More Responsive Government Would Be Nice

It has been almost two years since I set up this blog, and I haven’t posted anything in that period.

If I do, indeed want more, it would seem clear that this blog isn’t part of the “more” that I want. But appearances are often deceiving, and this is a prime example. I do very much want to have my musings set down to share – in hopes of jogging a thought in an occasional reader that might send them off to explore their own thoughts.

Life does tend to get in the way of desires. There are many things that I want to DO (much more so than than things I want to HAVE), and just living life gets in the way of so many of them. Isn’t it distressing to have time taken away from a great dream by the necessity of keeping a roof over your head and food on your table?

There is so much going on in my life and in the world around me, that it is very difficult for me to focus on anything specific and concise right now. As much as I want more of many things, I have come to realize that also means I want less of other things. The cultural, political and economic climate in our country brings clear examples of that.

I want more – personal freedom and economic security. Of necessity, that means that compared to where we are today, I want less – government. Or maybe just more – responsive government.

Surely I’m not alone in feeling that virtually NO ONE in government is listening. Time after time, on issue after issue, the American people have a clear consensus on an issue and government absolutely refuses to act on the will of the people.

I mention one particular issue, not because it is necessarily on the top of my list, and certainly not because it is the sole example of unresponsive government, but because the facts around it are so indicative of the problem. That issue is English as the official language of the United States. It really isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a partisan issue. In a Rasmussen poll taken back in 2006, 92% of Republicans, 79% of Democrats, and 86% of those not affiliated with either major political party favored making English the official language of the United States. That translates to an overall 85% of the voting public. Yet our Congress has no will to act on it.

I have long believed that the “throw them ALL out” philosophy was unsophisticated and a little silly. Maybe I was wrong, or maybe I was right and I am starting to become unsophisticated and a little silly myself. In either event, the idea sounds better than it used to. Not as a one-time event, but as the approach to every election cycle. Whoever the incumbent is, replace them. Do it time after time, until we get back to what I’m sure our founding fathers envisioned – a citizen government, rather than a government operated by an elitist “governing class.” Okay, I still have some issues that keep me from really jumping on that bandwagon, but it is sounding better all the time. I guess I’m running alongside the bandwagon, so I won’t have so far to jump if I decide to.