Imagine Representative Government, Because We Don’t Have It Now
What if we had a government composed of elected officials who served the people? I’m calling this idea “representative government.”
Under this idea, there would be no K Street, no PACs and indeed no bribes of any kind. Politicians would meet with experts on, say, climate science and tap the minds of competent smart people nationwide to make intelligent policy. They’d take those kind of meetings instead of phone calls with ultra wealthy “business leaders” to whom — under our current system — they reward with tax and regulation reductions.
I know. I know. Sounds crazy. But stay with me.
Politics wouldn’t be a career and holding office wouldn’t be limited to rich people. People who served would listen to constituents, would stay informed about issues facing people locally as well as nationwide and worldwide. They would actually care about others and humanity itself.
There would be term limits — short ones — and no possibility of accumulating money and/or power from office. Afterwards, nobody would become a lobbyist because influence peddling wouldn’t be licensed. It would be a crime, strongly enforced and severely punished.
We’d get reports from elected officials about issues and progress being made — or not made — and what they recommend doing next. Or perhaps asking for additional help from experts and others offering useful information and insights.
Officials would do triage, addressing problems based on severity and timeliness. Climate catastrophe would be number one. Terrible but solvable problems like homelessness and hunger would be fixed — these only require money and competent organization.
There would be vision of a better world to guide and inspire us. We’d often disagree about means, but we’d be united in wanting to reduce unnecessary suffering, illness and death. We wouldn’t be obsessed about making sure “our team” wins because we’d all be on he same team. We’d be people who recognized we share the same planet and we care about future generations.
We’d spend no time whatsoever arguing about what Qanon says or which pronoun to use. Instead, we’d focus on real and urgent problems. Over time, our collective situation would improve.
Maybe the world won’t be reduced to a burnt cinder and we wouldn’t end up fighting a stupid civil war as it burns. Who’s with me?
