MISSOURI WATCH: IT'S TIME TO PUT OURSELVES BACK IN SELF-GOVERNING

America's founding fathers made it quite clear at the very beginning of our nation that the system of governance they were proposing, and the system that was ultimately approved, was one of self-government. In plain, clear and concise English, this term simply means that each of us is to have a voice in the affairs of state, that all individuals are to take part in making decisions that will affect our collective society.

We have grown up these past 220 years with the same concurrence, for an overwhelming majority still hold fast to the principle that those who are governed have the right to determine the manner and means of their governance.

Unfortunately, as our world has grown more complicated and the solutions have grown more complex, the governed have given up more and more their duties and responsibilities, deeding them to elected officials who have been bestowed with vast amounts of power, oftentimes used wisely and other times used less so. This abdication of power has been excused for a variety of reasons: insufficient time, complexity of problems and the obvious lack of understanding of consequences. Indeed, the job of citizen is no longer simply choosing who shall serve as elected legislator and who shall occupy the office of village marshal. It has become much, much more than that.

This inability to spend required time learning and understanding the complexities of government is perhaps the great unrecognized problem facing the United States and all of its many governments today. The issues, ranging from devising a welfare system that works to meeting the medical requirements of an aged population to providing the best possible education for young and maturing children, are indeed complex. Since the word problems carries an implication of complexity, we have a growing number of Americans, and Missourians, turning their rights and responsibilities as citizens over to elected officials, who presumably will represent our views and carry our convictions into public discourse.

This abdication has produced a number of problems, not the least being that as the issues grow in number and complexity, the ability to understand and deal with them even by salaried elected representatives has diminished. In Missouri, for example, we elect 197 legislators to represent us in making decisions on at least 200 diverse subjects every year. We require these legislators to spend a period of four and one-half months resolving the problems of every segment of society in Missouri, delegating them not only with powers to make decisions but to introduce their own ideas on what solutions are needed to make ours a more perfect union. Whereas the duties of these representatives were once less complicated because life itself was less complex, issues now facing the state and nation are extremely difficult to resolve. Otherwise they would have been solved long ago. Sorry to say, there are no easy answers for most of society's more bewildering problems today.

This complexity of issues and elusiveness of easy answers have led many citizens to adopt a hands-off policy, a feeling that their views count for little and are usually ignored even when they are proffered. While this complaint is valid at times, the truth is that even those who devote part or full-time to such decisions feel inadequate, and for just reason. As society has grown more complex, so have reasonable solutions, particularly if they are arrived at without adequate study, investigation and regard for consequence.

This citizen abdication makes itself obvious in still another way. An increasing number of Americans, and Missourians, are becoming so disillusioned with events that they are withdrawing entirely from the long-cherished democratic system. Convinced that their voice means nothing, they have gone beyond disinterest to the much more dangerous stance of aggressive resistance. Militia groups, special interest organizations, radical clusters advocating outright refutation of government have become increasingly obvious in the past decade. There is little reason to suggest these movements will decline.

Just as America's founding fathers sought ways to invoke representative governance, today's Americans need to discover ways of preserving this system and assuring that it operates for the benefit of all and not just a privileged few. The needs facing the 50 states in the late 20th century are no less than the challenges that faced the 13 colonies toward the end of the 18th century. If we are to preserve our union, we must find ways for all of us to serve it better.

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of the Missouri News and Editorial Service.