I was discussing life, money, politics, and pretty much any other issue we felt like talking about with a good friend the other day.

We were talking about how to make it in today’s America and that it is like trying to win a rigged game in a casino. The tables have been tampered with, and the rules have been set to favor the owners of the casino at your expense. Bankers, politicians, and big business leaders have systematically structured the system so they get more wealth and power and you get screwed.

For us to fight back, two things need to happen.

First, people have to be made aware of what’s going on.

That’s a challenge today because our education system is being gutted and critical thinking is in short supply but also a lot of what happens takes place in ways that are designed not to be seen. Very few people understand how corporations use lobbying to stack the deck in their favor, for example, or how our modern debt-based money system is designed to steal value from the dollars in your pocket.

Second, people need to know what to do about it.

When you open your eyes to the way the system is rigged in almost every area of your life, it’s easy to feel powerless, and that struggle is futile. But the truth is, we can all fight back, on an individual and collective level. There is tremendous power in action and in consciously deciding how you choose to live your life.

When people talk about living the American Dream, they could easily be describing me. I grew up in an era when if you worked hard and played by the rules you could realize the American dream, and in many ways, I have. But I realized long ago that my daughter, and millions of others like her, would never have a chance to realize their own dreams because a small group of greedy businesspeople and self-serving politicians had rigged the rules in their favor.

I believe I could write several books on the specifics of what is wrong and what to do about those things but in a letter to the editor solutions have to be simple, short, and to the point. The short version is there have been several times in my life where I felt as if my voice and my vote didn’t really matter and the citizens of this country could not truly make a difference.

I believe right now is not one of those times and what we can each do between now and the next election is get involved. It doesn’t matter if you are a Dem., Repub., Independent, or have never been involved. Choose your team and register to vote and make a commitment to our country that between now and the next election you will personally help five people to register to vote and make sure they actually vote.

The majority of people in this country don’t bother and we see over the last 30 years where that has gotten us. It will only take 10 percent of the millions of unregistered and apathetic people to vote to overcome the obscene amounts of special interest money in politics and the gerrymandered Districts which right now have 65 percent of Congressional seats drawn to favor one Party or the other. 

Commit to get involved join your local County Political Party of whichever party you favor but quit acting like your vote does not matter.

The special interests win if you buy the con that your vote does not matter as I believe it has never mattered more if we want our kids and grand-kids to have a chance at a decent future.

Garry Gentry

Tifton