We’ve no politicians in Whitewater, Wisconsin. We’ve no career bureaucrats, either. They’re all public servants. Ask them, and they’ll be happy to tell you as much. I’ll take them at their word — they (like the Vulcans from Star Trek) have “come to serve.” We are fortunate for it.
They have surely noticed what others have, too — that America sinks in recession, groans under increasing public expenditures, all with no end in sight. Only two dozen miles away, Janesville sinks into something worse than mere recession; her number of unemployed grows each day. Much was made of the benefits of being in her orbit in better times; in these difficult times, one might guess our prospects, like hers, are darker.
Let’s be clear, and set aside the euphemisms of well-fed, white-collar politicians and career bureaucrats, that we have ‘difficulties,’ ‘challenges,’ &c. No we don’t. We have jobless residents, destitute neighbors, and hungry and frightened fellow citizens. Not far away, in some vulgar hovel, but here, in the ‘Banner Inland City of the Midwest.’ Here, in this city, of this state, of this beautiful republic.
All the preening, false humility, and showy processions change nothing of our fellow residents’ condition. And yet, our Common Council comes to serve.
I have a modest proposal, seemingly small, but principled:
These are not times in which those who represent Whitewater should take even a penny in compensation from this community. If it’s an honor to serve — and it is — and one hears it from our politicians often — then it should be a true, unpaid honor, under the increasing unemployment, hunger, and poverty of our city. (The same should be true — easily as much, perhaps more so — of our elected Municipal Judge, Richard Kelly.)
Lincoln was right, considering an even more sinister circumstance — one should not wring bread from the sweat of other men’s faces.
Service needs no compensation, no stipend, no ersatz retirement check. Reject it all – in doing so, our political class will have embraced a truly principled and fair service.