Everybody seems to have an opinion.....

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.....but how many people are willing to do something about it?

It is easy to base one's political opinions on what one watches in the media, or hears about on the Internet.

It is more rewarding to learn about the world by getting involved in activism, by directly dealing with the world around oneself, and by listening to what real people in the real world have to say. It's a shame that the ones who know how to get the most attention are the ones with the views that run with complete black-and-white extremes.

The biggest problem with the USA? Not enough people are actively involved in the world that they exist in. Convenience is easier than standing up for what one believes in, and too many people run for the convenience.

There is also the general feeling of hopelessness - millions of people vote for either Romney or Obama even though they don't like either, just because they go for "the lesser of the evils". Either that, or they don't vote at all, for they don't see how taking any action would help ease the hopelessness they feel within themselves.

The public has more power than it thinks it does. But actually seizing that power is inconvenient, and convenience is more important than making a real effort in American culture. That's a damn shame.

Being in a state of sloth and discontent is simple and easy. Building up oneself and doing anything to make the community a better place takes effort - all things that bring true feelings of content and happiness takes real effort and maintenance.

If even half of the American public were actually involved in the communities around them, I would bet that there would not be such a pervasive Right/Left cultural divide.

That is my political rant for the day.

When you're faced with the plague or being exterminated by your government, you'll see how little community actually means. In times of crisis, people don't band together. They kill and abandon each other, with few exceptions. You can talk community up all you want, but history has demonstrated what really happens.

It's great that you want to help your community, but you are doing yourself a disservice if you put it equal to yourself or your family in importance.

The Left / Right divide is unbridgeable, one will bow to the other, and either can only succeed at the other's recession.

Right now, there are calls for the Right to bow to the Left because Obama won. Which is stupid and I don't think people who demand it hear themselves.

That said, you have atheists who marry christians, vegans who marry meat eaters, blacks who marry whites, but you do not have liberals marrying or dating conservatives.

It is the strongest divider in the nation, and so much hinges on the toxic political culture we currently have that neither side wants to give in.

There's also been the loss of the concept of community, and social obligations that one has to it. We've built an autonomous system where we feel we can pretty much go on autopilot without the older institutions that used to prop it up, forgetting the value system that built it in the first place. There's a lot to be said about this alone.