Good Government Is Possible

Let me ask you: Would you take your car in for regular maintenance to a person who hated working on automobiles? Would you take your child to a doctor who hated pediatric medicine? Of course not! Then does it make any sense to entrust a government to people who don’t trust government?

How do we start to fix America’s problems? First, we need to get the government-haters out of government. Next, we need to replace them with honest people who believe that a democratically elected representative government can and will find ways to solve the nation’s problems. Is that possible? Of course it is. Will it be easy? Not likely, but it can still happen if we do what we can to make it happen.

Government is the problem for people who thrive on lawlessness, or who can’t live within the generally accepted balance of freedom and restriction. We are free to worship as we choose, but we are not free to blow up the churches of other denominations we don’t like. We are free to have a personal laboratory at home, or a large one in business, but we are not free to leave behind the toxic chemicals we use and poison the air, the water or the ground. (Or are we? That’s another discussion.)

To have good government, we need to have a democratically elected, truly representative government, not a corporate-funded collection of people representing corporate and financial interests instead of citizen-centered interests.

For that, as per Jefferson, we need citizens to be informed and to participate in their democracy. What percentage of Americans vote? 40%? Often it’s less!

50%? Sometimes.

60%? Hardly ever!

Getting citizens motivated to participate would be a refreshing start, and rebuilding our country and restoring our democracy would be a great 21st century enterprise. In fact, it could be The Great 21st Century Enterprise!

A major step in the right direction would be to enact real campaign finance reform. But that’s a Catch-22. The current collection of obstructionist, government-hating bought-and-paid-for Republicans in office, along with a significant number of bought-and-paid-for Democrats, won’t vote for campaign finance reform since they receive so much money from their corrupters as long as they stay in office. Often, after their government so-called “service,” they work for the companies that kept them in office — lobbying, on boards or elsewhere. Let’s vote them all out.

If we can replace the government-haters, we and our nation can once again be on a positive path. Are there honest and qualified people who can manage government? Of course. Only cynics would believe it’s not possible to have good government. If you look at different levels of government in the U.S. and abroad, there are examples of both good and rotten ones.

Government can be as good as the people within it.