We Need You

Given the size of our U.S. Federal government, I wonder as others may what role our government should have in our lives.  Per the U.S. Constitution it was determined at the time that the role should be "to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence (sic), promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity..." 

Obviously, the role of government has expanded over time since the Constitution was written. Arguably, the role of government today is vastly different than what the framers intended. I attribute this outcome to human behavior, which I think the framers of the Constitution did not fully comprehend and or understand.

As I stated before, humans are greedy, impatient and lazy and have been many, many millennium. In this particular situation these traits have led to a vast majority participating only on the first Tuesday of November every other year (because we are arguably lazy).  As a consequence of this behavior, I argue that very few participate, which is not good and has led to the current state of affairs.

As Thomas Jefferson noted, “We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.” As I see it, those that participate most effectively are those that can afford the lobbyists that have the face-time with their (I mean, our) representatives. Therefore, if we do not like our government then we need to participate --- almost daily---to bring this beast of a government to heel.  We must remind the office holders that they are not owners, but agents; that we are aware of their actions, just as a store owner watches the register and hired staff. 

The only politician that we can most likely trust is the one that we the individual helped elect through sweat equity, not the one with the most donations.  We need citizen candidates/elected representatives, not a life-long career politician that rose up through the ranks (from local to state to federal) as they would in a corporation.

It took years to find ourselves in this mess.  Correspondingly, it will take years to solve. It also requires us working together, but to do so means, we need you to participate more than just the first Tuesday in the month of November every other year. We need you.

No Easy Answer

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves”, Shakespeare. I believe no truer words have been spoken in such an eloquent fashion about human behavior. I think these words are very appropriate to explain the challenges we encounter in our nation and worldwide. These words also incorporate what I consider the number one of all natural laws, the law of cause and effect.

There have been recent headline grabbing events, which are essentially ‘effects’ that have subsequently induced (i.e. caused) our nation to ponder and reflect upon the possible ‘causes’ to these events. I think the one event that has had the most impact near-term has been the Newtown shooting.

While the shooter is dead, some (at least I) wonder whether we in someway helped contribute to the outcome.  I believe we did to a small degree by action, inaction and/or both. 

I do not believe arming teachers (or everyone) is the answer as the NRA does because such a position effectively implies that we do not have the mental capacity to solve our problems, that we must instead raise arms.  Near-term maybe so, but long-term, NO; as Mahatma Gandhi stated, "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

Arguably, it is a lack of thinking to the possible effects from our societal behavior (such as our infatuation with violence – we need not look far past the TV or other mass media) that has helped lead to a rise in mass shootings.  Lack of mental healthcare is another.  Yes, proliferation of guns does not help, but it is not the guns, but "ourselves." Sadly, I expect such violence to continue because we did not arrive here overnight. I also think increased governmental control and oversight will not change it much, except to reduce our freedoms.  Serious change comes from us deciding to change that of which we value.