(Aug 17, 2016, 06:45 AM)jarz Wrote: [ -> ]Holy shit. My mom came into my room to bring me a plate of chicken tendies and I literally screamed at her and hit the plate of chicken tendies out of her hand. She started yelling and swearing at me and I slammed the door on her. I’m so distressed right now I don’t know what to do. I didn’t mean to do that to my mom but I’m literally in shock from this threads bad news. I feel like I’m going to explode. Why the fucking fuck is he losing? This can’t be happening. I’m having a fucking breakdown. I don’t want to believe the government is so corrupt. I want a future to believe in. I want Bernie to be president and fix this broken country. I cannot fucking deal with this right now. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, I thought he was polling well in New York???? This is so fucked.
The system is definitely corrupt at this point, and while I think Bernie would've done a lot of good things, the truth is it takes more than a good president for real change. Most people only care about politics when it's presidential election season, but the key is to care about politics all the time. Vote for senators and house representatives when those elections come around. Do your research on candidates so you know the honest guys from the liars. Look at past voting histories so you can see if they really vote the way they say they do. One important thing is to look beyond just Democrat and Republican candidates and also consider candidates from other parties such as the Libertarian or Green party. Many of our nation's problems are ones that the current two party system will not address, either because there is bipartisan agreement or because taking a certain stance would empower their political opponents. This is why you don't see candidates denouncing the war on drugs because their opponents would call them out for being "soft on crime". One could say there's no point voting for a third party because they have so little support, but if everyone who says they don't want to vote for Clinton or Trump would vote for another party, there's a likely chance of them winning. In the presidential election, even getting just 15% of the popular vote allows a third party candidate to participate in debates, giving them the opportunity for more exposure.
One big problem is that most of the American public is uninformed about important issues or they don't see the importance of them. This will also take a change in habit. Try to inform friends and family about these kinds of issues and what you think the best stance is. Back your stance with things such as news articles to make your arguments more powerful in the face of unbacked claims. If you convince everyone close to you of your opinion, and then they convince everyone close to them and so on, it can make a difference. If you find honest politicians that are running for congress, donate to their campaigns. Even if they're in another state, donate so that they can gain more exposure and more people will vote for them.
Something that's also important if you're up for it is to be active in your local community. Joining activist groups and attending protests are good if you're passionate about the issue. If you're not up for that even little things like taking 10 minutes to write something for your local newspaper's opinion section is a good idea. If politicians ever hold town hall meetings or public events in your area, go and ask the hard questions that nobody else will. Partner with other people who are interested in spreading the word.
It's also important to keep yourself informed about issues. You won't find this story on CNN or on other mainstream corporate news outlets, so try and seek out sources of independent adversarial journalism and give them financial support if you can. Some sources I like are
The Intercept,
ProPublica, and
The Guardian. Also support local newspapers so they can continue to report on issues in your local community. You should also get your friends and family to regularly read these news sources so they can keep themselves informed as well. Investigative journalism and freedom of the press are extremely important parts of a free society because its journalists who provide accountability for governments and corporations when they commit injustices.
If you don't want to do all that, consider donating a few bucks to organizations that are willing to do those things. Organizations like the
American Civil Liberties Union and
Electronic Frontier Foundation are made up of guys who are willing to do the dirty work to defend the rights and freedoms of American citizens when they come under attack by the government.
Freedom isn't free, and sometimes its not easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys. But if everyone does their part, we can have a society with liberty and justice for all.
. I was just describing ways ordinary citizens can bring an end to this kind of stuff.