What Has Happened to Our Country?
I try to not get political in my writings, but I am seeing actions that make me worry about our democracy. I was talking to Michael, a good friend and an Iraqi freedom veteran with a purple heart and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Politically we agree on few things, but that’s OK we are still friends and respectfully hear each other out. We believe we can still be friends and agree on absolutely nothing politically. Why can’t others act the way Michael and I do, to others it’s all about getting their way. Our society has lost compassion for each other. As Sebastian Junger put it, our soldiers are fighting for an ideal that does not exist anymore outside the military, the right to have an opinion and not be condemned for having that opinion. We as a country are so divided that we are ceasing to function as the great society our founding fathers designed in the Constitution.
The first thing I have noticed is a lack of compromise from our elected officials. This lack of compromise has spread to the general public via social media and partisan news organizations. It’s irrelevant which party you follow as a veteran, our elected leaders on both sides are not doing what is best for the country we fought and died for. Our elected leaders have become sheep to the special interest and bullies who threaten them. Politicians have become all about getting re-elected, not what is best for our country. Politicians and society appears to have lost a fundamental part of being an American, respect for each other and differing opinions. It appears the politicians are bringing their constituents down with them. The lack of compassion and civility on both sides of the political isle has become an embarrassment. The tit for tat has got to stop for the United States to be successful. It’s irrelevant which party you follow, both are responsible for the situation. It is ok to disagree, but do we have to be nasty about it? As a mental health professional, I know what the lack of civility does to the human psyche. People pick sides and start fights because they believe “I’m right, you’re wrong, shut up “without hearing the other side out and looking at facts. All we do is watch the polarized news organizations we choose and refuse to look at how others think and feel about a given situation.
Our politicians need to stop believing they must win at all cost. It’s not about winning or losing, it is about making the United States the best country in the world. Society has let politicians and the media divide us. Non-politicians spend so much time fighting each other that the politicians are free to do what they please, their constituents are too busy fighting each other to pay attention to what they are doing. Politicians are not civil to each other or their constituents who disagree with them, they appear to have a lack of loyalty to our country and a loyalty to their political affiliation and special interest.
Millions of veterans have given their lives to defend the Constitution of the United States. Military veterans from all branches have gotten out of the military and returned home to a divided country, the likes we have not seen since Vietnam. Don’t all Americans deserve respect, compassion, and the hope of a better life. I know that’s what I fought for, not the partisan fighting that the United States has become. I know some will disagree, but to me this is not whatI risked my life for. I want the United States to be Shining City President Regan envisioned, “a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here”. Somehow I feel we have lost our way, we need to find our way back to the country we deserve and the ideals all veterans have fought for.
For questions or comments, I can be reached at bo@afterdutyvets.com or visit our website at afterdutyvets.com.