Economic crisis. Racist anti-immigrant legislation in Arizona. BP oil spill. Public University tuition hikes. West Virginia coal mining disaster. Systemic denial of LBGTQ marriage rights. Public services funding crisis.
Each of these situations and countless others are cited as reasons to distrust the government, disengage from politics and simply be pissed off about the government’s inability to solve our country’s (and the world’s) problems.
But, when we dig beneath the justifiable anger about this sorry state of affairs, what do we find? We find that we need the government to its job and to do it well.
We need Congress to establish strong and meaningful regulations that prevent corporations from having undue influence on our elections and driving our economy into the ground. We need the corresponding regulatory agencies to ensure that corporations are held accountable for following the rules.
We need Governors who protect the rights and well-being of all residents in their states, rather than signing into law draconian policies that make immigrant communities and communities of color the targets of racial profiling, police brutality and misplaced white populist anger.
We need to never ever let corporations like BP and Haliburton cause the deaths of hard-working Americans in their quest for soaring profits and world domination.
We need Governors who refuse to cut children’s health insurance and public education funding in an economic crisis, even if it means raising taxes on their rich constituents.
We need legislators who understand that “liberty and justice for all” includes the right to marry someone of the same sex and the right to transition genders free from discrimination.
In short, we need good government. This is not an opinion I have always held, and honestly sometimes I feel a bit strange expressing it. Growing up in the Reagan era and coming into political consciousness during the Bush administration, I have long held a poor opinion of our elected officials. And, if the last 8 years have taught us anything, it is the potential for unimaginable harm to be done at the hands of unethical swine like George Bush and cronies who hold public office.
But, the opposite must also be true. Think of the dramatic and comprehensive good that can be done by a government staffed with ethical, competent leaders who are truly invested in the well-being of their constituents. Universal health care. Green jobs. Access to safe, affordable housing and healthy food for all. Reining in the deceitful practices of banks and large corporations. Anti-discrimination laws and strong agencies to uphold them.
There is simply too much suffering in the world right now and too much good to be done to content ourselves with complaining about the failures of our government. We must be engaged citizens and residents who consider our problems thoughtfully, elect leaders desirous and capable of addressing these problems and maintain consistent dialog, exerting pressure where necessary, to ensure that they keep their promises.
Complaining about corporate America’s despicable influence on our nation’s policies will do nothing to help or empower people being harmed by this influence. Electing leaders beholden to the people’s interests instead of corporations’ interests might just do the trick. Here’s hoping we all show up to the polls to help make that happen.
