People's Opinions

People are always talking. There are always going to be people who get angry, upset, frustrated, and irritated with the leaders in the government. People have a tendency to think that they can do it better....yet a very small percentage of the people actual step up and run for public office. So where does that leave the rest of us? We who sit at home and blog about the things we see as the world turns. What role do us "whiners" have? In what ways does public opinion influence the formation of a democratic society?

I think that the people who live within a democratic society have immense power. Often times, they've more power than they realize and more power than they know how to handle responsibly. People are always talking. It's our human nature to communicate, to discuss, to thrive off of one another. You hear people discuss current events in grocery stores, at the gym, and through office buildings across America. Husbands and wives bicker about public policy while the youth struggles to grapple just what exactly government is and what it means for them.

In America, we are extremely lucky. I think that especially this past month, we all have become extremely aware of our luck. The world appears to be at a troubled point. There is immense up roar and protest occurring as I write this. I, like many others, can't help but question what the tipping point was for all of these events. What pushed the people to say "enough is enough".

But that's the thing, I get to question, I get to contemplate, and I get to freely discuss anything as I please. In the next election, for the first time in my life, I'll be able to cast a vote. I'll be able to stand up and proudly say, "this is who I am choosing to support." I can, at any time, volunteer my labor to a political campaign or a political movement. I can protest and boycott things that I am against or that I don't agree with. I can write about my feelings without fearing oppression. And I can, as I have before, sit down to breakfast with my state legislators and say "this is how I feel, what can you do to change it."

That is the power of my public opinion in our democratic society. That's what I can and that's what I choose to do. Some people may do more their power, and others may do less. But we have the power to shape our government. America prides itself on being a country that is "for the people, by the people". Theoretically, it is, or it should be, public opinion that shapes everything in our government.