Over the last year, our nation has created a divide in itself. Blogs, social media, and news outlets have instigated social unrest and continued to play on social ignorance.

Our government has been functioning for decades unchecked, unbalanced and in the personal interests of few instead of our nation's people. We have allowed this, believing the lies our government officials feed us when we glimpse a sliver of the truth.

Mainstream media is an absolute joke, reporting only the most distracting News, and ignoring real Issues that affect America and its citizens.Then people try to speak out and spread awareness, they are labeled as nut jobs, conspiracy theorists or lunatics. While I won't deny, some are quite extreme and out there, who are we to be so dismissive? Why is it so improbable that there is a whole cache of information we have no idea even exists? It's easier to deny the possibility that our government is corrupt than concede to knowing. It's easier to accept the propaganda fed to us than to imagine our country as a place that is suppressive and void of liberty.

We feed the beast day and night- the beast being the lie we have told ourselves that our country can't possibly follow suit with other establishments around the world. The thought of having to protect our children from a war in our own country is such a terrifying and unimaginable situation for us because we have never been anywhere close to that in most of our lifetimes. The majority of our population can never begin to know what it's like to risk your life just to feed your family.

I see so many Anti- Trump Hillary supporters acting "on behalf" of liberals contradicting themselves and telling our First Lady to be they want her to be raped. Liberals beating anyone who doesn't share their ideals to a bloody pulp. Conservative extremists spewing racially charged hate and insisting we take huge steps backward in social justice. I don't believe that these people represent the majority of either party. The problem is, the majority is silent. We are allowing these hate filled, ignorant beings in society to represent our causes and it's failing miserably. The rest of the world is sitting and laughing at how we are tearing ourselves apart.

One HUGE problem I see daily is hypocrisy in our government, celebrity role models, and community leaders. Lady Gaga, a famous musician, known for her stance on bullying and acceptance, stood next to Hillary Clinton in a "Nazi" inspired costume and on a separate occasion threw things at and called our First Lady to be a whore. I will never listen to her music again. Not because I voted for trump, I voted 3rd party, but because she has become everything she fights against. It's not about political parties but integrity and respect for others.

Something else I keep seeing is the argument that Trump is not qualified to hold the office of the Presidency. What exactly makes you qualified to be a politician? Our government was founded as "a government made up of the people for the people." Our forefathers were tradesmen, businessmen, and regular citizens that wanted the freedom to live their lives as they chose as long as it did not bring harm to others. Career politicians were not part of the constitution when it was written. So how can we say that he is not qualified? It's an invalid argument. We all know that politicians are less concerned with those they represent and more concerned with their own interests and endeavors.

Do we even know who we elect most of the time? We elect members to the House of Representatives by districts. We do this because they are supposed to speak for us when we cannot. They are our voices, our advocates. But we the people have forgotten this. We have forgotten that we are the power, that we have the authority. When we start to come together, to unify, something happens that tears that apart. We cannot remove corruption as a divided nation. They will use sex, race, religion, income class, sexual orientation and anything else they can to make us hate each other.

We have allowed our freedom, our liberation, or individuality to be slowly taken away, one vote at a time. We vote on solar power, marijuana, and marriage licenses instead of proposing page limits and regulations on bills that would make them easy to understand and less confusing to the general public.

We accept the lie that there can only be two options for government only two candidates for president. Is that what we want? Somehow I don't think that the majority of the population believes in this. It doesn't matter that Trump is the president, it wouldn't matter if Hillary won. Nothing will change unless we take action. Until we remove socialist policies and limit the government's power nothing will change. It doesn't matter if your a democratic or a republican. If you want to see change, you must be the change.

I leave you with this, do not walk the earth with your hands over your eyes, but with your eyes open. Make yourself aware and educate yourself on what you are curious about. Learn our history, learn the history of the world. Make your voice heard by knowing all you can, by seeing every side of the issue, by looking at things with an open and intelligent mind. Make your actions count, by choosing methods that don't just "spread awareness " but actually inflict change even if it's small. If you cannot find it in your heart to love others despite your differences, then find it in yourself to treat others with respect and dignity. You cannot force others or yourself to change how you feel, but you control your actions and your words. Superficial or sincere, when we treat the world with respect we will get it in return.