Bashing politicians is a favorite pastime, both on the Internet and in the real world. As much fun as it is to complain, politicians do a necessary job, and the majority of them are not professional politicians: school board trustees, village council members, zoning boards, and the like. I suspect we have a few right here on PriusChat. I'm one. I am the president of our local school board. My brother is a village councilman. Neither of us think of ourselves as politicians, but we are, in the strict sense of the word. We both get paid for it, too, but at way less than minimum wage. So here is your chance to fess up and admit that you are foul smelling, slippery skinned weasel of a politician. Stand up and be counted - an mocked, I'm sure. Tom
I serve in an advisory capacity on several city committees, and on boards of not-for-profit societies. I've been encouraged to join the political fraternity, but my skin isn't thick enough, nor are my teeth and nails sufficiently sharp.
I don't know how to answer that one. I am not a politician, but I've done jobs for politicians before. What does that make me? An accomplice?
Sigh that many poll opinions and no "No" or "Not Yet" choices. Someone on PriusChat needs to take a course on poll writing. From age questions that have no answer for 17 years, and a 3 year sized bucket and a 50 year sized bucket, to a Poll like this that has many flavors of Yes, and no No. ("not a chance", is not No, it is Hell NO!)
Exactly. I wouldn't want to give anyone an easy "No" to vote, otherwise I couldn't feel better about myself. Tom
That was enlightened! Just for people like you who have no clue, there are many parts of the country where the "village" is the seat of the most local government. Some places have towns, some have townships, some have incorporated villages with towns and townships, some have counties, some have boroughs, and some have any and all. Perhaps you should educate yourself a bit before you slam someone else who is actually trying to be part of the solution rather than just another rock throwing loudmouth! Icarus
in my 56 years on the planet, i've heard a lot of politicians (public servants, yeah right) claim they are performing a necessary service. but, i have never seen a lack of people lining up for the job.
I served on the executive board for the local [political party] "club"... fundraising, working on campaign platforms, glad-handing politicians that come to speak, etc. I also attempted to fill a seat on the local city council. I feel fortunate that I was edged out by one vote - as time went on, I saw just how insidious the political quadmire is. I'm glad I was spared that swim!
Northern Michigan. It's very much like Zimbabwe, but colder. A village is an incorporated municipality, but smaller than a city. Our village has 605 year around residents. That may not seem like many, but it is the largest municipality in the county. Our nearest major city is in the next county, and has a population of 14,532. This is *the* major city in the entire area, having the big hospital and airport. You have to drive 150 miles to get to anything larger. Tom
This is true for the political positions that offer money or power. At the lower end of the spectrum it's more akin to doing your turn in the barrel: you get paid next to nothing, it takes a lot of time, and half of your neighbors are mad at you at any given time. I do it as a public service. On the plus side, I get a lot of satisfaction from helping, and I get a lot of positive reinforcement from the community. In a small community you face another problem with public positions: if the qualified people won't do it, you end up with the wrong people making decisions. In a small community like ours, you have to beg people to run for office. Tom
