Silly me. I always thought that our government was by the people and for the people. A couple years ago, I wrote to representative Sue Myrick on some issue, and in response received a canned letter saying that she would always vote this way. I don’t recall the issue. But to hear from an elected representative that she would always vote in a particular way is disturbing.
It means that she doesn’t care at all for the will of the people, but instead for her own beliefs. If every single one of her constituents disagreed, she would apparently still vote her own way. The worst thing is, she isn’t alone. Apparently the fine folks of the North Carolina General Assembly have simply decided that they don’t want to hear any more about the possibility of splitting up the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School district.
One speaker’s microphone was shut off. Another was escorted away from the microphone by police. I mean, come on! I don’t care which side of the argument you are on, the mere fact that rather than letting someone speak their mind, our government chooses to silence speakers that don’t agree with them should quite quickly tell you that there’s something wrong here.
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2 responses to “A Government by the People”
As Burke put it, “Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.”
That said, the necessary feedback to that is the representative getting tossed out on their ear next election if they blow off their constituents (which, sometimes, is the right thing for the rep to risk). It also doesn’t excuse not *listening* to what the populace has to say, even if you’ve already made up your mind.
But then again, isn’t that how representative republics are SUPPOSED to work? The people elect someone who agrees with their views, and that person represents the public’s views. If the people don’t like that person, or their views are different, I would rather they elect a different person than have a single person change views with the wind.
Of course, none of this applied in the Kingdom of North Carolina, as the “representatives” in Raleigh pick their constituents, instead of the other way around.