Terrorists are not attacking us and our allies because they want to convert us or are jealous of our freedoms, nor even because they believe we are infidels that should die. No, they are attacking us because we (and our allies) have been occupiers and oppressors in their homelands for more than a century. We've stolen their resources, killed their families, armed their enemies, and imposed our values upon them.

If we want terrorism to all but end, we need to get our noses out of the Middle East, quit exploiting their resources, arming them, killing their families, and invading their countries under false pretenses. If another nation were to do to us like we have done to most Middle Eastern nations this past century or two, we would be waging a war of "terror" on them, too. It's not like they can face off head on with the most powerful and advanced military the world has ever known.

And if you really study history, you'll realize that our own war for independence was not so different than what we coin as terrorism today. To the British, we were the guerilla fighters and terrorists of the late 18th century.

It's time for the U.S. to quit meddling in the affairs of other nations, disband the military-industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us against 58 years ago, and find an alternative to fossil fuel energy. There is no need for us to spend more on the military than the next 11 highest spending countries combined. There is no need for us to be systematically stripped of our natural rights and liberties protected by our Constitution under the auspices of dubious legislation like the USA PATRIOT Act.

The only people who benefit from the current status quo are a very small handful of extremely wealthy individuals, central banks, and greedy, power hungry politicians. The middle class and the poor are picking up the tab on this scam and are also paying the price in blood - both on the battlefield, and in civilian "terrorist" attacks.

I know this is not a popular, feel good topic, but someone needs to say these things, and it needs to be talked about. It needs to be forced upon our leaders from the ground up. It will only get worse as we continue to ignore it.

There are better things to use social media for than simply posting cat pictures, jokes, gossip, and vacation photos. We have a very powerful tool that was not available to people less than a generation ago. It's time to start caring - and thinking.