The Omnipotent Poobah Speaks!: Come Join Us Up Here on the Soap Box

Come Join Us Up Here on the Soap Box

People like to complain. It's what people do. We lust for fairness and complain bitterly when it isn't forthcoming. This is nowhere more apparent than in our political discourse.

Generally, the first phrase a person utters when they perceive an unfairness is, "There oughta be a law!" That we're already awash in laws makes no never-mind. We've come to a place where we believe we must address everything in court. We even file suit to test the validity of laws before anyone has actually seen a need to contest them. We ofttimes pass them before anyone really knows there's a problem. The maxim seems to be "sue now, ask about fairness later". In the end, many laws become corrupted and fairness is a faint glimmer at the center of the judicial universe.

People also forget. It's what people do. The pay rapt attention as long as a subject holds their attention. Unfortunately, we all seem to be afflicted with ADD these days.

One of the things people sometimes forget is that laws flow from the government. The prevailing idea of "government" is a huge, unwieldy organization populated by liars, cheats, and charlatans. For most people, government is grossly unfair, corrupt in spades, and completely out of control.

If you're of this mind, we direct your attention to the preamble of our Constitution - "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

That short opening sets American democracy apart from all other governmental forms that came before, and to a large degree since. It clearly shows the founders believed that true power doesn't flow from laws, but from the people. It describes a government that is not only for the people and by the people, but IS the people.

It describes a government that is not only for the people and by the people, but IS the people.

Instead of posting the The Ten Commandments in every classroom and courthouse, I think posting those words are much more important. They mean more to the nation than anything that came from the Bible, Torah, or Koran. Because regardless of religion, your sense of fairness, or your moral compass, those 52 words are what make all other things possible.

YOU are the government. YOU directly effect how and which laws are made. YOU shape the democracy every time you discuss an issue with a fellow citizen. Despite the big-money Kleptocracy, YOU are the one who votes and can help direct your elected representation.

So, at the risk of not practicing what I preach, there oughta be at least one more law...if you don't vote, don't participate, don't make your voice heard, you don't get to complain.