HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH?

By: Dale Brown

Never have I seen the American public so disgusted with our Congress, Wall Street and the large corporations. Partisan politics, negative campaigning and seemingly no control over big business is literally sickening everyone. I plead with you to lead the way in cleansing a system that is totally out of control.

Americans are not only fed up with the greed, the lies and the cheating but they are angry. Please serve as a beacon light to change a system that so begrudgingly accepts change.

150 years ago, British historian Thomas Macaulay made this dire prediction for America, “Your civilization will be destroyed in the 20th century, as Rome was in the 5th century. But the huns and vandals which will destroy you will come from within, from your own institutions.” Yes, I know this is the 21st century but we had better wake up and demand that our Congress start putting the country first or his prediction could come true.

J. Paul Getty many years ago said, “I fear that unless there are many drastic changes in both basic philosophies and actual practices in every sector of human existence, our society will deteriorate and decline. It may well be wracked with upheavals far greater than any in previous history. It could, and I do not take the possibility lightly, be totally destroyed.”

I now ask you, will you just read this and delete it or will you try to do something about it? It has been said that nobody makes a greater mistake than someone who did nothing because he could do only a little. Please contact your congressman and demand change or vote them out of office.

I have traveled in 90 countries throughout the world and fully realize there is no better place to live but if we truly want to make this a better place to live we should follow Gandhi’s advice, “We must be the change we wish to see.”

When I was visiting Auschwitz I was appalled by seeing what one human being could do to another and thought how could this be possible. As I was leaving I saw a small plaque which gave me the answers, it said, “The road to Auschwitz was built by hate but paved with indifference.” We no longer can be indifferent to the ills of our society. Always remember when truth is in danger, silence equals guilt.

Great social transformation such as the end of slavery, the women’s and Civil Rights movements and the end of colonial rule all began with public awareness and engagement. Political leaders followed rather than led. A few courageous and committed people fed up with the system brought about the change. I sincerely hope that you will be stimulated to do something constructive and demand that we return to the principles that made this country the best in the world.

The system in Washington, D.C. and the large corporations in this country are corrupt. It is rigged by the powerful special interest groups to benefit the very few at the expense of the many. William Bennett in his book, “Death of Outrage” said, “The leader must be whole, he cannot have his public character be honest and his private character be dishonest.” We are to blame for many of our current problems because we have not demanded enough from those in powerful positions.

All of us Americans have a duty to end the corruption, greed, ineptness, and cronyism that have dominated the political and corporate world for far too many years.

What we desperately need today on all fronts are men and women willing to stand up for decency, truth, integrity, morality, law and order and who will respond to their conscience even when it is unpopular to do so – especially when it is unpopular to do so.

So now the question is, can we change a sick system and the answer is emphatically YES but only if we are vigilant, committed, disciplined, determined, and courageous enough to demand good ethics and honorable leadership.

The idea of saviors has been built into our entire culture. We have learned to look to stars, leaders, and experts in every field, thus surrendering our own strength, demeaning our own ability and causing us not to act when we see incompetence, dishonesty, and injustices.

Abraham Lincoln warned us when he said, “At what point is the approach of danger to be expected, if it is to reach us it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot – we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men we must live through all time or die by suicide.”