Sometimes, I am conflicted regarding the role of elected government officials.
Should government be a few “elitist smart guys” that save us from ourselves by pitching an narrow agenda that will be painful to complete, achieving goals us common folks didn’t know we should have from the start?
The partisans that call themselves “Progressives” are the worst. They are so stuck on themselves. They are the ones that think they are saving us by being elected. They are the ones that think we wouldn’t understand complex issues. They are the ones that like to use big words to demonstrate their superior intellect. They are the ones that think they are the smartest person in the room.
The partisans that call themselves “Conservatives” are not far behind.
What is a Conservative anyway? Is a person with a Pro-Life abortion stance a conservative if they also support labor unions or the ‘green’ agenda? In the two party system, it creates a real dilemma.
Do we want an elitist government from either party to tell us we have been bad and now we have to take nasty medicine to make us better? Or, do we want government to be common folks who recognize we have to adapt to changing conditions and alter our course, factoring into the process both positive and negative impacts then balancing the change against the cost?
Are we at the point where we have to adopt the extremist point of view or perish?
I am convinced that the vast majority of Americans are somewhere in the middle. We all want smart guys working on our behalf, but we don’t want them talking down to us.
The labels we put on parties confuse me to the point where I don’t know where I fit anymore. (That would suggest that I did at one time.)
The problem I see with most elected officials is that they fail to do their homework. The scope of the problem is huge so they rely on staff to do the in depth work on an issue and never develop an understanding that comes from slogging through the details. Bureaucrats and Lobbyist capitalize on this weakness the most.
The other major problem in a partisan system is the fact that party leadership has so much power. With the power to control what issues come to a vote, what language is in a bill, the trade-offs, the deals and anything else you can imagine they often don’t represent interests of constituents. Partisans have their own elitist club and most of us are not in it.
The two-party system does not offer alternatives for Pro-Choice Capitalists like me. David Brooks calls us Progressive Conservatives. Isn’t that ironic?
Posted on December 19, 2008 at 10:37 am in Partisan Politics, Political commentary | RSS feed
|
Reply |
Trackback URL
No Loss for Words
PROgressive CONservative PROCON That’s Me
by Steve DanaSometimes, I am conflicted regarding the role of elected government officials.
Should government be a few “elitist smart guys” that save us from ourselves by pitching an narrow agenda that will be painful to complete, achieving goals us common folks didn’t know we should have from the start?
The partisans that call themselves “Progressives” are the worst. They are so stuck on themselves. They are the ones that think they are saving us by being elected. They are the ones that think we wouldn’t understand complex issues. They are the ones that like to use big words to demonstrate their superior intellect. They are the ones that think they are the smartest person in the room.
The partisans that call themselves “Conservatives” are not far behind.
What is a Conservative anyway? Is a person with a Pro-Life abortion stance a conservative if they also support labor unions or the ‘green’ agenda? In the two party system, it creates a real dilemma.
Do we want an elitist government from either party to tell us we have been bad and now we have to take nasty medicine to make us better? Or, do we want government to be common folks who recognize we have to adapt to changing conditions and alter our course, factoring into the process both positive and negative impacts then balancing the change against the cost?
Are we at the point where we have to adopt the extremist point of view or perish?
I am convinced that the vast majority of Americans are somewhere in the middle. We all want smart guys working on our behalf, but we don’t want them talking down to us.
The labels we put on parties confuse me to the point where I don’t know where I fit anymore. (That would suggest that I did at one time.)
The problem I see with most elected officials is that they fail to do their homework. The scope of the problem is huge so they rely on staff to do the in depth work on an issue and never develop an understanding that comes from slogging through the details. Bureaucrats and Lobbyist capitalize on this weakness the most.
The other major problem in a partisan system is the fact that party leadership has so much power. With the power to control what issues come to a vote, what language is in a bill, the trade-offs, the deals and anything else you can imagine they often don’t represent interests of constituents. Partisans have their own elitist club and most of us are not in it.
The two-party system does not offer alternatives for Pro-Choice Capitalists like me. David Brooks calls us Progressive Conservatives. Isn’t that ironic?
Rate this:
Share this:
Related
Posted on December 19, 2008 at 10:37 am in Partisan Politics, Political commentary | RSS feed | Reply | Trackback URL
One Comment to “PROgressive CONservative PROCON That’s Me”
December 20, 2008 at 12:32 pm
The two-party system in this country has become a miserable failure.
Just my two cents, it’s been 20 years or more since I took Civics in high school.