INVASION OF THE PUBLIC SELF-SERVANTS

As we are beginning to wonder why Senator Rodney Wright is still in office following his conviction for voter fraud after five years of trial delays, state Senator Ron Calderon enters the picture with a massive corruption case involving money laundering, pay-to-play legislation, family members, and who knows what else. As repulsive as these scandals are, we will be told repeatedly that they are nothing new and that political culture is to blame. perhaps we’ll discuss the need of passing legislation or imposing other requirements that will serve as a deterrence. Even worse, you may hear someone justify corruption by conflating individuality with the welfare of the public. essentially exchanging the good for the bad, and this person didn’t do anything that the others conspicuously got away with, or… However, we only use those excuses to justify our inaction when it comes to calling for more action from our government, neighbors, family, and ourselves. We need to be furious about these scandals and furious at ourselves for our inactivity. Unfortunately, it’s possible that we won’t take this to heart and will instead continue to wallow in our pessimistic, jaded mood. and this pessimistic view, although entirely justified, serves as a grease to keep the corruption in place so that the system may continue. because our public officials will keep abusing the system we have established until we demand reform. Who is the self-servant in public? He is the political equivalent of the ambulance chaser, flitting between vehement positions whenever there’s a throng. When the community requires clear answers to challenges in the real world, she is the candidate who advocates for inflexible and vague ideologies. In pay-to-play regimes, it’s not only the elected official who lines his own coffers with bribes; it’s also the politician who arbitrarily moves to a more powerful post before the term ends. The public worker who manipulates the system to further her own interests exchanges public stability for personal gain and uses her power to further her career in a number of ways. It’s she who talks a lot about rhetoric and not so much about substance. However, this public self-servant paradigm is our own creation. We accomplished it by being complacent and not casting a ballot. or when we failed to do any investigation on the applicant. During the times when depended on just one news outlet, such as MSNBC or Fox News, to do our thinking for us. or when we gave up to dogmatic doctrine and stopped confronting members of our own parties. We engaged in this behavior when we backed a candidate’s image without openly pressing her to provide her ideas for resolving our most pressing issues. We committed this error when we gave in to the theatricality of dogma rather than insisting on the details of pragmatism. Let’s make the most of the controversies that are happening in front of us. For once, let’s use caution and initiative and assess how often we have blinders on. Unless, that is, you would rather cling to the catch-all defense of politics as usual to explain away the corruption that surrounds us. Therefore, may I ask where you’ve become complacent? Until we stop turning a blind eye, nothing will ever change. Although the public’s carelessness during the election process may have contributed to the public self-servant’s victory, the corrupt system is maintained by activists who refuse to challenge the smug responses our own candidates make when in government. The actual issue is not political platitudes or copouts; rather, it is the decision to stay quiet after the election, since the shadows cast by our inaction serve as the true breeding grounds for corruption. I do, however, have hope for a government that works for its citizens. I reject the notion that corruption is unavoidable, and I urge you to follow suit. When you read about Ron Calderon, don’t shake your head in disapproval. Go out into the streets and shake your head in horror. Refuse to become cynical. We will stop creating the kind of corrupt environment that public self-servants thrive in only when we as a community put aside our star-struck attitude toward our mayors, governors, and senators, only when we return to an era in which we demand that our public officials actually are steadfast community servants, only when real people demand to be taken seriously, and only when we have the confidence to demand purity of character in our government. Until then, let’s simply begin organizing a season of corruption trials at the conclusion of each parliamentary session. In this manner, we may save the public a little money and simplify the court resources.