Recent events have me thinking. Actually, the events aren’t even all so recent.
As we’ve witnessed the shut down and the healthcare rollout failure, we’ve also had the even lesser pleasure of witnessing partisans return to their camps. It’s almost as if, when all else fails, when push comes to shove, the partisans believe they must cling to their camps; they must hold most fiercely what they believe to be true; they adhere to a passionate ideology.
Even though to date, for example, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act has been unprecedentedly poor, how the politicians and pundits speak of it often depends more on their chosen ideology than on accurately addressing the problem. Hence, persons in “Camp Obama” are more likely to minimize the failure, while “Team Boehner” or “McConnell” campers may instead utilize the moment to justify more, far-reaching criticism. My sense is that both camps cloud the conflict; both camps interfere with responsible, effective governing.
The bottom line is that politics are impeding government. The polarization that has escalated and intensified over the past 3 decades has hurt us.
This past weekend I had an excellent, challenging conversation with a trusted friend. Note #1: the 2 of us don’t agree on all things. Note #2: I’ve yet to find a person with whom I agree on all things. And note #3: agreement or not does not diminish our ability to discuss nor impact our “trusted friend” status.
In our discussion, with an acknowledgement of the partisan camps that so easily entangle, we came to a bottom line question: is our government irreparably broken?
Let me ask again: can we recover from the brokenness? Has the polarized politicking digressed so far that we cannot return to responsible, effective governing?
It’s a tough question.
It should cause us to pause.
Is our government irreparably broken?
I’ve decided to be intentional… do a little research… think a little longer… ponder solution. I have to believe the broken, American system can be fixed. Granted, it’ll be challenging… ok, hard… maybe even, well, a little daunting… intimidating… unnerving… hmmm, better stick with hard. But the Intramuralist believes it can be done.
Some time ago, my older brother encouraged me to not only acknowledge a problem but to also offer a solution. If the government is not irreparably broken, then how can we fix it? What must be done?
Over the next few posts, my goal is to explore the repairs. We will offer potential solutions to an inefficient, ineffective, irresponsible, broken means of governing. No one solution will be “it.” If “it” was that easy, the Intramuralist would probably be writing this from inside an oval office.
We will cover tangibles and intangibles, specific steps, and perhaps some virtues to embrace. I will also include your respectfully submitted ideas. We’re in this together — together under a broken government. We desire something better and more.
Our first step will be introduced on Thursday. Can you say term limits?
Respectfully,
AR