Amendment 1

[H2O Man]

4. Thank you!

Our system is a machine, and machines must -- by their very nature -- operate in purely mechanical fashion. Thus, in our history since WW2, that machine has been the military-industrial complex that Ike famously warned us about. And while there have been numerous good individuals who have entered the top levels within that machine, fully intent upon reversing its de-humanizing nature, it has either "changed" them, or destroyed them.

Our mechanical culture is bringing our nation on a path that can only lead, in its present direction, to the internal destruction of the very values it was founded upon, and has struggled to provide all its citizens with. It's as if we are in a boat, heading towards Niagra Falls: most people are too numb, or too distracted by bright, shiny things, to notice. Those who point it out, are viewed as trouble-makers.

No "leader" can change the course of the machine. Only a massive effort on the part of the cogs -- by living as human beings -- can do that. We all have the power to live in a purposeful manner, rather than a purposeless one. It may seem hard, but it is more difficult not to.