fast. This has become the primary source of fuel used against one another. We have become separated into two opposing sides embroiled in a verbalized civil war that is tearing us apart and costing our nation its reputation and wasting our monetary resources.

I remember only a few decades ago hearing in the news about how the parties would “come together in a show of bipartisanship.” Now, however, I can’t remember the last time I’ve heard those words. In the past decade especially I have seen more of how one party is out to get the other. I watch as policy is written and unwritten simply to spite the other party. The hardest part to watch when it comes to this battle is how we as citizens of the United States blinding follow these politicians. Their word, whether right or wrong, has become gospel and is repeated frequently. They would rather call each other names or break etiquette, acting more like children than our chosen leaders. Hell, I’ve seen children play together more peacefully than our politicians.

As a nation we claim to be “Christian,” yet we’re unwilling to help each other out. It’s a socialist idea and we’re not socialists. We claim to be a nation of freedoms, yet we would rather take away freedoms than solve the problem. There is room for compromise and cooperation, but we’ve become so divided that there’s no longer a middle ground. It’s all far left or far right. If you claim to be opposite of how the other person thinks then you are hated and ridiculed. We are losing the core of what made us the greatest nation in the world. We are becoming a laughing stock to the rest of the world, someone that they want to take advantage of rather than work with. When our presidents and political leaders are in the news not for the good they are doing for our nation or the world at large, but rather for their tweets and social lives in the seediest of lights, we have crossed a line that is going to be very difficult to reverse.

The fault lies upon us, the voters, the people, who have become complacent and won’t think for ourselves. We let them do what they want how they want. We let lies and misinformation pass amongst us without stopping and confirming things. Yes, there are plenty of false news sources out there, but we have so much information at our fingertips we can certainly separate the false information from the true facts. We need to stop and think about what is being portrayed. We need to do our own research. We need to return this country to a nation of the people who care about our government and are willing to find the truth before forming their own opinion.

I challenge us to open our eyes. I challenge us to look critically at our politicians. I challenge us to become an educated population rather than mindless drones. Do you think we can end this war of words? For the sake of our nation we need to become more educated and willing to work for the betterment of each other not to destroy the other side.