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This article is reposted with permission from its author Eric Kinnell – Originally posted on LinkedIn  http://linkedin.com/in/erickinnell

The morning after is coming and Americans will be waking up feeling like we all lost. In just two short days the 45th President of the United States will be elected after perhaps the most divisive political season in our country’s history. Anger fueled by a struggling economy, war fatigue coupled with a grim look towards the future and individual survival. Debates over email scandals, fitness to be President, economic security, often fueled by misinformation through social media.

Loved ones have separated, people have lost friends and even churches burnt to the ground.

Socrates said “the only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing”, today Tom Brokaw on NBC’s, Meet The Press shared just that. He brilliantly outsmarted the entire panel by noting how massive an impact social media has made during this election cycle. He commented that 50% of Americans are going to wake up Wednesday morning needing a place to go; beyond social media. He outlined the fears and anger that will need a home, but his take did not go far enough. There is another 50% who will also wake up with a similar sense of loss, even though their candidate won. Yes, I said you will wake up feeling like you lost, even if your candidate wins. Americans chose to nominate two Presidential candidates with unprecedented low likability.

Conspiracy theories have blamed the media or suggested outright fraud. Regardless, we have two people where it would be fair to suggest, most will be casting a vote against who they like the least not who they think can better America.

The United States is not so united.

 We all lose yet again, and what happens on 11-09-16 the day after all votes have been cast? This could be perhaps one of the most historical days in our country’s short history. Where do we go, how are our voices heard? Twitter and Facebook only provide personal outlets for our anger, views and often shared misinformation. People are going to need a home, a place to have their voices heard by elected officials. If I could have only been in the ear of Tom Brokaw whispering loudly We Are They!

I had the answer he was looking for.  That place where people can go and actually have an impact.  Where your thoughts get more then a few likes or emojis.

Here in my home state of Ohio, my ballot has already been cast.  My civic duty was fulfilled and I voted for the next President of the United States. Am I excited if my chosen candidate wins, or am I more terrified if they lose to the other?  Definitely the latter. After a long night of watching polls, the media going half-baked nuts, one of two people will address our country and claim victory.  Well hopefully just one, for the sake of our democracy. Yet early Wednesday morning on November 9th, 2016 I will awake with a sense of loss no matter who was elected the 45th President of our great country.

After a long fought battle, most of us will still be completely disconnected from Washington and even further from our perspective elected officials. I know my voice is not often heard.  Policy is made without my opinion ever considered. My personal interests are often not cared for. Sound familiar?

Well, I have come across a new home.  A place where my voice will be heard. We Are They filled with excitement, not fear.  A place where we take back our government. A place where I set my personal politics aside, join in solidarity, with one LOUD voice telling our elected officials yea or nay on various pieces of legislation. This home is like a newborn baby, beautiful and in the making, ready to bloom into the go to place where everyone visits, where you are heard.  A place that goes beyond a post ranting my opinion, but rather a place where my opinion will actually be accounted for. I have found a home for that anger, and invite you inside. It is a place for Tom Brokaw, the oldest yet most wise this morning on Meet the Press; for the struggling family; for all socially economic backgrounds; for college kids, for WE THE PEOPLE, as We Are They. Join a movement that is going to shape the future of our country.

Be heard, drop your blue or red identifiers at the door and be part of a movement that will take back our voices.  Join me at https://wearethey.us

Wednesday November 9th, 2016 can either be a lonely place or an awakening to join a movement that is beyond oneself. I’ve decided that I will not be waking up a loser, but rather empowered by a movement of like-minded engaged citizens, who are willing to set personal politics aside and take our government back. Your civic duties do not end on election night; you are the “they”, in We Are They.

Every time I turn on the TV it’s some new controversy around the Presidential candidates.  Seriously, America has turned into a Jerry Springer episode.

The lying and scandals are a daily occurrence and Americans are buying into it.  The byproduct is friends fighting on Facebook, families fighting at the dinner table, racial divide, gender divide, and downright violence erupting in America.

It’s all quite sad.  And while this is happening, corruption only seems to grow and our kid’s future becomes more bleak.  If you hit the pause button and take the time to think about it for just one moment you might ask the same question that I have asked myself.

“Is this all done by design?” and the answer I keep coming up with is “yes”.  We are being manipulated.

We are distracted as a nation.

As long as we continue to fight as a population, the elites controlling Washington will continue to get their way.

While the Executive branch led by the President is important, no one is even talking about what is going on in our Legislative branch.  Here’s why this is so scary.

Our elected officials in the legislative branch have the power of the purse.  What does this mean?  It means that they make the laws that control our way of life and allocate our money towards what’s supposed to be for our best interests.

Yet our officials spend nearly seventy (70) percent of their time in office fundraising from the very elites and lobbyists that we’re all so mad about.  Here’s where my head goes…

What do our elected officials have to do in return for the money that keeps them in power? 

This is the question we should all be asking.

How did our Reps and Senators have time to read the bills being voting on in Congress if nearly seventy (70) percent of their time is spent on fundraising?

Did they even read the bills at all before their vote, or did their vote hinge on what the groups funding them told them to vote on?  

The next time you get mad about what’s going on in our country, you should pause and ask yourself these questions:

Have I done anything to solve the problem or am I part of the problem?

When is the last time you read a piece of legislation?  And if you did, when is the last time you paid attention to our elected official’s voting record on the bills they are voting on?

If you’re like me, historically you haven’t.  Why?

Because if you’re like me, you’re very busy! Work is crazy and so is your home life.  You are blasted with noise from everywhere.  Emails, Texts, Tweets, Chats, Inmail, Voicemail, Slack, Teamwork, SmartSheet, then after that rush hour traffic, you pick up the kids and take them to sports, you eat, then go to bed… Rinse and repeat, every day.

No breathing room.  No Margin. Over and over again.  You get the point, because this is your life too. 

On top of this confusion, the sensationalized media has a breaking story of who did what and it usually has nothing to do about how our politicians are representing us.

Our politics have become like the magazines on the grocery isle.  Oh yeah, all of this while we have terrorists that may strike at any moment…  And while all of this is going on, if you’re like me, your caught up in it or it’s just too much noise.

Am I mad?  Definitely. 

Then I decided to pause.  I’m worried about the future America for my 9 and 12 year old girls.  What will America be like when they’re 40 years old?

Can you hit the pause button?

Are you capable of taking the blinders off?

Are your kids worth it?

Is our country worth it?

If you answer, Yes, then join us and help us at www.wearethey.us

by Chris Smith

Co-Founder of We Are They Inc.

Twitter: @smith_bc

A shift in order is brewing and it’s going to be big.  The question is will we make it something positive or something devastating.  Politics is a hot button issue that brings out the wild beast in some while others shy away from the conversation.  This election cycle has been unprecedented.  Mudslinging has been around for a long time.  But the quest for summiting Mud Mountain toward victory this year has been exhausting, leaving us (the people) left with the mess.  In the beginning, I figured it was just typical candidates playing the game.  It’s easy to see the bad in each, since the media tends to draw negativity to the forefront.  Pull back and look at the bigger picture though.  At what point did it become ok for such egregious interpersonal behavior to become normalized?  Marketing tactics from the candidates and the news outlets egg it on.  To make matters worse, we seem to be buying it all.

It is now full on “shit-show” similar to reality TV, which is most profitable these days.  Like a train wreck, people can’t turn away.  Wretched behavior, although entertaining at times, is giving way to something far more concerning: public outrage.  I thought it was just the election year, which tends to bring the cat fighting in even the best of intentioned people.  But as I zoomed out in the social media world, a pattern is uncovered that makes me downright mad.  Friends argue vehemently on Facebook about candidates, who by example vehemently argue with each other.   Then there is the act of “unfriending” and “unfollowing” of people you once considered friends.  Now the growing sentiment is, “if you don’t see things my way, you are a horrible person.”  Are we as a society becoming less engaged?  When did we lose respect for common respectability?  We’re electing public officials who are supposed to represent the will of their constituents, not tyrants who can rule over us like peasants.  It’s as if we are expecting them to save us from the chaos.

Enough is enough.  Now is the time to Do Something Big.  There is a growing desire to make changes very much needed in this country.  It all starts with us.  We have the tools and power to change the narrative.  The question is will we?  About 5 months ago I was presented with the concept of a new idea.  A peaceful, non-partisan platform for the people.  A group of folks from across the country agreed to put their political differences aside to bring about real change.  Is that even possible?  A video trailer was created and the brand revealed and instantly I was hooked.  Instead of waiting for the proverbial “they” to come along and fix things, it is time for We to become They.  We Are They.  If we don’t like the current situation it is up to each of us to act.  And so WE went.  At first I wasn’t sure what to do.  But as I began meeting others in the group ready to unite, I found my voice.  We Are They encourages positive, peaceful participation.  It starts with us being the example we want to see for our country.  Rather than waiting for “they” the political leaders to do it for us or even the news to report it for us, we have to step up and do our part.  This country was designed by our forefathers to be united, not divided.  These forefathers faced many of the problems we do today and as a result acted.  They created a leadership platform of the people, by the people and for the people.  It’s time we remember that and take back that responsibility.

The We Are They movement has been amazing so far.  Truly the peaceful, non-partisan platform for all voices.  The mission is clear: unite Americans by promoting positive, peaceful participation to foster a transparent form of government held accountable to the will of the people.  The strategy is to use engaging multimedia and technology that encourages more participation in our democratic process and measures the transparency of the system compared to the will of the participants.  With aims to inspire, inform and empower Americans using technology we already have become accustomed to using daily makes so much sense.  What excites me most is the belief statements of We Are They.

“We believe all Americans should have an equal voice and should be encouraged to use that voice.”

“We believe our government should work for the people and be held accountable by the people.”

“We believe our country should be united no matter what our individual political beliefs.”

I’ve spoken one on one with over 200 people in the last 8 weeks about We Are They and the reaction has been overwhelming.  Each person has shared hopes and desires for a better system.  Sparks of inspiration and empowerment are electric.  The enthusiasm and feedback fuels us to do more.  Many jumped at the opportunity just like I did.  They offered to help.  Some donated money.  Others started spreading our message by asking questions and posting peaceful, productive comments on social media threads.  In fact just today, I had lunch with a lady so motivated she wants to host an event to bring as many people together as possible to realize the power is in the hands of the people.  With each person I meet, I realize we are at a tipping point.  When the people are ready to make changes necessary for a better future for our children and grandchildren, they will.

That will has been there for a while but was missing a platform to rally behind.  It’s time for us to unite as Americans and remember that our government is designed to empower us.  We don’t have to agree on every policy, but we can have peaceful, productive conversation.  We must send the message to the rest of the nation, the news outlets, and mostly our elected officials that our voices will be heard.  We are paying attention and what we see is not what we want going forward.  We choose to be positive, peaceful participators.  Let’s kick apathy and make sure our representation is held accountable to our will, like it was designed when our country formed.

There is much work to do.  Meeting and empowering the hundreds of millions of people in this country will take time, energy and even money.  But our future is worth it all our efforts and more.  I’m stepping up to the task and I encourage you all to join me.  We Are They is the platform to bring our government into the 21^st century.  We want to make it easier for your voice to be heard.  And we will make sure our elected officials don’t ignore us.  If we want a better future, we will make it happen.  Join us.  www.wearethey.us

Share our message on Facebook:  WeAreThey

Follow us on Twitter: @WeAreTheyUS

Become a positive, peaceful participator today.

We Are They

Joe Cianciolo

Chief Tribal Cultivator

Joe.cianciolo@wearethey.us

Thought so. You’re not alone. Americans feel disenchanted. Disenfranchised. Disappointed.

Why:

Our government has become so fractured, that our country is more divided than ever. Many Americans have thrown in the towel with apathy. Or protest angrily – with no real impact on the situation. Most think the system is too broken to fix. However, If we do nothing, our system will continue to deteriorate. The fact is, many Americans don’t remember how our government was designed to work. The question is why?

Over the past 20 years, data shows that the will of the general public has nearly no impact on whether federal legislation is passed or blocked. However, corporate interests impact the passage of legislation over 60% of the time when they favor it, and can block it nearly 100% of the time if they oppose. And to make matters worse, 90% of the mainstream media outlets are owned by six major corporations which are among the biggest political contributors impacting our laws. Can we trust their portrayal of political news as unbiased? And can we blame the average, over-worked American for being disconnected from politics-as-usual…

Have you ever heard someone say that when things get bad enough, “they” will fix it? Well, “We” … are the “They” – and we cannot sit on the sidelines anymore. We have to do something.  And failure is not an option. We strongly believe the future of our country is at stake.

Our organization, We Are They, is on a mission to unite Americans by promoting positive and peaceful participation in our system of government while ensuring our elected officials are accountable to the people. We are pro-American – and non-partisan.

What:

Our response is a media and technology platform designed to reach out to the American public and inspire them in a user-friendly, engaging way so they can express their opinion and simultaneously learn about what our government is doing and how it actually works. We believe knowledge is power. So our users will get brief, concise downloads about proposed legislation in a cool and fun format followed by polls where they can approve or deny the proposed bill. Their comments and votes will be aggregated and posted for elected officials so they know how their constituents feel before they vote on legislation.

Moreover, We Are They will tabulate this data on our platform to create scoring systems that rate our elected officials’ activities against the stated will of our participants. Our We Are They scoring system will help Americans make more informed voting decisions when politicians run for office and will put better candidates in office and make America a better place. You can look at it as a Yelp for the political process, with summaries, ratings and comments. We look at it as powering a Meritocracy with metrics.

To promote our cause and harness the viral, shareable power of social media, we created a lifestyle brand that will activate our movement on the ground and through multiple channels. The tone of our brand is engaged, youthful and inspiring and will be deployed with emotionally charged videos designed to share and motivate. Proceeds of the merchandise will help fund the movement. People who wear the We Are They brand will represent positivity, action, unity and patriotism, something that all Americans thirst for amidst the negative political environment we currently live in.