America’s political labels are deceptive
ROBERT K. SMITH
Warriors Mark
In the political culture that we find ourselves in this country, it is becoming more difficult to get dedicated and qualified people to provide leadership in our government.
The two-party system has polarized the legislative bodies in both the state and federal governments to the extent that the constituents are subservient to goals of the party, whether it be Democrat or Republican.
I have observed this process deteriorate during my 80 years, and it seems to get worse as time goes on.
A group of very intelligent and concerned people constructed our constitution including the Bill of Rights to provide a framework to allow us to live together in a free society.
These people, based on their experience and observation, believed that government should be the referee needed to provide for the fair interaction of the people.
Our system has evolved into one where most of our citizens (and resident aliens) see the government as the provider of all that is good. Remember that the government produces nothing and only redistributes goods and services which are provided by the taxes collected.
We now have multiple groups of residents who demand and feel entitled to the contributions of others.
We need to stop using labels such as conservative or liberal or Democrat or Republican to apply to ourselves or others. These labels are deceptive in that they do not always mean the same thing when applied to different people or in different situations.
The media — especially TV — does much to fan the flames of discord and discontent. Sound bites don’t do much for enlightening anyone.
We need to start voting based on character and ability and not on party. I believe we need to have serious dialogues regarding term limits for elected officials. Our forefathers did not envision a system where people would get elected to legislative positions to be held for many terms, thus creating “career” politicians who are more concerned with their own agendas versus what is needed for the country.
Lastly, people who write political letters should read the U.S. Constitution and see what it says and not report what they would like it to say.
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