"The wrong side of history" seems to be a saying thrown around a lot by President Barrack Obama. Whether he’s talking about Vladimir Putin and Ukraine, or Muammar Gaddafi and Libya, or same sex marriage, he always seems to squeeze it into a speech. But I think there is a larger point to be made about this adage. Some people don't know that they’re on any side of history. In fact some people don't know they're making history at all. I feel like if people knew, or cared, about the decisions being made in congress, things would be vastly different than what we are seeing today. If logic and reason ruled all, we would be seeing parties coming together to get even the most straightforward laws passed, like basic gun control or drug reform. The "war on drugs" could be a great place to start. We imprison 22% of the world’s prison population, and a large portion of the crimes are drug violations. Three strike rules have many people doing life sentences for minor drug offenses. As far as gun control, there are many ways we could try to reel in some of the loose guns on the street. Back ground checks for ALL people who purchase a gun, no loop holes like gun shows and internet outlets, and a national gun registry are great ways to crack down on illegal weapons and keeping them from entering the wrong hands. Of course none of this can happen if you have massive amounts of money flowing in to Washington. Private prisons will continue to push for harder drug laws. The NRA, who protect the weapons manufacturers, will continue to influence politicians who preach that they are only looking out for their constituent’s 2nd amendment rights. All the way down to the companies that own the phone outlets that prisoners use to call home, which cost upwards of fourteen dollars a minute. They all have their hands in the politician’s pocket, if they tried to look for dignity, they would come back with a nub and a note that said, “Look elsewhere.” Where does history come in to play when you have this level of mass corruption? When I hear about George Washington’s foresight, understanding that the decisions he is making would resonate all through this country’s future, it makes me wonder where our current politician’s ideals lie. I heard a politician describe his time as a Senator once as a “service to his country,” and I thought this was bizarre because I’ve never thought of a Senator as a service member. I know they’re technically service members, but I see the way they behave in congress and it seems that it is all for personal gain. They serve a couple of years in congress then work for Meryl Lynch for a hefty pay raise, or work for some other corporation and shift seamlessly into another position in the administration; it all seems very strange.
When Alexander Stephens, Williams Jennings Bryan, and Strom Thurman made their mark in history, they probably didn’t know it was a skid mark. They were simply doing what they thought was the greater good. Who’s to say what history will tell of our generation of politicians. We’d like to think that we know what is right and wrong; but far in the future there is a group of students sitting around a textbook going, “How could you not see that that was a bad idea?!?”
