BY SHARON MARTIN

We Americans work our tails off, and for what?

There is always a line of someones – insurance companies, phone companies, the cable company, oil companies, and the bankers who get a penny or two off every transaction – who have figured out how to take what we’ve earned.

Then there are the politicians who work for these someones. Their job is to make us angry at anyone in the government who wants to make sure we have a little bit of something left when we turn 65, access to low-cost healthcare, affordable birth control, education, clean air, drinkable water, opportunities.

Yes, Americans are angry. And we are misled. Too many politicians and television personalities owe their jobs to our fear and anger.

In case you didn’t know it, there’s an election coming. Some of the candidates would just as soon as didn’t care. That’s how they get elected.

But you must pay attention to politics, because it affects you whether you’re listening or not.

Prepare to vote. Don’t take anyone’s advice but your own, but do your research before you go to the polls. Don’t settle for one source of information on anything, even if you want to believe it.

We are the government, at least for the time being. So speak up. Our voices, our votes, and the few dollars we have left are our best weapons against the real enemies of democracy, unregulated commerce and manufactured fear.

– Sharon Martin lives in Oilton, OK and is a regular contributor to The Oklahoma Observer