THE POWER LIES IN YOU

For many years now those who follow my work know of the MVM mantra. MVM simply has always stood for "My View Matters." It began as a concept designed to remind me daily that my view does indeed matter and my voice has the right to be heard. It is a belief I live by and I use it daily now when involved in speaking engagements or public events in the hopes that it will somehow help others believe the same thing I do.

That each of us matter and we deserve to be counted.

I have challenged many throughout the years to pay heed to this simplest of concepts in the hopes that they would finally realize their own power as individuals. I believe self empowerment aids us in our  daily lives.

It seems that We The People have forgotten that when it comes to our daily lives we are the ones who control the path we are on.

People will only give you what you are willing to accept.

Whether that be the simplest of decisions, like what's for dinner for example, to deciding on our elected leaders and the direction that we collectively want to work towards, we continue to allow ourselves to be led by someone else's decisions that may or may not be what we would want for ourselves, our families, our neighborhoods, or indeed our Nation.

For anyone to honestly believe that the trends in our daily lives are not alarming I beg to differ.

Look around you.

People will only give you what you are willing to accept.

Our daily lives are being destroyed by the political powers that be who feel there will be no recourse in their actions. We have allowed them to think this is acceptable behavior.

Unemployment, welfare, education, price of gas, anything and everything is being exploited for the good of the powerful at the expense of most of us.

We continue to be lied to and led by an out of control mainstream media who prefers to tell us what to believe instead of giving us the facts and letting us decide for ourselves. Think I'm wrong?

Look to the GOP Presidential primary election and see just how much the process is tainted and the cover up of the simplest reporting in order to force feed us an establishment choice. We are sitting idly by and allowing it to happen.

Look at the lost freedoms we face in our Nation as a result of such things as the Homeland Security Act, which gives us a false sense of security, the NDAA, which allows our government to storm our homes with Uzi's if they so choose without any charges against us, among others.

People will only give you what you are willing to accept. 

Ask yourself are you better off today then you were 4 years ago and you won't be surprised by the answer. Most I talk to give me a resounding NO. It's no surprise to me but reinforces what I have always believed.

People will only give you what you are willing to accept.

Here at home in Louisville, KY the problems that we continue to face are the same ones that our elected leaders have promised to fix for decades yet we still continue to have high poverty, poor education, and no economic prosperity to speak of for the average Louisvillian.

From the Cordish Group debacle, false crime reporting, and the economic injustice to the West End.

Cover ups by Councilmen such as David Tandy who went to Baltimore to see the Cordish Group, and gain accountability for our free money given to them, yet signed a non disclosure agreement so he couldn't show us they were above board.

Of course Cordish Group has asked for another $850,000 of our money and we will give it to them.

Even after they reneged on the original deal and got kicked out of the Starks Building for failure to pay back rent.

As Metro Council President and a lawyer he should know better, but he knows....

People will only give you what you are willing to accept.

Buying elections such as elected Councilman Jim King did for his daughter Judge Katie King yet both are still in office.

People will only give you what you are willing to accept.

Crime any better? Nope.

We were supposed to believe that it would improve under former Chief Robert White and we were treated to hands off accountability because he was African American. We couldn't hold him accountable out of fear of being labeled racist if we did.

What did we gain? Nothing. 

Race relations still did not improve, our Police Department worked in fear instead of doing their job, cronyism within leadership positions, and false reporting of crime statistics. Crime rates didn't improve. The reporting of them changed to hide the obvious.

Our "leadership" in Jerry Abramson knew of White's failed leadership past and lied to we the people when hiring him. Of course Abramson lied to the people of Louisville for over twenty years with no recourse. Why?

People will only give you what you are willing to accept.

Has education improved? Nope.

Louisville has some of the worst ranked schools in Kentucky though we are one of the largest budgets. Why?

Because once again we have been promised changes that never develop due to poor leadership. Kentucky ranks in the bottom of education across the Country and largely because of the failures of the Jefferson County education system.

A system that cares more about the money than the education of our children.

People will only give you what you are willing to accept.

Why do I bring all of these issues up?

The one thing they all have in common is politics. The game has always been the same and we the people continue to allow it. Politics affect each and every aspect of our daily lives yet it is the one thing most don't want to get involved in.

Private business like Cordish gets our money because of their connections in Beshear, Abramson, Tandy, and others.

Our police department relies on federal money so our politicians force them to manipulate data to get to it regardless of the real problems.

Our education system relies on federal money so our  leaders lie, cheat, and steal an education from our children to line their pockets.

See a pattern here? Follow the money. Money equals power to our elected entrenched and we the sheep have no problems letting them believe it.

We continue to elect these same people who are screwing us over and over again. What have they learned trhoughout this process?

People will only give you what you are willing to accept.

Behavior is a learned thing.

When one is abused and they go back to the abuser, they have just taught the abuser that this is acceptable behavior. It is now a learned part of the abuser's behavioral process.

If someone constantly demeans you and you let them do it, you just taught them that treating you in a demeaning way is acceptable behavior.

As we continue to allow ourselves to be lied to and manipulated into losing our freedoms everyday, we are in fact telling our leadership this is acceptable. How so?

Because we refuse to get involved and let them know it is not. Most choose to allow others to tell them how to live their lives instead of taking responsibility for their own choices in doing so.

People will only give you what you are willing to accept.

I refuse to follow the path our elected leaders are taking us down.

I refuse to accept their behavior in destroying my America, my Kentucky, and my Louisville.

I will no longer be a victim to their abuse.

Why?

Because My View Matters.

Does yours?

Listen daily from 7-8pm at The Ed Springston Show. Also visit Louisville Politics for more details and in depth coverage of local political and news issues.