Checks and Balances

I have come to the conclusion that there are many in this country that believe we can rid our society of all our ills if we can just implement the perfect system of government. For example, there are those that believe we can get rid of violence if we ban guns, we can get rid of obesity if we ban transfats, we can get rid of global warming if we ban SUV's, or we can get rid of corruption if we ban political contributions. This all stems from a belief that it is the system that lets us down rather than individual people. To all those people, let me say that there is NO perfect system without perfect people.

Our founders understood this clearly and that is why they put in a system with multiple checks and balances. It is not perfect because people are not perfect but it puts limits on government since there is always a check on power and the needs of any one group are balanced against the needs of other groups.

As frustrated as I get with government, I still believe in our system of checks and balances and that good government will ultimately prevail. The biggest check on government is the people themselves. If we don't agree with the direction of the country, we can vote in new representatives. To make this work, we have to be engaged in what is going on because ultimately, there is no check on us. If we the people do not demand good government, we will get what we deserve.