POLITICS: States that give, states that get

I guess it wouldn't surprise you if I said I believed it was the community's duty to take care of its members... not the government's.

I think of "the government" as the community's representative and agent. It simply depends on the size of "the community" in question. If a community is going to take care of its members in any sort of organized fashion, it's going to need some sort of governing agency to do that organizing. (Sometimes that "government" is going to be private, like a church's governing board of directors. Sometimes it will be public, like a local school board.)

So at what point does a government become too big, too remote from the community that elected it, to be the community's agent anymore?

I don't think of the government as an agent of community: certainly, the government has not been managing its duties the way I think it should be, much less encouraging the community I want. It's been a long time since my government represented me, anyway.

I think of it as a loaded gun. It has too much power already to be impartial or trusted.

By "the government", do you mean your local municipal council or city hall? Or the local school district board? Or the county commissioners? Or the state government? Or the federal government?

I'm not thrilled with the way my city is run, but I know my local alderman personally. I made it my business to meet her when I moved into her neighborhood, and I've called her several times to request city government services: to get a missing street sign replaced, to get city inspectors out to look at a neighboring business that didn't take good care of its property (I don't mind a messy back yard, to a point -- but they had rats there), and to ask how best to deal with some rowdy, scary neighbors (my alderman gave me the name of the neighborhood police officer, who said he'd had other noise and fighting complaints about them already and that he was on the verge of making a complaint to the landlord about "nuisance tenants").

All these things made my community, my neighborhood, a little better. All these things need government to do. Even if I wanted to spend the money myself, I couldn't just put up a street sign in a city, it has to be coordinated with the post office and the 911 dispatchers and so on. Sure, I had complained to the business personally, and the owner was dismissive; it needed the threat of fines to make him act. I am too much of a wimp to have approached the nuisance neighbors myself; I was happy to let the police handle that.

My city collects a 1% income tax and a 4.016% sales tax. As homeowners, we also pay about $1200 in property tax each year. That's a lot of money.

But the fire department was here within two minutes last summer to save our garage from burning down. (That alone was worth all the taxes we've paid.) The police department responds promptly. The rowdy neighbors were evicted. The business has cleaned up its property. Our alley was recently repaved, our trash is collected regularly, our water is clean and our sewers don't back up. When I volunteered in the state prison system and didn't have health insurance, the city health department provided free tuberculosis tests, free flu shots, and free hepatitis immunizations. I frequently visit the city-run free zoo, free science museum, and free art museum.

I get good value for my money, I think. Now, if they'd only put in the speed bumps I keep asking for....

In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I'd seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?

I think we still live in the America that song was written of.