Government is complicated. There are many lifetimes worth of knowledge in it, but we can do better than we are. At some point, chalking it all up to citizen apathy meets a dead end. Structures and systems begin to take on more responsibility for “the way it is.”
Education is harder to pay for and we have bottlenecked political discussions. More students think about which degree is going to help them make the most money rather what will help them do the most good in the world. Starting with a $50,000 student loan bill makes it harder to choose to volunteer or teach.
Sound bytes are used to describe policy that is thousands of pages long. People barely have time for their families, let alone time for civic matters. I talked to a friend who works for a congressman, and the fraction of constituents who have contacted his office is surprisingly small. Fewer people are reading newspapers, high election costs exclude many citizens from running for public office and politicians have to focus way too much energy on raising money. It’s harder to have time for Joe Citizen when Joe can’t throw a bunch of money at your re-election campaign. Always having to look for deep pockets and open hands makes it harder to govern. Lobbyists are arguably running the Congress and politicians vote on stuff they haven’t even read. This happens all the time.
I am aware of efforts to make it harder for citizens to vote in Ohio, Georgia and Oregon. Remember when Republican lawmakers wanted to require a birth certificate in order to register to vote in Oregon? I don’t even like taking that document out of its file, let alone carrying it around with me. I can say with conviction that if that law were in place, fewer young people, many of whom are registered to vote in college by their peers, would be registered. There isn’t even good evidence that there is a problem with voter fraud.
Beyond these problems with citizens connecting with civic matters, the level of secrecy (and spying) in government is unbelievable. You would be surprised what goes on. Then there is this fear we are supposed to live in and conform to. We are told of “a new kind of war.” What’s the new kind of ending for this “new kind of war?” What’s the equivalent of the peace treaty in this? What happens to our rights with a never-ending, secretive threat? I suggest the more terrorists push, the more our rights are put at risk. Some people believe that the rights being eroded today are much more important in the long run than this short stretch of events in the world’s history. I agree.
A frog thrown into hot water will hop out. If a pot of water is slowly brought to a boil with a frog in it, the frog won’t jump out it to save itself. It will instead die a slow death.
Tim Young has a bachelor’s in political science and a master’s in public administration from the University.