I'm Getting on My Soapbox

Today, I'm getting on my soapbox--you have been warned, but I also think you should keep reading.  Really.  You should.
As always, I welcome a dialogue with you, especially if I've struck a nerve, or am totally wrong about something.  However, I do check my facts, so you need to come prepared.
First of all, if you are over the age of 17, it's time to grow up.  I mean that--sincerely and forcefully.  YOU NEED to grow up.  There's no excuse for being ill-informed.  By this, I mean there's no excuse for you not to read a daily newspaper.  Turn off your television, and read.  Then, think about what you're reading.  You were taught critical thinking skills in school (because you graduated before "No Child Left Behind" corrupted the system), so I know you are capable of reading facts and making opinions based on those facts.  If something does not make sense, turn on your computer, and find a primary source.  You know how to do that too, because you were taught how to do that in school.  For instance, if you read the following (I'm not suggesting you will read this in a newspaper, unless it's on the Opinions Page):  "The government is coming to take your guns," you might want to stop and think about whether that's a fact.  Go to C-Span (they show unedited press conferences, the House, the Senate, etc--all without commentary) or find an exact transcript of a press conference--and decide for yourself.  Ask yourself--is that really what the government is going to do?  Or is that just someone else's opinion?   THEN, challenge your own opinions.  Speak to others with an opposite opinion.  LISTEN.  It's OK to then change your mind, based on the facts and interpretations of others.  It's OK to reach a consensus too--in fact, I encourage it.
Yes, it's time to grow up, and I'm getting very, very, very tired of the excuses:  "I'm too busy."  "I just want to get my news from _______________ Cable Station."  "I just read my favorite website, and they tell me what to think.  It's faster"  "I'm too tired."  "It's boring!!" "My minister tells me what to think."
The excuse that gets me the most is, "Why should I?  I can't make a difference."  Because that's bullshit.  You CAN make a difference.  You CAN be informed.  You OWE it to future generations to be a fucking grown-up.  Yes, it's work, and yes, it's boring, but you live in this world, you work, you pay taxes, and you are allowed to vote.  So take the time to be informed, and express your intelligent, thoughtful opinion--to me, to your elected officials, to your friends.  Because you can make a difference--if you have taken the time to consider an issue, and have the facts, when you speak to friends or contact elected officials (and you should), you will be listened to.  And you will change minds.
I am also tired of the polarization--especially in Washington, but also in the country.  To say our government is in gridlock is really understating the situation.  They are a mess, clogging a drain.  The GOP is no longer a thinking person's party--it's a a party of reactionaries, a rabble of officials elected by an organized group of riled up members of the radical right.  They have an extreme agenda, and are unwilling, or unable, to do any critical thinking or thoughtful communicating.  I've said it before, and I will say it again--I miss the GOP of my childhood.  I miss the fiscal conservatives and the GOP who truly believed in limited government.  I miss the cooperation and bi-partisanship.  The staking of positions, and the discussion that followed, leading to thoughtful government policies.  
I blame you.  You who are over 17, but have refused to be a grown-up.  While you were out shopping, or channel-surfing, or surfing the Web--whatever it is a pleasure-driven person does, there was a group of ill-informed, extreme people who seized power.  It will be very difficult to remove these people, no matter how much harm they do to our country.  Why?  Because the so-called grown-ups in this country will keep voting them in, because that's the easy thing to do.  Those elected officials might believe the exact opposite of what you do, but you'll keep voting for them because it takes too much effort to do anything else.

I'll get off my soapbox now, but I'm going to leave you with some thoughts.  Perhaps they are homework for you--you might think I'm wrong, but you're going to have to do some research in order to prove your point.  I can't wait to welcome you to the grown-up world.  You won't get a gold star, but you will be a smarter person.
One final warning--if you send me to Fox, the NRA, or Breitbart to prove your point, you automatically lose.  That's the easy way out.

• "The government" is not going to take your gun away.  When a single gunman can walk into an elementary school and kill over 20 six-year-old kids (and their protectors) in less than 5 minutes, firing over 150 bullets, there's something wrong in our country.  We need to talk about it, and we need to begin to enact laws that will prevent this from ever happening again.  To do nothing is not an option.  Nor is throwing more guns into the mix a solution.
• Global warming is real, and it's getting worse.  What are we going to do?
• Our infrastructure (roads, bridges, electrical grid, schools) is crumbling.  We need to raise taxes to pay for repairs.  This will also put people to work.  How can we make this happen?
• Can anyone explain to me how the welfare system is so evil, and yet the money we give to millionaires and billionaires (in tax loopholes and subsidies) is far more, and does so very little to help the rest of the people of this country?  Is it because rich people have us totally intimidated?  
• Seriously--do you think you will ever be a member of the 1%?  I know some wealthy people, but nobody I know will ever get there.  So why do you fight for that 1%, over and over, at the expense of the needy in this country?  You gripe about the "welfare queens" and those who are "gaming the system" but turn a blind eye to those who are really taking this country for all they can.  Shame on you.    Perhaps you should read more of the thoughts of JK Rowling, who is now a multi-millionaire, but who remembers when she needed to be "on the dole" (take welfare money):  "When my life hit rock bottom, that safety net, threadbare though it had become under John Major’s Government, was there to break the fall. I cannot help feeling, therefore, that it would have been contemptible to scarper for the West Indies at the first sniff of a seven-figure royalty cheque."

Time to grow up.  You've slid by for far too long, and I'm sick of it.