undertheice
Well-Known Member
with this years elections quickly coming up and the presidential elections a mere two years in the future, i'm curious as to what we really expect from our federal officials. promises are made each election cycle and they are just as quickly broken, we expect as much, but what drives us to choose one set of false promises over another is a curious matter. we know that government is incapable or unwilling to give us the chicken in every pot and two cars in every garage that we all seem to aspire to, so isn't it about time we adjusted our expectations of what government can do for us? i'm constantly reminded of that short news clip of the woman who was so pleased that, now that obama was headed for the oval office, she would no longer have to worry about her mortgage payments and affording gas for her car. just what is it we expect from these hundreds of men and women in washington and what sort of people should they be?
every campaign we witness is all about the leadership qualities of this candidate and that, but do we really need leaders? sheep need to be led, the mindless herd requires direction, the independent individual only needs someone to insure his liberty. we seem to forget that all these politicians are our employees and that employees are subservient to the description of their jobs. in the case of elected officials, their job is not to cater to the fickle will of the puling masses. their job is to uphold the tenets upon which this country was founded. those ideals were pretty clearly defined a little over two hundred years ago and they did not include the micro-management of the lives of the people or the massive nanny-state intrusions that our government has decided is in the best interests of the people. it seems quite clear that the federal government's duty was merely intended to be one of protecting the rights of the individual and that interference in their affairs was to be left to far more regional authorities. such messy meddling is the domain of state and local bureaucracies, with the watchful eye of the federal government standing guard to make sure that those petty bureaucrats don't go too far in restricting the rights of their citizens.
for decades we have tended toward a more centralized authority, with the federal government intruding into the duties of regional authority, and it just doesn't appear to be going too well. the people seem to demand more and more of their representatives in washington and government has grown to meet those demands. we are heaping the responsibility of our society's success on washington's shoulders and denying our own part in that success or failure. should we really be casting our ballots based on what these people can do for us or should we be asking them to just secure our liberty and allow us to make our own way?
every campaign we witness is all about the leadership qualities of this candidate and that, but do we really need leaders? sheep need to be led, the mindless herd requires direction, the independent individual only needs someone to insure his liberty. we seem to forget that all these politicians are our employees and that employees are subservient to the description of their jobs. in the case of elected officials, their job is not to cater to the fickle will of the puling masses. their job is to uphold the tenets upon which this country was founded. those ideals were pretty clearly defined a little over two hundred years ago and they did not include the micro-management of the lives of the people or the massive nanny-state intrusions that our government has decided is in the best interests of the people. it seems quite clear that the federal government's duty was merely intended to be one of protecting the rights of the individual and that interference in their affairs was to be left to far more regional authorities. such messy meddling is the domain of state and local bureaucracies, with the watchful eye of the federal government standing guard to make sure that those petty bureaucrats don't go too far in restricting the rights of their citizens.
for decades we have tended toward a more centralized authority, with the federal government intruding into the duties of regional authority, and it just doesn't appear to be going too well. the people seem to demand more and more of their representatives in washington and government has grown to meet those demands. we are heaping the responsibility of our society's success on washington's shoulders and denying our own part in that success or failure. should we really be casting our ballots based on what these people can do for us or should we be asking them to just secure our liberty and allow us to make our own way?