The most sophisticated weapon in the world is the human voice, more often than not it also the most damaging. The power of the voice can be used to bless or to destroy, it can be used to spread truth or lies, to speak peace or violence, to encourage or tear down, to build nations or pillage countries. Without the power of a voice you can become vulnerable, weak, and helpless. Your thoughts, requests, and protests, go unheard. That’s what makes a democracy strong; each person has a voice in their vote. It’s the manner that we choose and communicate with our representatives.

Today we are in a precarious position because our leadership is no longer trustworthy. Their voices are loud but they don’t tell us the truth, whether it be by omission or blatant lies. Most have gained their elevated positions of leadership through the power of persuasion, deftly convincing us they have all the answers. Politicians are masters of this game. They compellingly communicate all the things we yearn to hear, some are honest, others are downright deceitful. From my perspective, their deeds are more self-centered than noble. In the 21st century, more power-seeking voices have become increasingly brazen, distorting the facts, misrepresenting truths, and threatening to undermine hundreds of years of advancement for personal and privileged interests.

In the political arena, the truth has been stretched and twisted to the extent that it is totally unrecognizable. Adolph Hitler said, Make the lie big. Make it simple. Keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it. The reason that most of us are quiet is because we don’t possess enough information to participate in the conversation. We need to have a basic understanding of the serious issues facing this country and we can’t trust our leaders or the privately owned press to tell us the truth.

We the people are America; we are not cattle to be corralled, not wild animals to be herded, nor a population of geese to be driven out. We are the citizens of the United States. As such, we must become more proactive in addressing the significant issues that affect our everyday lives. The repercussions are dire lest the line between life in the U.S. and life in a third world country becomes blurred and we suffer the issues that concern them, poverty, quality drinking water, hunger, pollution, healthcare, and social and cultural exclusion.

This books discusses the truths and mistruths of eighteen controversial subjects that we as citizens should carefully explore: democracy, capitalism, voting rights, income inequality, greed, entitlement programs, outsourcing, wages and inflation, gun control, the criminal justice system, global warming, affirmative action, education costs, paying college athletes, Iraq and ISIS, War, and the Barack Obama Presidency. It’s now critical for us to define and clarify our understanding and beliefs on a number of fundamental issues before we can make an educated choice on whom we will listen. We can’t continue to cast ours votes based on name recognition. William Faulkner, a great American writer said, Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the earth.