I had a month to ponder this article. So many things came to mind when thinking about the content of this piece. Should I present an analysis of some kind of contentious issue? Should I do a sort of commentary on the upcoming election? Should I present a satirical piece on the present state of the United States? So many options!

It dawned on me to just be honest. Nothing wrong with presenting the truth, right? The prompt given to me was “What Am I Thankful For?” Obviously a good prompt for this issue given that it’s November and we will all soon sit down with our loved ones for a good meal and good company. And while I too will sit down with my family and loved ones for a meal and laughter, I have no other choice but to think about all that is going on here and around the world. There are things we can praise. There are things we can critique. There are things that we can wonder about because we have no answers whatsoever. Let’s take a good look at some things that we may be thankful for.

Right now, since the start of this Second Great Depression, the United States has seen a steady increase in unemployment. Let’s start this at December 2007 when unemployment was at 5%. At its worst, unemployment was at 10% in October 2009. In 2012, unemployment has stagnated around 8% and is currently at 7.8% as of September 2012. Someone somewhere is doing something right, right? I’m not so sure. Either way, something has to be done to get these numbers back down to pre-depression numbers. But who’s going to do it?

Republicans and Democrats both can go back and forth on who’s going to fix our economy, but both sides doom everyday Americans. Barack Obama wants to have us pay our fair share and make the hard working entrepreneurs and business owners cover the cost for everyone else. Mitt Romney wants to offer breaks to those already making enough money to buy small countries with a month’s worth of their income �" mind you most of these breaks go to the people who helped cause this mess in the first place.  So here lay my options: pay my “fair share”, which could possibly force me into getting someone else’s “fair share”, or watch the rich get richer off the backs of people like me working hard every day. Great!

Well what about a third party candidate? Of course! It’s a different option. We can vote for real free market principles championed by our Founding Fathers, and champion a return to what we need to change the discourse in politics and change in the direction in our country as a whole. We can go with a radical 50% decrease in the Pentagon budget proposed by Jill Stein; or an even more radical approach like Gary Johnson and his platform to balancing the Federal Budget through a 43% decrease in all Federal spending.  How about their policies to end drone aircraft attacks and assassinations? Let’s go a step further: how about both of their promises to immediately end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan�"both candidates promote this! Excellent ideas and this is what we need to get us going in the right direction. New thinking and new ideas.

Hold for a second: obviously a person like Governor Gary Johnson or Jill Stein would bring the change we need in Washington, but let’s be honest: until there is a more critical thinking and less apathetic voting population, willing to engage themselves into what the real issues are, Jill Stein and Gary Johnson may as well vote Republican or Democrat themselves. Oye!

All that I have written may paint a portrait that there really isn’t anything I can be thankful for. There’s no reason for me to have hope. On the contrary, actually.

All that I have mentioned is disheartening: unemployment is higher in the US than it is in Guatemala, Kazakhstan, and Iceland (a country, mind you, that went bankrupt not too long ago); Americans are backed into a corner to vote for one of two parties to lead them: Republican or Democrat; the solutions by these parties polarizes hard working every day Americans; the “other options” we have to vote for (third party candidates), who have real ideas and real solutions, get drained out by the mainstream media even though these candidates actually attack the issues and propose new and good solutions; and the apathetic voting public fails to realize that we can engage these third party candidates and get them into office but fail to do so because they’d rather act as sheep and go with the flow of a Republican or Democrat. So what exactly can I be thankful for? Trust me. There’s a silver lining here.

Right now I have the Freedom to look at these issues and voice my opinion in favor or opposition (let’s be honest, mostly opposition though), but Freedom isn’t what I’m thankful for at this point. My Freedom is stripped everyday by such things as the PATRIOT Act or Defense Authorizations that allow me to be detained on suspicion of terrorism. My Freedom is in danger if anything! But the fact  that I am able to (a little) still voice that I want real change, or that I don’t agree with war, or that I don’t want the same 4 years of non-action is a beautiful thing �" again, for now.

There is a population that realizes the government can’t suppress the free flow of ideas; there is a population out there that knows that we don’t have a limited choice between a Republican or a Democrat, or a war in Iraq or a war in Afghanistan; there is a population out there that this free flowing of ideas are our most valuable weapon to maintain our Freedoms and suppress tyranny!

What I am thankful for is my mind, because I still have that, and as of right now, the Government cannot take it away from me. I am still able to critically think and look at issues. I am still able to write an article like this and say that I don’t want a Republican or a Democrat. I can say that I don’t want war. I can say that the Federal Reserve is an institution that needs to be abolished, and I can say that we need to get back on the Gold Standard in order to revive our economy! I can think, I can write it, and I can let the world read it…and for now, no one can take that away from me. These ideas and thoughts are mine, and I won’t stop coming up with them. Thomas Paine said: “When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.” Words that transcend time, in my opinion.

We live in an age where fear is the biggest political tool. It is unfortunate that corrupt politicians find it necessary to fear their way into office by making it seem if they’re not there, we’re in danger. But by keeping your mind open to new ideas and making sure you know your mind is your most valuable asset, we can overcome this age of fear and move forward! At the 2012 Freedom Rally Ernest Hancock proclaimed this: “Freedom is the answer, what’s the question?”