Rob's blog

Politics Ramblings

According to Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist papers, the "vigor" (focus) of government is essential to the security of liberty. His opponent in the great constitutional debate, calling himself "Brutus," said, "Wise and good men will exercise power so as to promote the public happiness under any form of government."

John Adams, one of the principle authors and founders of our country’s historical documents, had this to say in his famous "Thoughts on Government:"

. . .the happiness of society is the end of government, as all divines and moral philosophers will agree that the happiness of the individual is the end of man. From this principle it will follow, that the form of government which communicates ease, comfort, security, or, in one word, happiness, to the greatest number of persons, and in the greatest degree, is the best.

It is easy to see from these quotes that the founding fathers felt that government was not something evil that had to be put up with, but was the mechanism by which happiness was preserved and enabled for the greatest number of people. Their caution about government was to provide limits for it to ensure that good and wise people did not become corrupted by it and would naturally attempt to gain power or influence for themselves if they were not bound by its rules. As has been said before, laws and locks on doors do not really keep bad people out as much as they keep good people honest. This is also my view of government.

Government needs to be responsive to the needs of its people, yet also needs to have the wisdom and far reaching vision that the average person does not necessarily have which is why we have a representative form of government. The difference between representative and democracy is in a democracy, each person comes together on every issue and votes on it equally. Everyone in West Jordan, all 100,000 citizens (or 50% if they were adults) would have to come together every week in a mass city council meeting to decide each issue if we were in a direct democracy. Since we all agree how impractical this is, we choose to use a representative form of government which picks a few from among us who spend the time and vote the way the rest of the people would if we had a direct democracy. However, since they take the time to study the issues and are hopefully elected for their wisdom and good judgement, there may be times that the votes they give are not what the masses in the public would vote for because in doing their job, they may come across information or see a big picture that the rest of the public don’t see because they don’t have to put in the same time to see it. We sacrifice a few of our citizens so the rest of us can stay at home on Tuesday nights and watch T.V., our kid’s games, work or do whatever else we want to as part of our individual "pursuit of happiness. This is how government preserves this right for us. We can rest comfortably in our beds at night knowing that those whom we elected are doing the job that we sent them there for and can trust their judgement based on the results that we see come from their actions. If what we see suggests that they have lost touch or are making decisions we cannot support as a people, then we have the right as electors to send someone else when that person is up for re-election.

The mechanisms of government are far reaching and complex, yet they impact and intersect our lives at every level. Becoming informed and participating in the process is the right of every man and women in this country - a right that was purchased with the blood of many generations, on our own soil and around the world - so that we may have the right to decide to stay at home, write letters to the editor of the newspaper, picket outside something we oppose, and have our rights protected as long as we stand within the boundaries of the law. This is such a precious freedom. I hope we take it for the gift of the ages that it is and look upon government, using the immortal words of John F. Kennedy, as "not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."