Getting my voice heard

Right now I'm listening to the Beatles "Revolution".  I've been watching and listening to Les Miserables especially the songs "Do you hear the people sing?" and "Red and Black".  I've had a horrible day and I'm frustrated with myself and the whole world around me. 

I have a feeling this is going to be a ranting post.  I hope I don't offend anyone but this is really how I feel at this exact moment in time.

I don't even know where to start.

I have watched elections that I haven't been able to vote in and I've watched the government make mistake after mistake after mistake.  I have always learned that here in the USA we are ruled by the people for the people.  Is that really the case anymore?  I just don't know anymore.  I have been told that majority rules but what happens when the majority becomes silent?  Or becomes so loud that they can't even here themselves anymore?  Many people that I have talked to have become so dissillusioned with the political system and feel like there is nothing they can do to change everything that is happening in the world that they disagree with.  I mean what can I and my friends and family do?  We can vote.  We can write our representitives.  We could protest.  But really none of those things will do a whole lot of good at this point.

I think that part of the problem is the two party system.  I think more people should vote third party.  The democrats have become so liberal they are conservative and the republicans have become so conservative that they're liberal.  I agree with about half of what each party stands for and I think both parties have some really flawed thinking.  Half the problem is that they won't compromise, they are all too worried about being right and getting whatever is on their agenda passed rather than focusing on what is good for the American people and what the majority wants and needs.  This is a huge issue.  It's what causing our country to go downhill.  In the Book of Mormon it talks about how the majority of people will usually want what is right, so it's up to our leaders to listen to the majority.

Another problem is in fact the internet.  Don't get me wrong, I love the internet it can be helpful how easy it is to get information.  The issue is that it makes it so easy for everyone to put their ideas out there that there are so many voices and so many putting out their opinions it's virutally impossible to unite people.  (And yes I understand the irony of me writing this on my blog.) Everyone is so busy speaking, yelling their opinions that no one is taking the time to listen.  We as a generation need to remember to use our ears and mouth proportionately. 

If you look throughout history, it is always the young people who bring about the necessary changes in the world.  The American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Civil Rights, they were all started by college students.  Adults my age.  But now people my age either don't care or feel like there is nothing they can do about it.  But I think that we need to stand up for our country and for what is right. If we don't stand up, who will?

Basically I want to be able to tell my children and grandchildren that I stood for what was right, that I didn't sit by passively and let the world change around me for the worse without trying to make a change for the better.  I want to make sure that the world is a better place when I leave it then it was when I got it, then it is right now.  Whether it be politics, standing up for the family, or just plain standing up for what I think is right, whether or not it's popular, I just want to be able to stay that I stood up and had my voice heard and counted for.

Sorry this post is kind of rambling and I don't know if it made much sense, but I just had to get it out there.