2025 Life Logs, Day 15: Democracy
Date: Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Weather: Sunny, Windy, Cold; Temp 31, Low 19 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
Tonight, my head is exploding with thoughts of democracy. I spent my day preparing for and then leading my Exploring Public Policy group. The focus was to help us better understand how representative democracy works in our local government. And then tonight, I listened to President Biden’s farewell address where he gave us a stark warning that our democracy is changing before our eyes into an oligarchy. Heavy stuff to absorb.
You could hear the frustration in the voices of the members of the Exploring Public Policy group this afternoon as they expressed a feeling of being overwhelmed with the complexity of the job of running town government. When they saw the huge number of committees filled with people who are elected, appointed, or who volunteer to serve, that advise and regulate and vote on everything that happens in Falmouth, they wondered how people do this in their ‘spare’ time. The committees and boards are filled with people holding down full time jobs, raising families, and just trying to survive. The group had one question. “How do you add the responsibility of making all of the decisions for your entire town to people who lead full lives and serve local government in their ‘spare’ time?” We do have a Town Manager, but all of the decisions are ultimately made by the people. Representative/participatory democracy is hard. But the alternative?
Then tonight listening to President’s Biden’s farewell speech with his stark warning that “an oligarchy is taking shape in America” sent chills running down my spine. He said it will be up to the people to keep democracy alive. The next four years are going to be very require vigilance and hard work to make sure democracy survives. I’m rolling up my sleeves to get ready to do whatever is necessary.
