I believe the Founding Fathers intended a system of
government that would be sustained by an engaged and educated electorate. I
don’t think we believe that today, or else we would have a very different
educational system and a very different election process.
We would ask candidates about their leadership abilities and
determine whether their education and experience were up to the jobs they were
running for. WE would expect all citizens to be prepared and informed voters. Our
preparation and their answers would make attack ads and slick marketing
useless. The influence of big money would be thwarted.
But, in reality, we will never achieve this ideal state of
things. This is where trust enters. If we have resources—individuals and news--we
can trust, that would help us through
the muddles and guide us to feeling our votes have some impact. But these days,
trust in very sparse, and truth winds up in the spin cycle.
Civic duty has lost its meaning. As we consume and play our
way through life, we are waking up to the corrosion of corruption, ineptness
and greed.
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