The Best Civics Lesson One Can Sit In On

An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting... - Thomas Jefferson

I am taking a moment before getting ready to attend what is truly the best civics lesson anyone can be a part of.

Town Meeting is really the best example we have of democracy in action.  

Even when you are on the losing end of a vote, you hopefully truly appreciate the right and privilege, and the somewhat unique mechanism by which we as a community have chosen to govern ourselves with.

All of us have our complaints about it.  It is not perfect.  Yet there is much to be said about the concept that perfection may be something you aspire to but cannot obtain.

We unfortunately have a divided community on several recent issues.  Yet it is not the first time it has happened, and will not be the last.

There have occurred a great many things recently I do not personally agree with.  I will again revert to my old mantra of perception being 95% of the battle.

The one underlying current that seems to be running through the divisions of our town is the way things have been done.  Like it or not it, it applies to how things have been done by people on both sides of the issues.

Yet today the people's representatives will gather to meet and address the matters before them to determine the operations of the town for the next year.  Those representatives are comprised of individuals on both sides of the issues that divide the town.

Those representatives, as one body, will deliberate and will reach a consensus on the issues, sometimes by a wide majority, sometimes by a razor thin vote.  It is based on those decisions that the town will run.  

It is this time honored process that has guided the town, and towns throughout our region, for centuries, and has served it well.  It has been tweaked in the past.  There are those who may wish to tweak it some more.  It still endures.

It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried. - Winston Churchill

Town Meeting, with whatever real or perceived flaws, does in fact remain the best example of democracy in place in this country.

I for one do not see it disappearing and do not believe it should.  

No registered voter should be denied the privilege of running and if elected becoming a representative of the people.  The people who elect those members should not be denied their right of representation.  The body as a whole should not be denied the ability of any one of its elected members.  

The body as a whole has a proven track record.  It is an enduring entity and its collective wisdom needs to be heeded.

I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any ... crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts. - Abraham Lincoln