Friday, July 20, 2007 - Politicians

I was on a train, heading to work and overheard a lady say that all politicians have failed the average citizens. That comment hit me like a ton of bricks, and up until now, I didn't know why.

Politicians haven't failed the citizens. We know who and what we are getting when we elect our officials. We know that this person will not live up to their campaign promises, for the most part. We know that they will face enormous pressure from big businesses to come into the fold and vote certain ways. We know that at the end of the day, no matter what your platform states, our elected representatives will have to play the game, compromising the interests of their constituents if needed.

No, our politicians have not failed us because we know all of this and still vote for them. If it is anybody who has failed the citizens, it is the citizens themselves. We have a responsibility in this whole system to hold our elected officials, NO MATTER WHO THAT PERSON IS, to be accountable for their actions. We choose these people because we feel that they will have OUR BEST INTEREST in mind when they make decisions. It is OUR JOB to make sure they follow through.

We, for the most part, have sat here and taken everything that they dished out. We believe every word that they say, without doing our research. We sit here with the notion that we cannot change anything and it is not our job to interfere with the government. But, we do cause change by our votes and it is our job to have a say in government because THEY ARE WORKING FOR US! It is their job to serve the citizens of the United States and we let them off with a free pass because we lost track of how the system is supposed to work.