Opinions Being Pushed Aside

    Though we don’t realize it, there are many websites, posts, and other ways that people tend to let their voices be heard when it comes to war. We don’t think about it often, but there is a reason why these voices aren’t being heard on the news and social media. Those in power don’t want these opinions to be shared and want to silence those who disagree with their governing. The American people are constantly being put aside when it comes to our opinions about government and that needs to stop as soon as possible because the government we have today is destroying the way we live and how we will live in years to come.

    As much as we want them to be perfect and genuinely benefit our nation, the government is far from these expectations. They want us to be shielded from the reality that is happening within, that way we don’t protest against their wrongdoings. As citizens of this country, we need to be better educated and warned about our government to keep ourselves and our future generations safe from the overwhelming power our government holds.

 

    We need people to be aware of what our government is doing because of what is going on across the ocean in other countries. The online site, Antiwar.com say they created their site for what they call “citizen experts.” Essentially, they want Americans to be aware of what the government has planned for foreign nations rather than our own. We are currently experiencing financial burdens in our country and, instead of helping their own citizens, our government gave Ukraine $115 billion since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 14^th, 2022. That is a percentage of our government spending going to another country, and it doesn’t end there. It has been found that American taxpayers, over a span of 6 years, paid foreign countries almost $300 billion in what would be considered aid. This is just one reason why we need sites to advocate for the people in the United States that aren’t fully made aware of what is going on behind closed doors.

    Why isn’t this sort of information getting out to the public? Why are those, whose opinions go against the government, being silenced? When it comes to times of war, our freedom of speech suffers. This dates back to the Revolutionary War when those who supported the British King were being silenced with laws during the time of the war. Why was that happening? Isn’t free speech supposed to be protected under the First Amendment? They are trying to keep our opinions in line with theirs to avoid any type of conflict getting in their way. The last thing they want when times are getting tough is to have people protesting and rioting against their plans. Unfortunately, this has been happening for decades. The American Conservative began their site just to discuss the issues with the Cold War, and now they have grown into a bigger site with more news stories. When people in our country go against what the government wants, it creates panic for them and all they want to do is keep the public quiet and uninformed so they can carry out their ideas without commentary from the citizens in our country.

 

    My opinions may not align with everyone else’s, and that is just fine. However, I truly believe that the more the citizens of our nation are silenced and kept in the dark, the worse it will be for this country. We as the public should have the right to know what is going on and speak our thoughts regarding the events. If I want to read about people’s opinions who don’t go along with the government, including anti-war voices, I have to seek it elsewhere because the media won't portray the pros and cons of everything that takes place in our country. We are being kept in the dark regarding how our country is run and even when something extreme happens, such as the recent Nashville school shooting, it isn’t taken seriously. These issues in the United States have risen, as I see it, dramatically, and our government isn’t helping the way it should. I think they need to do a better job listening to the public’s opinions rather than quieting them because it isn’t helping anyone in the long run.