Where do we draw the line, between traditions that have outlived their usefulness, and traditions that define who we are, distinct from other people, places, and cultures?
Yesterday was Town Meeting Day in New Hampshire, the traditional day when communities across the state hold their annual gathering of citizens, to discuss and vote upon proposed budgets and municipal activities for the coming year.
In my home town (the town where I grew up, rather than the one I live in now), the last vestiges of this form of government have finally been eliminated.
When you govern by Town Meeting, there is no separation between the concepts of "Town" and "citizens". They are one and the same, and governmental activities are woven into the fabric of normal, everyday community life. To choose instead a representative form of government, is to separate the one from the other. Instead of the Town being a "we", it becomes an "it". What kind of impact does this have on individual investment in the community? When you are no longer part of the core structure of a town, maintaining a high level of social discourse among an informed electorate is made monumentally more difficult.
I wonder what impact it might have on national politics, to eliminate the electoral college in favor of a plain ol' popular vote.
Posted by thinkum at March 10, 2004 07:17 PMIt's my cynical side talking, but this isn't a case of a failing tradition. I think it's much more likely that it's a case of a very common human failing: laziness. I should say, laziness coupled with excuses.
The attitude that we can't make a real difference in how the world around us is governed has taken deep root. There's a perception -- and who knows, it might even be true -- that all the control exists in the hands of just a few. It becomes easier to sit back and not be counted, to turn one's time to other interests than making sure the community runs smoothly.
Frankly, I'm amazed the tradition has held on this long. True democracies were tried once upon a very long time ago in Greece, and they didn't last forever then either. Human nature, I guess.
This may be why I prefer the more ... solitary nature of the feline. :)
Posted by: PyeCat at March 13, 2004 06:34 PMExcept it's not laziness that spurred the transition away from Town Meeting in the first place - there was never any drop in attendance when the Meeting actually was charged with making decisions (vs. purely informational). It was purely a logistical issue, where decisions needed to be made more than once per year, that drove the change to a Town Council.
Posted by: Thinky at March 14, 2004 10:59 PMAhh ... that I did not understand. Good clarification.
Posted by: PyeCat at March 15, 2004 02:35 AM