It doesn't matter, conservative, liberal, Democrat, Republican, most of us feel completely left out in the cold by our government, utterly disenfranchised. The only time we are even the least bit likely to be paid attention is near election time, and then only in sound bites manufactured by some high-falutin' PR firm. The rest of the time it's business as usual, kowtowing to the ridiculously well-paid lobbyists who lurk in every corner of government and represent all kinds of special interest groups, on every side of the political spectrum -- those who fund the politicians' enormous campaigns, which start years before there is even an election. It's no secret that our politicians spend most of their time raising money, so they can stay in power, rather than doing the people's business. It's a large part of why so little gets done. Of course, they love the power and prestige of office and want to stay there. It's why many members of Congress have "served" for 20, 30 years or even more.
At what point are we going to get sick of this and demand a change? Demand that they listen to us. Demand they do what's right for the country or the state. Many of us have simply given up even thinking about it, raising our hands in disgust, and going on about our business. But at some point we will need to take action. So, what can we do? There are three things, big changes, we could demand be instituted to take our government back.
1. Outlaw all paid lobbyists: From now on only private citizens can lobby their elected officials.
2. Campaign finance reform: Other democracies do it. Each candidate only gets a certain amount for their campaign, and campaigns don't start until two months or three months prior to the election. Not only would this spare us all the tired rhetoric, and all the money spent on sound bites could be put to better use, but a regular person, with good ideas, would actually have a chance to be elected.
3. Term limits (this is the big one): If this were enacted we might not need No. 1 or No. 2. How about one, eight-year term? I don't care what office it is, it would be plenty of time to learn the job. And without having to worry about raising money and getting re-elected, these representatives would be immune to the power of lobbyists and would spend their entire time in office doing the people's work, doing what is best for the state or the country.
Sure, I hear people who are against these changes say we have the power over these representatives now, we can unseat them anytime we want with a little something called "the vote." True. But for some reason we don't use the only resource we have.
Perhaps that's because many of us are busy working two or three jobs, running businesses, taking care of kids, making it difficult to take an interest beyond those carefully crafted sound bites. And it's unlikely to change, at least until things fall much further, until we find ourselves in an even worse spot, with less say in government and in worse financial straits. As long as we can afford a decent car, a latte, a micro-brew, we continue to feel secure enough to hang in there.
Until the time comes, however, when we are ready to finally demand wholesale change, we at least have to use what little we have at our disposal, our vote, and we need to make it count, to send a message of change, or we can't expect much else but more of the same, both on the state and the federal level; and no matter where you fall on the political spectrum, that's simply not enough.
Dave Atcheson is a freelance writer from Sterling. His latest book is "Dead Reckoning, Navigating a Life on the Last Frontier, Courting Tragedy on its High Seas." He encourages readers interested in learning more about him and his work to visit www.daveatcheson.com.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.