Democratic Column

Engage for Progress

Too often I hear people complain about this problem or that problem, this politician or that politician, and I ask them who they voted for, and they respond with, "Oh, I don't vote; my one vote doesn't matter." All the while, they are unable to realize that those with this apathetic attitude towards politics are often the majority. Yet, if they were to engage themselves and join with the millions of others who stand on the sidelines and just watch, that maybe, just maybe, we could elect better candidates and realize the change we need.

I believe that here in the state of Georgia many are unsatisfied with the current conditions of: rising healthcare costs, gas prices going through the roof, people not being able to afford medicines they need, retired people having to return to the workplace, or reaching retirement age and not being able to retire because social security has not kept up with the cost of living. Our forefathers' vision was that we elect officials that represent the people, unfortunately, for the last few decades most of our elected officials have become the voice of the oil companies, pharmaceutical companies, mortgage companies, etc.

The agenda in Washington has not been set to one that is the most beneficial to the majority of the American people, but to the few that are able to pay lobbyists to voice their opinions and ideas. This has hurt the working class. Tax breaks are being delivered to companies who move jobs overseas, while we are left jobless and asked to pick up the slack. For the areas where we haven't been able to pick up the slack, our leaders then borrow from Japan, China, and others alike, as if they were some kind of credit card. Well that credit card bill is weighing heavily on the value of our dollar, it is worth less now than it has been in many years. In turn, this has become a large contributor in the rising cost of fuel.

Have we dug ourselves into a hole so deep that we cannot get out? I don't believe so, but it is going to take some serious American ingenuity to get us out of this mess. We've invented electricity, the light bulb, the automobile, we were the first to the moon, and we've landed a vehicle on mars! It's time to take the next great step in the American story; we must free ourselves from foreign oil and reduce the debt we have accumulated. We are not going to drill ourselves out of this mess, and huge tax breaks for corporations will not pay off the debt that is killing the value of our dollar.

This is not the year to sit on the sidelines and hope things get better, this is the year to register to vote and vote for change. We cannot continue to follow the same failed policies and expect a different result. We must engage ourselves in democracy if we want to progress as a nation again.

John Anthony is a veteran of the United States Army and runs a small auto glass business. He has been active in the Democratic party for many years and is a member of the Whitfield County Democratic Committee. Born in Atlanta, he now resides in Cohutta Georgia with his wife Lisa and two daughters, Katlyn and Dharma.