On July, 4th 1776, our country ratified the Declaration of Independence - forever signaling its separation from the motherland and all of it's governing policies. We no longer wanted to be ruled by one family or one shared way of thinking.

The colonists wanted liberty, a country free from the totalitarian rules of the English Monarch.

And they achieved it.

Boy, would they be pissed today.

Flash forward to 2017 - we find ourselves in an era of regression: barbaric cuts to healthcare, unnecessary defunding of community programs, and childish, inappropriate tweets from one of the world's most powerful leaders.

Women have lost the right to determine who controls their body.

African Americans are being murdered in cold blood and no one is being held responsible.

The American Dream is long behind us as new immigration is essentially banned and immigrants already here spend each day, scared they will be pulled from their homes.

Muslim-Americans are persecuted for practicing religious freedom and have increasingly become the targets of hate crimes - which often go either undocumented or unsolved.

The LGBTQ community, while yes, slowly celebrating small victories, are having to fight for those victories in the first place - just because they are being who they are.

So my question is, have we forgotten why this country was founded in the first place?

Have we lost our sense of direction?

No one ever said we will agree on everything, actually, it's the difference of opinions that often bring the best solutions to the surface.

But for Christ's sake - we are better than this.

We are better than allowing one socioeconomic class, one religion, one race, one gender, dictate the mixed salad that is our country.

A country that blossoms with vibrant culture and enormous potential to speak up and fight back against the totalitarian reign, just as our founding fathers did.

Times are changing. The world is changing. Our nation is regressing.

Soon, the future of our country will fall into the hands of my generation - the millennials, and we won't know what the hell to do.

The sad thing is, you're either like me and you care way too damn much or you just don't give a shit. And we wonder why people call us the lazy generation?

I'm sick of it. I'm done. Get up, get educated, give a crap, and get to the polls. I'm not going to sugar coat it anymore.

THIS matters. WE matter. SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, MATTERS.

Democrat? Republican? Liberal? Snowflake? Insane Clown Posse? Don't Care.

Have a voice and make it count. We will not always have someone to do it for us and we are responsible adults, who can have an opinion, sit down, talk it out, and come up with a solution.

[No insults needed, nor welcome]

And that my friends, is how we make DEMOCRACY work.

Happy 4th of July.

(P.S. Midterm Elections are - Tuesday, November 6, 2018. Be There. )