Kudos to Tyler!

We here at the HCP tend to focus on what is going on in the upper echelons of government, but it is important to remember that the reason that they are able to exist is through the fact that we give them that right through our democratic system.  I was personally incredibly happy to read the story of how President Obama replied to a letter written by Herkimer fifth grader Tyler Bargowski, in which he urged the president to take action to save the environment.  

Bargowski was in fourth grade when he penned the letter, telling the president that he was worried about the environment, and in it offered up his own ideas as to how the government could help.  This act, which the teacher stated he decided to do on his own, cuts to the root of what I believe we as a society have lost over the past eight months since Obama was elected: and that is the fact that if we are to advance as a society we need to be able to engage with the government to solve our problems, instead of just assuming that everything it does is evil.

Tyler observed a problem, that the environment needs to be protected, so he let an elected official know how he felt about the problem and offered a solution.  In this way he was able to engage with the government, and let his views be known.  If we all did this, instead of shouting at each other at Town Hall meetings and claiming that every single thing the government does is evil (I can wholeheartedly assure you that an organization whose lively hood revolves around you allowing them to operate is not going to start killing you off), we may have made some progress by now.  Every time you talk with an elected official you never know if the idea that you are proposing is something that they will enact, for it is the exchange of ideas that makes our system as great as it is.  It is when we completely lose sight of this that we go astray.

It goes without saying that not everything the government does is perfect, far from it as I have written in past posts, especially regarding the Senate Coup, but we have completely lost faith in our system of governance.  The government was created by us to operate for us, and this is what we need to keep in mind.  In terms of Tyler's letter he addressed environmental protection, which is something that the government affords us because it is what we as a society want and need to function.  

So once again I would like to congratulate Tyler on a job well done, and good luck with your aspirations of a political career!