Two Questions To Ask of Every Public Servant
March 21, 2009
It’s truly a marvel that we don’t speak more about the fact that our government officials, especially in Congress, in the Federal Courts, and in the white house, are mostly of wealth and privilege. Many have never lived from pay check to pay check, or had to pay for unexpected car repairs or medical needs with a credit card, unsure whether it will ever get paid off. How can they possibly relate to what most of us are going through? How could a person, secure in their comforts and influence, truly act to alleviate the suffering of many of us at the possible cost of those comforts? In all honesty, how many of us who aren’t wealthy have been, or would be, willing to risk our own comforts and advantages to help others?
So, clearly, this truly is the blatant conundrum of public service. And, although it may seem obvious, it may be time to refresh one’s active understanding on it. As Paul Simon said, “Why deny the obvious, child?”
One way to address it might be to ask two questions of every individual in office, or running for public office. Is the person truly qualified, of course, is the most basic question (although clearly there are many in office distinctly unqualified). But also, can he or she specifically relate to my problems?
The second question is one we often ask, but almost unconciously — it’s really time now to ask with greater understanding and resolve. You can bet that lobbyists ask that question and are very clear on what the answer should be. We need to be as clear and more insistant that our public servants truly serve the interests of we, the people. The evidence that they don’t has become such a towering mass of stinking filth that it is a true marvel there are not major acts of civil disobedience everywhere. It is a testimonial to the power of the doctrine of consumerism, the debilitating nature of debt and employment, and the pandering of our media to power that these things are not wide spread, and indeed that revolution is not in the air. Perhaps we have not yet suffered enough.
