Opinion pages in local newspapers serve a valuable function, providing a forum wherein citizens can freely share and debate ideas. We need this effective staple of our free press, one that celebrates our first amendment birthrights to speak our minds.
That people don’t want to hear or read about politics these days is understandable. But it’s gotten to the point where “politics” has become a dirty word. That needs to change.
After all, as someone stated better than I could, “…what blindness, what deafness, what density of ideology would have to weigh me down to prevent me from being interested in what is probably the most crucial subject to our existence, that is to say the society in which we live, the economic relations within which it functions, and the system of power which defines the regular forms and the regular permissions and prohibitions of our conduct. The essence of our life consists…of the political functioning of the society in which we find ourselves.”
In my opinion, democracy is worth saving. Thomas Jefferson advocated for “ward-republics”, comprised of 100 citizens max, believing that if we failed to practice direct democracy, America would lose its representative form of government. Voting is not enough. We need to discuss and debate issues face-to-face with our neighbors, developing consensus in our decision-making.
At this critical juncture in our political lives, we must participate directly in township and county governance. This is how we strengthen the bonds of trust, collaboration, and shared responsibility, while cultivating values that serve everyone.
Inspired citizens can build stronger communities at local levels wherein every resident has a voice and a role in shaping our common future.
This is the stuff of politics. A free press that consistently facilitates the free exchange of opinions is vital to a functional democracy.
Originally published in the Antrim Review