Dear Editor
We have, along with most of the Western World, a system of government that we like to call "democratic." What many of us often fail to realize is that a real democracy should be a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people," as the revered American president Lincoln said so succinctly so many years ago. What that idea implies is that all citizens need to be somehow involved with what is going on in the hallowed halls of their own governments, and that governments should be run with the best interest of all the citizens in mind..
Unfortunately, we no longer live in sparsely populated, limited size, relatively homogeneous societies where we can all have a more or less direct role in what goes on in government. One exception may be Iceland, which happens to be one of the world's most democratic societies. That makes the role of the media especially important as a way of providing citizens with information about what the issues are, who the actors on the national stage are and what is really going on. And that also makes the role of the average citizen especially important in keeping informed, and keeping an open mind about all that is happening in the political arena.
It has been said voters get the government they deserve. That, unfortunately, may be true. But first, citizens should have a fair chance, through the media, to learn what the real situation may be regarding the issues facing the society.
I am troubled by how many times I have heard people say that they are "turned off" by all politicians, and have quit paying attention to what is happening in the arena of government. If it's true that all politicians are scum, then is the solution to merely quit voting, or perhaps worse yet just vote on the whim of the moment? The "by the people" part of democracy breaks down when that happens. Yes, democracy dies a little when that happens.
Citizens should try to listen to more than one source of information and to use reason in trying to sort the wheat from the chaff. We still have the possibility to learn from media with different points of view, and we should try to do that, as well as we can. Then, when the time comes, we should all take on the responsibility to vote "for the people."
Russell Lahti
Battleford
