The Silent Majority

The first in a series of editorials sent to the Tuscaloosa News for publishing - 9/16/2009.

The Silent Majority

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors." --Greek philosopher Plato

Americans better wake up to the “changes” that are occurring. I find it horrifying that Obama’s senior advisor David Axelrod said Sunday when asked about the weekend demonstrations by the “tea party” protestors that “I don’t think it’s indicative of the nation’s mood; my message to them is they’re wrong.” It appears that either you agree with the President or you are wrong. Excuse me? I thought that Obama ran on a platform of hope and change. The only change that I see is this feeble Republic quickly heading down the path of socialism. Is this the change that the people voted for? I thought that we lived in a democracy that celebrated differences and allowed dissenting views on issues.

During August we witnessed high-spirited town hall meetings on healthcare. The majority of the attendees weren’t radicals but concerned citizens trying to find the truth. Americans are skeptical of any large changes from Washington given the radical changes over the past year. Just a few years ago who would have imagined that we would be spending trillions of dollars bailing out AIG, Citigroup, General Motors, Chrysler, Bank of America, etc? When did we become a nation of whiners? Capitalism thrives on rewarding success and punishing failure (via bankruptcy). This is heads I win, tails you (the taxpayer) lose. The small amount of trust that we had in government was lost after the bailouts.

Instead of acknowledging that the proposed healthcare changes need to be re-evaluated and time needs to be spent ensuring that we get the bill right (after all healthcare makes up about 15% of the US economy) Congress wants to belittle the people questioning them. After all, don’t you trust that the 1,600 page bill written by the Service Employees International Union (SEIC) was thoroughly ready by your Congressional Representative?

It is difficult to get the average American motivated to participate in political rallies, write letters to Congress and speak out against unwelcome change since most are busy living their lives and not trying to infringe on others. I urge you to get involved if you care about your children and grandchildren. The national debt is $11,838,821,622,477 as of 9/17/09 or about $38,570 for each citizen. How will we ever pay this back? Excessive spending is going to bankrupt this country. What kind of legacy are you leaving for your family?

Don’t rely on the mainstream media outlets—ABC, NBC, CBS, the New York Times to give you accurate coverage. They are not interested in giving you all of the facts; it is in their best interest to tell you what they want you to know. This is the early stage of socialism. Do you really think the German people woke up one morning in the 1930s and decided that burning books was a great idea? It is a slippery slope; you must uncover the truth and protect America from the changes that will destroy our children’s future. This is not a Republican versus Democratic issue—leave the political parties out of it. This is about saving the America established by our Founding Fathers. You must break from being the silent majority. Stand up and make your voice heard!

Kristi Pugh-Owens, CFA