Over the past several weeks I’ve been watching the republican presidential field get beat up by each other and the media and I keep thinking of how morality is intertwined into our political system. Sadly it seems that immorality is what is highlighted. In fact all we really hear about is how much of a sleaze ball a particular politician is. Doesn’t really matter which one you look at either.
One of my first thoughts when selecting a political leader is to find one that is as close to my own personal moral fiber and lean towards them. That becomes difficult especially on the national level because we can only go by what we read, hear in twenty second sound bites, etc. With that kind of system it’s really hard to get a good read on what kind of person someone really is. The next question that comes to mind is “if I can’t pick them based on their moral fiber (or more often than not, their lack thereof) then what do I base my choice on?” Their record is a good thing because what they do is much more important than what they say. But then you run into the issue that people change. So now we’re back to what they say they stand for in the here and now. That gets us back to can you trust what they say. Which gets back to their moral fiber. Pretty vicious circle if you continue to look at it in these terms. It’s also unproductive to do so because after all they are politicians and by in large will say what they think you want to hear to get your vote. Ugh…It goes without saying that we have very little influence with the politicians of Washington. Once they’re in place they’ve got their political machine to protect them. At least with the local politicians we can get face to face with them if we’re concerned enough and have our voice heard.
So what do we do with the politicians on the national scale? I’m beginning to realize that voting people into office that are for as much limited govt as possible is really the only realistic way to vote with a clear conscience. Turns out a representative republic primarily controlled by state and local govts is best. That’s probably why the Founding Fathers put this in the Constitution – The Tenth Amendment “The power not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”.
If we can limit and stifle the federal govt we can then more realistically elect people that will make good laws that align with our moral compass because we will be able to keep closer tabs on them and get face to face and make sure our voices are heard. The original design of this country was built on this premise.
