I mean, it was a basketball game, after all….

I love it when your naivete shows through!

*rolls eyes*

BK – knowing the differences between federal, state and local government is not overly complex. Haven’t we had these three layers almost since the beginning of this nation?

Stephen – the closer government is to the people, the more the government plays an important role and the more influence the people have. Who sets the real estate tax rates? Who sets the water rates? Who decides whether we need a new facility or a new school? Those decisions affect our lives every day.

Terry – I understand your frustration. But take a look at the TJ quote in my sidebar. Educating the voters is the key. But the politicians haven’t shown any desire to do that.

I don’t buy the excuse that they are too busy with other pressures in life. We make time for what is important and too many Americans do not take government service seriously or make understanding it a part of their lives. Of course, the media and popular culture has only added to the problem by making the term “politician” a bad name.

And then there are the political parties and candidates that insist on running against “Washington” or “Richmond”, making the case that a strong government is a bad thing and that governmnet’s sole role is to attack “the people”. Cue the flags and film of families with happy children listening intently to a candidate trash “big goverment”…

I used to think that everyone had a duty to vote in every election. After years of working on campaigns and serving as an election officer, I’m now convinced that those who choose to ignore current events and are too lazy to research the issues and candidates should just stay home and watch their favorite reality show instead. It’s people like that who have given us the likes of George Bush and the current republican party hacks in government.

So to put it in a sound bite for the general public, if all this government stuff is too hard for you to understand, just stay home and leave the voting to the rest of us.

The people are right. American Government shouldn’t be the maze that it is.

If they’re not willing to show up in the Spring, why would they do any research in the Fall?

Students have an excuse, Ian. They are young But the older folks? I think tx2vadem hit it on the head: apathy. That’s why they call them federal voters, tx. They only show up once every 4 years (if that). And I’m with you – I doubt we’ll see any fundamental change in participation after the election.

I wish it were different. I really do. It would be so much easier on all of us. From where I sit, one thing that might be accomplished is that not only would more people be involved, more people would be running for office. And I think the cost of running would fall, because instead of all that paid staff, there would be a larger portion that is made up of volunteers.

Oh well. A gal can hope, right?

We have all of these big issues facing our country, but people either don’t care or don’t care enough. The media has been saying that all these new people that Obama is bringing out will have a lasting impact on political participation in America. I happen to hold a more pessimistic view. I think a lot of these people will just fade back into society after this process is over. It will be: “I got him elected, now I am done.” We’ll see though.

It seems that we are not able to deal with problems until whatever fire it happens to be is burning our house down. What makes us so focused on short-term rewards and neglect long-term consequences? How do we get greater participation and a more informed public?

One thought:

Is it possible that when it comes to “the government” most people think only of Washington and the Feds simply due to the fact that the Federal Government has become such an all pervasive part of American life that it’s only natural for them to assume that Washington —- rather than Richmond, or City Hall, or the County BOCS — is responsible for what ails them ?

Morlocks and Eloi? If I remember my H.G. Wells, Morlocks ate Eloi.

Since everyone has the right to vote, wether they are Morlocks or Eloi by tendency, one hopes that the Morlocks of the political world will work hard to stay in tough with lots of Eloi and to remain professional and patient when explaining things to them; so come election time the Morlocks can inject and little sensible wisdom into the Eloi and help them vote.

The trick is finding the hot-button that actually motivates an Eloi to become a Morlock on an issue or two…

Thank you for being helpful and patient Vivian, you rock… and thank you also for understanding how the system works. People like you make democracy possible.

You can’t even use the courts to change this anymore. SCOTUS recently heard a case where the We the People organization tried to get the IRS to answer some questions, using the redress of grievances clause of the constitution. SCOTUS essentially decided that redress of grievances doesn’t require any government agency to actually answer anyone’s grievances.

So what the hell good is it, then?

In California, medical marijuana has been made legal, and there are dispensaries around the state, where they sell it, by prescription. The DEA has used federal laws as a premise to raid these dispensaries, then seize the cash and the product. But they don’t place anyone under arrest. If they would arrest somebody and bring charges their would be a hearing, and due process. The feds would have to justify their raid. State authority vs. federal would be at issue in a public court. But by taking the cash without an arrest, the burden of proof is on the property owner to prove that they didn’t obtain the cash by illicit means.

Knowing how stuff works is useless when the bureaucrats move the goalposts arbitrarily, and the courts won’t stop them.

Making an informed decision to tune out is one thing. Tuning out without information and letting the critters run wild is quite another.

So if congress(or the general assembly) consists of a 50-50 split between D’s and R’s, I might hope that both will fight for the liberties they say they want to protect, but that isn’t the way it ever happens. What they both focus on is obtaining the controls that they each want to impose. Though neither gets all of what they want, they compromise, and permit each other half of the awful laws they want to pass. So I still get a net loss of liberty, and switching the bureaucrat that sits in the seat only changes the controls that my alleged representative wants to impose.

How much of this does a normal person have to witness before throwing one’s arms in the air? Meet the new boss. He’s the same as the old boss.