I had to listen to John Lennon’s “Imagine” over and over again today.

The men and women in charge of our country are making plans to strike Syria and make war. Sure, what’s going on there is horrendous, but is dropping bombs and killing more innocent people the answer?

I have a particular point of view about communication and ask myself: Why can’t these guys just come to the table and talk and, in doing so, prevent another Iraq? Is it just about war being a money-making machine?

I turn to music when I feel totally helpless in certain situations. I cannot change the world—I can only change myself and share what I know with my writing.

What is it that makes us do the same thing over and over again without learning from our past mistakes? Is this another situation where the corporations who run our country are making decisions concerning war?

A few weeks ago, people on Facebook and Twitter were going crazy over Miley Cyrus and her “twerking”, and I was nauseated to find we are so easily distracted from the more serious of issues.

Or do we need these distractions because the thought of another war is so horrible?

And I ask: Where do we turn to find the truth about what is really going on in Syria? I search online for some truthful sources, and go to Common Dreams and The Good Men Project and elephant journal to find some truth, but it still doesn’t make me feel any better, because I know that we have lost our power to the corporations in our country. We have become a machine that will do just about anything for more money.

I used to reside in downtown Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, and while I lived there I was involved in politics and saw how the system worked, as well as how the politicians spoke out of both sides of their mouth. It turned me off.

I had been a delegate at the Democratic National Convention, and the flak that I got from the community for running, and the flak that I witnessed politicians spewing, was enough to turn me off of politics. The folks in Brooklyn had wanted me to run for assemblywoman in my district, but I just couldn’t handle all of the BS.

We need good people in politics. But I knew enough about myself at the time that I couldn’t deal with all of the lies, etc. It was another reason I turned to writing. I felt I could make more of a contribution through my writing than politics.

So here we are again, on the precipice of another war, and I keep asking: Men! Women! Why are we going to war again?

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Assistant Ed: Dejah Beauchamp/Ed: Sara Crolick