Tom Kawczynski - Off the Record

I went to my first borough meeting tonight here in Bellevue.

What was most striking to me is how few people were there.  This was a workshop meeting as opposed to the regular meeting where voting happens, but there were 12 people from government, and 5 citizens.  Think about that.  You have the elected government basically doing whatever and no one cares enough to watch or see what is happening.

I'm happy to report, at first glance, that all seems well with Bellevue.  But, for all the taxpayer rage I hear and see, what I don't see is action.  What is lacking is involvement from the people.  I know every municipality is different, but I pay a 2% wage tax to the place where I live.  That ends up being a substantial amount of money, and I want to see how it is being spent.  I think most people would also, and that is why you need to get out there.

You can lobby politicians until you are blue in the face, but that only goes so far.  Fix your communities, look to the problems there, and you might begin to prevent the need for these big solutions that are always "needed".

I know this is sometimes boring and we all have better things to do, but we have to do our part if we want things to get better.  If not, then you are consenting to someone making decisions for you.  That's fine as you have that right, but then don't complain when things happen that disappoint.

I have a personality that sometimes can seem extreme.  Maybe it is because I can be something of a perfectionist, but those closest to me know that I can be difficult.  I put hours, days, weeks, months, and even years into things that matter to me.  I try to do what others don't because I feel things matter.  But, the truth is no person can do anything alone, and having balance is crucial to keep perspective.

There are times when I'm tempted to be at two political meetings per day in perpetuity.  But I would lose myself, and find myself drifting in rhetoric apart from reality.  That is my battle, and thanks to the tireless and mostly thankless effort of the girl, and others, I remain somewhat grounded.  But, the challenge I face is the opposite that I think many (though not the readers of this blog) encounter.

The world is a complex place, but if you are going to participate, you should make an effort to understand what is happening.  I'm doing some planning for future campaigns and important ideas, and one theme that keeps coming up as important to me is what should be the personal responsibility of the citizen and voter.  You cannot force anything, but what I would ask is this:  take 11 minutes per day and try to learn a little about your world.

It could be local, state, national, international or anything.  I just know it is important people have context to understand what is happening.  Act based on knowledge, not ignorance or the promises of any politician.  It impacts you anyway, so you owe it to yourself.  Plus, if everyone did just this, I think those who are elected would be much less able to take advantage of our inattentiveness.

One of the privileges of having been involved in grassroots politics for an extended period of time is that I get invited to see many things that happen behind the scenes.  Not everything, of course, but enough to understand how people think and what motivates them.  It is those things which worry me.

We live in a society replete with metaphors.  We exaggerate casually, and tend to insert drama into everything we say.  I hope that it is only this that I observe when I listen to so many people describe those whom they disagree with in such a hostile fashion.

I don't believe this a nation where we are truly at war with one another, where a neighbor who views things differently is an enemy, where a party that acts in opposition is traitorous, or that people are that awful.  As much as anyone, I believe there are systemic problems that may very well destroy our economy and our way of life, if not corrected.  But I don't think that we, the people, are each other's enemies.

I have many friends who are committed and passionate Democrats.  I have more friends who are Republicans with the same vigor.  They can all be good people, who disagree, and who look for different solutions to problems.  I find that they all are willing to listen to me because I treat them seriously and with respect.  I make my arguments for limited government and personal liberties, and they know what I believe trumps who I associate with, and we value each other.

I do a lot of work with the Tea Party movement, but if they think that change will come by castigating that very large of percentage of Americans who disagree with them as enemies, then they are fools.  If you accept that you cannot persuade someone your ideas are correct when reason is on your side, then you cannot believe in self-governance for people because you are admitting that people can't make those judgments.  It is arrogant, it is divisive, and even in success, it will spring a failure far worse and more radical than what it seeks to remove.

The left is no better, and their current attempts to ram through policies they know that most people don't support only ups the ante in a turf war that keeps growing.  New institutions, allies, spending, and manipulation.  We make new political classes that lack the civility of the parties, and simply seek to force their ends.  Is persuasion truly dead and impossible?  I know so many who think so, and I sometimes feel like one of the last voices of reason.

I am so happy to be an independent because I stopped playing that game.  I am going to say what I think, what I support, and dump the labels.  What does being a conservative mean anyway when one person is a constitutionalist believing in truly limited government, one person wanting a protective theocracy, and yet another a free market extravaganza.  Useless, misleading, and even if most people think they like the term, who can truly tell me what it means?

I imagine, to some, I probably come off sounding like an apologist.  I'm not.  I'm a realist.  I know that for most people, politics is just looking at issues that affect their lives and looking for solutions.  That is the conversation I'm having with people, and I hope we find our future there together.