Saturday, September 04, 2010

One Big Dysfunctional Family

We’ve managed over the past few years to change behavior on a massive scale.   When I was a child, seatbelts were something you wore on airplanes; smoking sections were non-existent; anything no longer serviceable was tossed into the trash. Recycling?  What was that?

Now, of course, we all buckle up when we get in a car, we can enjoy an evening out free of the tyranny of smokers, and most of us recycle religiously.  These changes—and more—have come about because legislators at some point (often, alas, quite belatedly) have done the right thing and passed laws that save lives, make air more breathable, and treat the planet more gently.

Of late, however, it seems that lawmakers are more interested in playing politics than in serving the voters and more focused on staying in office than in making the hard, crucial decisions that affect so many lives, both now and in the future.

The more I see of the health care debate, the more I realize how archaic and unresponsive our system has become.  A minority of senators can filibuster a bill to death.  That might have made sense in horse and buggy days, but the world moves much faster now.

Much of the debate has centered on A) whether there will be enough votes to stop the filibuster, and B) whether those who vote for a progressive health care bill risk losing their seats in the next election.  This latter point separates the politician from the statesman.  The statesman (or woman) evaluates issues, the effects and costs of proposed legislation and votes for what he or she believes is best for the country.  The politician too often votes for what he or she understands to be the wishes of major contributors.

As a country we’ve become one  unwieldy, extended dysfunctional family.  What began as a government “of the people, by the people, for the people” has become a government of the people, by those they elect, for the benefit of the moneyed who fund their campaigns.

We can change this by changing the way we finance political campaigns.  But who has to enact the laws that would make this happen: our legislators, of course.  The question is: Will they do the right thing?  If so, when?

Remember: It’s Not a Life Sentence.  But it’s up to us to push for change–not only in our personal lives, but in our civic lives as well

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October 31, 2009 | Filed Under politics 

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