Some painful truths, much ignorant slop. I live in this great land of mass consumption. Still proud of what has been accomplished here in its short history, sad to think of where it is going for its failure to learn from history. It is sad that after a tremendous fight for freedom and escape from oppressive governments, that in just a couple of hundred years we could almost be a mirror image of everything that 'we' got away from. Our founding fathers had the integrity and the intelligence along with the creative foresight to put together a government not only for themselves but for generations to come, it saddens me that we are doomed to the same cycle as the Roman and British Empires, only in a much shorter time. I honestly believe that our glory years were those of the 20th century and that we are now on the downward slope of decline and picking up speed. Far too late did my eyes open to the state of the world and where we stand in it. We had a good thing going here, for us. We were able to do our part when many parts of the western world were threatened and because of our prosperity were capable of helping others in need when their country lay in ruin. How pretentious of us to think that ours is the best and only way of life and feel the need to force our ideals on others. I have always felt that the best way to lead is by example and not by force. If someone else were to adopt our ways and policies, it would be something to be proud of and rewarded with the smile that comes from accomplishing something good. When it is forced it only creates the animosity and disdain that is evident in the world today, and just brushed with here in this unsuspecting feedback page. Not that I personally could ever have done anything about it, I only have one vote which after being diluted and washed down with bureaucracy doesn't appear to be worth much, but if enough people were to wake up to what is going on, only then could true change come about. In this election year the choices that we have are gravely disappointing. Some of the candidates are calling for change, but is it really a change? As long as we, as a country, insist on sticking our noses in where they do not belong or are wanted, our decline will continue. Our government has become a voracious machine that has overgrown its originally intended purpose. It seems to be bent on total control of not only everything within its own borders but outside as well. Does this sound historically familiar? Just know that there are some of us in the United States that are ashamed of and for the idiots that insist on displaying their ignorance every time they open their mouths and for their pompous, self centered attitudes. Oh ya, just a touch on communism. If you were to think about it, history has shown us that communism is a viable working system, but only in small numbers. It has worked for tribal cultures all over the word including right here in the U.S.. It does not apply well to a large society which has also been proven by history.