New Year’s Resolution: Be Involved

Good government requires more than just voting. As any good manager knows, employees have to be supervised and their performance monitored. Our political representatives are no different. They must be held accountable. Citizens have to stay informed on issues. They have to know enough to sort through misleading sound bites and talk show bombast. They have to communicate with their representatives.

Yes, politics is dirty. There is too much money and mudslinging. But maybe politics would be more civil if citizens were more involved. Maybe our belief that we can’t discuss politics in polite company is part of the problem. Maybe we get the politics, and government, we deserve.

I am not suggesting we become political junkies. I am saying we need to pay more attention and be more active. It doesn’t take long to make a call, send an email, and click on an online petition. And we should stop being ashamed to talk with our friends, neighbors, and co-workers about what is important to all of us.

Politics is the way we run our society. It is how we decide who gets a job, goes to college, has healthcare, lives in a decent community, or gets killed in a war. Democracy is not a spectator sport. We all know democracy needs informed, involved citizens. Yet most of us do little, or nothing, beyond occasionally voting. Let’s all be more active citizens this election year.

---