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Editor's ViewpointMeditations Of A Minnesota Mossback |
The Democracy Experiment … and Twitter-Babble
I’ve had my nose in a book since Christmas: not the same book, but a series set when the first seeds of democracy were planted at Runnymede in England upon King John’s historic signing of the Magna Carta.
There were a number of such covenants signed—and later repudiated—by Kings of England, but as time sped on and the middle class gained ground, so did the idea of representative government and individual civil liberties.
The concept that each person affected by the laws of the land should not only be answerable to them but should have a say in their formation was not an age-worn idea.
No, it was a newborn struggling to take its first breath.
So much that we now take for granted—the right to complain about the law and taxes, to write (and sign) letters to the editor objecting to what our elected leaders are doing—are rights that were first articulated by others on that small island. Many of those descendants of William the Conqueror still spoke French as a first language.
Now, almost 800 years later, in a land whose existence was yet unknown at the time King John autographed that famous piece of parchment, the experiment of democracy continues.
And I’m taking notes.
The right of free speech is still enjoyed, now more than ever. The twitter-babble follows us wherever we go, and political blogging is in full swing.
What bothers me about many of the anonymous ad hominem attacks posted online is that many of them take this format: “You claim that this is a good idea, but you cannot be trusted since you are a politician.”
The United States of America owes its existence to people who weren’t afraid to speak out, sign their names to their ideas—and bleed for them. And in a sense, they were all politicians—and property owners, taxpayers and members of families.
Though it’s probable that Thomas Jefferson and John Hancock would have supported our right to post anonymous comments on a blog, I’m guessing that those two gentlemen would have been very unlikely to do so themselves.
In a democratic society, we are all politicians. We each have the power of one vote.
We can sway our leaders by exercising that vote. We also have the opportunity to make a difference in government by becoming informed on the issues, showing up to meetings, respectfully articulating our opinions, or filing for office.
We can also just sit back, pass the chips, and whine.
A mossback is someone who was born in Washington State.