The Real Job Of Our Political System - And Response

  • Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Imagine what could be accomplished if the same efforts and millions that were spent on the Georgia special election (and similar elections elsewhere) yesterday were applied to our nation's problems. 

For instance, in no specific order: veterans, national debt, jobs, the homeless, crime, national debt, infrastructure, terrorism, drug addiction, medical research, climate research, etc. 

The quest for political power and position has circumvented the real "job" of our political system. Both parties have had seasons of power, yet failed to resolve issues vital to the people. 

Decades past time to get the work done. What about turning the dollars and determination into a laser focus on resolving national concerns? 

Ted Ladd
Ooltewah 

* * * 

I agree that many folks involved in local, state, and national political systems in the U.S. of A. seem to concentrate on everything except the real jobs they are supposed to be doing.  A good argument can be made that we'd be better off if we paid congressmen, senators, and bureaucrats to stay home and do nothing governmental; it would cost us less in the long run. 

It is ingenuous, though, to complain about the money spent on a recent Georgia election, as two letter writers from Tennessee have done today. 

Back in NASA's early days, when Americans seemed to be going to the Moon every few months, many semi-thoughtful Americans complained about the waste of money -- all that money being sent to the Moon!  That money could have been spent on housing, food, medical care and research, crime fighting, on innumerable things right here on Earth where it would have done some real good. 

The truth is, all the Earth resources we ever sent to the Moon were a few thousand pounds of steel, aluminum, copper wire, and other minerals in the form of electronics, glass and plastic and so on.  Trust me ... all of that money spent to get to the Moon stayed right here on Earth, going for wages, raw materials, industrial profits, taxes, and politics.  And it went right back into circulation; it never went to the Moon at all. 

The same argument applies to political advertising -- money spent for printing, bulk mailing, signs, radio and television advertisements.  We shouldn't be too worried about money spent on political advertising; at least that money is sort of visible.  Anyone who is interested can follow the money and track it down; it goes for salaries, materials, services, profits, and other mundane things, and eventually goes right back into circulation.  Just like the Moon money. 

Some folks tell us to worry about the money spent invisibly to buy political influence, to buy silence, and to make things happen behind the scenes.  But that seems pretty futile, perhaps even unwise. 

Some days it really is best just to mind our own business, and hope we don't get all of the government we're paying for. 

Larry Cloud
Chattanooga


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