When I moved to Maryland it seemed to me that the people here had a very different attitude toward government than in my home state of Texas. In Texas the government was what you wanted to get off your back. In Maryland, the government was how so many people managed their space and their resources in this densely populated area of the country.
We’re hearing a lot in the news these days about the government. Some people want more, some people want less, some blame the government for everything.
The government isn't a group of buildings in Washington DC, a corporation, or a nameless, faceless entity out to get you.
The government IS you.
The government didn't spring into being overnight when someone waved a magic wand. It's there because We, the People, put it there.
Walk into any government office anywhere and the people you see working are there because somebody voted for somebody who got elected and made a decision that put them there.
No one has more power to change the government than you do - than we do - because WE are the government. We decide how our country will be governed every time we vote in an election and between elections we can contact the people we voted into office and tell them what we want them to do and why. The choices they make may not always go the way we’d like but we have the right and the responsibility to be part of the process.
I hear a lot of people complaining about candidates, saying they don’t like any of them. They’re fed up with the government and they’re not going to bother voting this time.
If you do not exercise your right to vote then you are allowing other people to make important decisions for you. If you don't like the decisions they make, then you made the wrong decision when you gave that power to them.
Next time, exercise your right to vote. Work it. Do your research, don't just read the headlines or take someone's word for it. Read it for yourself, listen to a candidate's whole speech and not just the sound bites. Consider the source of the news you read and don't rely on just one. Weigh the long term consequences of policies, not just the quick fixes because the future of our children is at stake.
Extremely well said!
ReplyDeleteWell said. My maternal grandfather used to say, 'if you don't vote, you don't have the right to bitch about it because you had the chance to vote for change.'
ReplyDeleteEven if you spoil the ballot, you at least exercised your 'voice' by saying you disagree with the options for governance.
Donna, you've known me long enough to know how I feel about government. We certainly get the government we vote for, and especially the government for which we DON'T vote. In a day of constant coverage of national politics, we get lost in what is most important in our everyday lives...local government. Get active, get involved, and get change. It's never the size of government, it's the efficiency of the government, and that begins from the bottom up.
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