"what the people want"
Jul 5, 2007 14:28:14 GMT -5
Post by RedRock on Jul 5, 2007 14:28:14 GMT -5
Repeatedly we hear that the President/Congress are not listening to "what the people want," meaning that opinion polls or group of elections results reflect "the people's will," at least as interpreted by those making the charge, and that those opinions/decisions MUST be followed due to majority opinion. Yet, in the USA we have a representative democracy (elected representatives)--a republic--and not a direct (mob rule) democracy. Thus, we elect leaders to think for themselves with information and experience we do not have, and we expect those leaders to exercise good judgment and to do so in general accordance with their stated and demonstrated philosophies and opinions, in making decisions that affect not only our backyards but our entire country.
In that regard, here is how one columnist described it (snippets below), about how our leaders are paying TOO MUCH attention to "the masses." The entire column (and I don't agree totally with the column or the columnist, but the underlying idea I'm referencing here is spot-on) is at www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/04/AR2007070401218.html and www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/04/AR2007070401218_2.html (both pages so you don't have to register or sign in with the wp to read it all):
Thus, regardless of many saying that opinion polls or the current congressional rep/dem ratio "mean we HAVE to pull out" of Iraq and other important endeavors "to reflect the public will," instead our leaders must do the right thing for our country, and to me that means continuing the battle against terrorism wherever and however we can, including with finishing the job in Iraq.
In that regard, here is how one columnist described it (snippets below), about how our leaders are paying TOO MUCH attention to "the masses." The entire column (and I don't agree totally with the column or the columnist, but the underlying idea I'm referencing here is spot-on) is at www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/04/AR2007070401218.html and www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/04/AR2007070401218_2.html (both pages so you don't have to register or sign in with the wp to read it all):
Former senator Fred Thompson has begun his unannounced quest for the Republican presidential nomination by telling audiences in New Hampshire that Washington is badly out of touch with the country..........Let a reporter who is not running for anything suggest that exactly the opposite may be true: A particularly virulent strain of populism has made official Washington altogether too responsive to public opinion.
From Aristotle to Edmund Burke, philosophers have written of the healthy tension that normally exists between the understanding and strategies of leaders and the sentiments and opinions of their people.
From Aristotle to Edmund Burke, philosophers have written of the healthy tension that normally exists between the understanding and strategies of leaders and the sentiments and opinions of their people.
The point is pretty basic. Politicians are wise to heed what people want. But they also have an obligation to weigh for themselves what the country needs. In today's Washington, the "wants" of people count far more heavily than the nation's needs.
You can win elections by promising people what they want. But you win your place in history by doing what the country needs done.
You can win elections by promising people what they want. But you win your place in history by doing what the country needs done.
Thus, regardless of many saying that opinion polls or the current congressional rep/dem ratio "mean we HAVE to pull out" of Iraq and other important endeavors "to reflect the public will," instead our leaders must do the right thing for our country, and to me that means continuing the battle against terrorism wherever and however we can, including with finishing the job in Iraq.
