More Curious Than Worried

Get Involved in Government!

“We the People” – 3 really big words on a really important document. 3 really big words that mean that we (the people, that is) are in charge of the country. 3 really big words that I still believe in. Our government represents the will of the People. It is up to the People (that would be us), to make sure our governments know what we want.

Now “We” is a lot of people. There are about 206 million adult citizens in our country. “We” consists of right-wing nut-jobs and left-wing wackos, Christians, Jews, atheists, pagans, socialites and shut-ins, butchers, bakers, candle-stick makers, etc. You could fill every NFL football stadium (2,165,404 seats) and every major league baseball park (1,303,268 seats) with people who feel the same way you do about an issue and you could still be very much in the minority. When I hear people shouting that the government is no longer following the will of the People, I wonder if they realize how many people make up “The People”.

Our system of government works best when our representatives get lots of feedback and input. Think of government like a car, the more involved you are in steering your car, the less likely your car is going to veer off the road. Government is the same way. The more involved we are at steering our governments, the more likely it will reflect our collective views. Unfortunately, 75 million American citizens still did not vote in the November 2008 elections and right now in Colorado 33% of the registered voters are considered inactive. If we are not involved in our government, it will not be able to work for us. It is important to be involved (even just a little bit) in every level of government that represents you.

So how much effort does it take to be involved in your government? Not that much. Here’s the easy way to get involved:

1. Make sure your registered to vote from your address - If you live in Colorado, you can go to the Colorado Secretary of State website to make sure you’re registered correctly.
2. Find out who your representatives are – Congress.org is a great resource to find your federal and state representatives, just type in your zip code and it will give you a list. For your city and county representatives, check your city and county websites.
3. Party with the party people - If you’re affiliated with a political party, go to your party’s website and, at the very least, sign up for their newsletter.
4. Communicate with your representatives – I am subscribed to an email newsletter or RSS feed for every one of my representatives that has one. At the very least, keep informed on your representatives actions so you can respond the them and be more informative when elections come around.

So please, do us all a favor and get involved!