Some thoughts on mid term elections

The trouble is not in our institutions, imperfect as they doubtless are. The crying necessity for reform springs from the fact that while our institutions are representative theoretically, our public officials are not so, actually.

- Fulton McMahon
American politician(1863 - 1934)

As we get closer to the mid term elections in the US, I am saddened and angered by the election system. Not that I have any concrete ideas on how to change the system, but I am dishearten by the way those who are running for office campaign, how the elected officials are prone to corruption and how little interest from the public there is in selecting good people to run the government. I tend to still hold on to the belief that there are good solid people out there who can make a positive difference in the world, but it is clearly harder to find them. Money is a big part of the problem, you have to have a lot of it to run, which often means that a person has to compromise ideals in order to get the backing of those with the open purse. Once you have taken that step on to the slope, well it tends to shift one down rather quickly.

Having children, I am even more distressed by the way our politicians behave. As for my 21 year old, all she sees is the corruption and hypocrisy of those in office, I have tried to express the importance of her being involved regardless, to vote and to express her opinions on issues and to ask questions of those running for office and for those in office. I believe I have been able to teacher her the importance of being part of the process, not excepting it as it is but the worthiness of working to improve the system. It is truly an never ending process! I fear that it will be much harder to instill these values in the youngest of my children. The media is playing it's part as I see it in keeping the masses uninvolved. People become jaded and disgusted, and too often refuse to participate in the process because they truly feel it does no good.

How do we then fight back? What values can we instill in our youth and how do we keep from just giving in/up to those in power?

Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country
are decent, hard-working, honest Americans. It's the other lousy two percent
that get all the publicity. But then we elected
them. - Lily Tomlin