Why Your Vote Matters

Twila Le Page - Hughes

• Publisher: Stratton Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781648952371
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The U.S. was founded on the principles of government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

At first it worked pretty well, but as we moved from farms to villages to cities, things began to break down. We no longer had extended families to rely on. We started depending on government bureaucracies to solve problems for us. We stopped taking responsibility for fixing these problems for ourselves. We will have to take part in government once again, teach our children, through example, to take part in government. It starts at home and goes all the way to Washington.

Voting, phoning, writing letters and personal involvement are the most powerful things we can do in order to effect change in our country. Taking time to create a better community, or working in local or national government are some ways. And supporting local candidates. "My vote doesn't count or I'm too busy, or too tired to vote, " holds no water. Every vote counts.

The government welfare programs should be a trampoline not a hammock. People need to become more independent, instead of government taking care of them.

We can no longer afford to be silent or not be involved. "Speak up now or forever hold your peace."

This book goes into the history of our country, from the early 1900s when the socialist movement started and grew, through the Great Depression in the 30s, through the 2nd World War-as I lived through these last two events, and how it got to where it is today.

I have chosen to write this book in a possible last attempt to get the Great Silent Majority-those 65 million persons who chose not to vote in some of the last elections-to realize how important this is. We are on the tipping edge right now, so that there may be only one last chance to rescue our ship of state and turn it around.

The whole Western Hemisphere is faced with the same problems-the freedoms they have or their government completely controlling their lives as it has done in China, Russia and Venezuela. Thank God, it's not too late, but get informed and VOTE!!!

 

 Chapter 1

The Angry Voter

Evil prevails when good men do nothing.

—Edmund Burke
(famous statesman from the 1700s)

 

People think their vote doesn’t count, so they stay home. (Ninety-three million people did not vote or 40 percent in 2012). 57.5 percent voted in 2012, according to the Bi-Partisan Policy Center, down from 65 percent in 2008. This is by far a lower percentage than in other democracies. NBC News says, “The US ranks 120th of the 169 countries for which data exists on voter turnout.” We do have many more elections than most other democratic countries. Could we possibly take our freedom here for granted?

According to an LA Times opinion page, January 31, 2016, there are two divisive opinions on the widespread perception about American decline. The outspoken Trump and the softer-spoken Bernie Sanders identify different culprits.

For Trump, it was the Mexican immigrants, political correctness, and US negotiators who are suckered in by the Chinese and Iranians and the decline of the military. His experience in economics and financing leads him to be concerned about our lack of economic understanding or action. His outrage at terrorism in Paris and in San Bernardino and even in Orlando had him asking for a temporary ban on immigrants coming from Islamic states. Now more recently, the terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida, only reinforced Trump’s call to slow down the Muslim immigration until these people can be checked out. Trump has had part of the wall built so that hundreds of miles have walls now on the southern border, slowing down the free fall of immigrants from Mexico, Central and South America. There’s still too many coming, climbing over the wall by Tijuana.

For Sanders, it was the parasitic billionaire class of which he is one that has profited and is the cause of the decline. A special on 60 Minutes showed many billionaires giving their money away. One was Warren Buffett, one of our richest billionaires, giving his money to Steve Jobs and wife to give it away to those in need. He started a club for other billionaires to give theirs away too. Without the rich, there would be few jobs. If you took all the money away from the rich and gave it to the poor, some would work harder or take advantage of opportunities and become rich, while many of the poor who were given money from the rich would most likely end up poor again. “The cream always rises to the top” is an old saying. If you pour whole milk from a cow into a milk bottle, the heavier cream will rise to the top. There will always be rich and poor. In America, where we have the largest middle class of any country, the opportunities are greater for individuals to rise to the top.

The stated goal of socialism is to level the playing field, to spread the wealth, but in the end, the government and rich elitists control everything. Socialism has never worked, no matter how many times it has been tried around the world. Communism, socialism, fascism, are all similar, where the government is run by a dictator and he and his appointed government body control everything. The younger generation, due to the brainwashing of the socialist professors in the universities, think socialism is cool and is what we need here. And many teachers at all levels, having been educated in the universities, teach socialism is great. Look at Cuba and how they have fared under communism and total government control. They are still about the same, very poor economically, and many still wanting to come to America for freedom. Many residents of countries under these types of control have eventually rebelled and risen up and taken back their country. The Russian bloc of satellite countries eventually took their countries back. But there are still some under totalitarian rule, such as Russia, China, Venezuela, and Cuba.

Ted Cruz, running for president in 2015, outraged by Obama’s inability to neutralize the Islamic State, said he would carpet-bomb the entire group. Well, something has to be done about terrorism. Marco Rubio, when running for president in 2015, said he would cancel the Iranian Nuclear Agreement first thing and put sanctions back on. He recognizes that Iran is one of our worst enemies and should be dealt with.

Anger is nothing new to American politics. Anger can be a powerful motivator. The initial anger was when we fought the Revolutionary War in 1776, to free ourselves from British rule and high taxation, and to be our own country. There was anger during each of the wars, from the Civil War, to the World Wars, especially after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the Vietnam War. There was anger during the Great Depression, there was anger because of the attack in New York on 9/11. There is anger at Congress and at the presidents. The Tea Party started because of anger at the Republican Establishment and Congress. It may be an appropriate response to injustice and government run amok. The Occupy Wall Street marches and riots started with anger at Wall Street’s perceived riches and possible unscrupulous actions.

To appease this anger and to get elected, many of the candidates make promises that they may not be able to keep. Once in office, a new president may find that it is not easy to jail unscrupulous Wall Streeters, tear up international agreements or treaties, give free health insurance to all, give free college to all, build a wall to stop illegal immigration, or get rid of terrorism.

Over-promising might inflame rather than lessen the anger. Obama, when running for president, promised a new future and hope. Many, especially the young, bought into that dream. Yet the economy still suffered after his stay and unemployment, if counted accurately, including those who have given up looking for work, still remained high. Obamacare has not done that well. Are we really better off than in 2012? Or than in 2008? What had he really done? Racism is worse. The economy was not rebounding very well. We were no longer feared in the world as the world leader and were blatantly disrespected. Since World War I, the United States has been considered the number one power in the world. Where would Europe and the rest of the world be if the US had not entered both World War I and II and won it for them? Then helped to reconstruct each country.

As far as the candidates fighting among each other, that is not new. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams fought bitterly and accused each other of lying and of not being capable of the office of president. Many races were bitterly fought.

 

How our ship looked in the early 1900s, sort of old-fashioned.

But the state we had been in since 1776, so steady.

Flowing with the wind, gracefully to and fro, but

Always steady as she goes!

 

Chapter 2

Our Ship of Fate

When we celebrated the hundredth anniversary of the sailing of the ill-fated ocean liner HMS Titanic in 2011, almost everyone knew the story. The Titanic, on its maiden voyage from England in 1911, to the United States, raced full speed ahead through an ocean full of icebergs, struck one, and ended with the loss of 1,500 lives as it sunk. It was billed as totally unsinkable, so no alarm was raised when they knew icebergs were in the area.

The arrogance of Obama, the Party of Unreason, and even some of the Republicans in Washington, was not only breathtaking, but was reminiscent of the builders of the Titanic. One of the builders said, “God himself could not sink this ship!” Many in Washington even act as if God himself could not bring down our country.

America, Our Ship of State

We had an administration for eight years that apparently wanted to drive America full speed ahead into the iceberg, sinking our Ship of State. Our president then, as captain of our ship, actually seemed to want to hit the iceberg. Would he, like the captain of the Italian ship, Costa Concordia, who tried at the last minute to keep from hitting rocks, but did not plan in time? His cruise ship hit the rocks in the Mediterranean and his ship started sinking. He reportedly did not stay with his ship, but took the coward’s way out and stated that he accidentally fell into a lifeboat. Maritime rule has always been that the captain stays with his ship and sees that as many as possible can be saved. Where would Captain Obama have been if our ship sank?

So what is our fate now? What can we do about it? Reclaim our ship and make it stronger, with double hull, more steel, more reinforcement, and a captain and crew with experience in business and economics, and make it invulnerable to icebergs, or do we just keep quiet and let it hit the iceberg and sink into the bottom of the sea?

We were at that point where our ship could have gone either way. It was up to us to decide.

Do we want to continue on our course with Trump again or go full steam ahead with the socialist/liberals and crash? Which will it be?

If we don’t want to crash and be buried under the sea, then we have to change course drastically as we are so clos...