I like to think that I have done a fairly good job in recent months of staying off of my proverbial soapbox. However, I  can’t keep silent any longer. Right now the government is attempting to hold off yet another potential “shutdown.” They should pass a resolution that will not allow this to happen anymore. They have to be better at negotiating and governing. They can't keep holding up important programs, funding and initiatives for the sake of political posturing and perceived election gains or losses.

 

Those currently holding the seats should be focused upon the protection, needs and safety of “ALL” of the people and in doing the best job possible to safeguard the citizenry. If you want your party to win the next time you should be part of innovative and creative ways to make things better for and in the country. If you show what a good job you can and will do, the people will vote for you. No one party should be attempting to usurp and hold power indefinitely. That's not how Democracies work.

 

There have been Dictatorships in the world for centuries. They never have worked well. Absolute power is a corrupting, corrosive force that ends in oppression and destruction. This is neither news nor rocket science. World history is filled with cautionary tales depicting the subsequent rise and devastating falls of those governments. Our system has worked for as long as it has because there have been people in the system who were not corruptible. There are those who want to remove all such nobility from public service for the sake of power and greed. To call it disheartening is an understatement.  There should be no more kicking the can down the road while the people are food and housing insecure and losing all savings while legislators refuse to do the work and go home. Enough is enough. 

 

If you can’t rule with grace, empathy and 
compassion; and you have no regard for 
human frailty; and you cannot administer 
justice with equity, mercy and impartiality; then you have no business in leadership and certainly not actively involved in governance. The job consists of two fundamental principles: “health, safety, welfare” & “protect & serve.” All major program and policy implementation meet at the nexus between the two.

 

Business can advise, assist and inform 
government,  but the government is 
fundamentally not a business. Business’s 
bottom line is “profit.” The government’s 
bottom line is “people.”  We can work in 
conjunction with one another, but when the two interests become at odds one with the other the government must “always” choose the people. Business should do the same because without the people there is noone to “serve and protect” and noone to purchase goods and services in order to create and sustain “profits.” 

 

Individually and collectively we have 
allowed greedy, shortsighted, selfish 
interests to prevail and profit exponentially on the broken backs and dreams of the most vulnerable among us. It is no wonder that we find ourselves at this present juncture.  Oppression and tyranny cannot become the “order of the day.” We cannot continue to normalize violence and disrespectful, irreverent behavior. This is not who we are as a people or a nation, nor is it who we 
aspire to be.

 

We are better than what we have been 
slowly allowing ourselves to become. It’s not too late, but as Michael Jackson said, we need to start with “The Man In The Mirror.” I’m not trying to tell anyone how they should be or what they should or shouldn’t do. I am merely suggesting that we all lead with love and choose compassion, kindness and truth. If we all do this in our own individual lives, I don’t think it will be very long before we begin to see the collective change for which we seek. Just a thought.