Apathy about our government in the
United States has become a very serious issue. Fewer people are getting
involved in the decisions made in that affect our every day lives. This is true
for us as a country, and even more locally with our state and local government.
Two questions I would like to answer are : What about our Texas culture
contributes to lack of participation in our government? How does this lack of
participation affect our lives?
Hospitality and acts of kindness
are common here in Texas. I would say there is a much more laid back attitude
than in the northern part of the United States. I wonder if our laid back
culture here in Texas has a part to do with our apathy in the government. I
think what we have done here is taken his facet of Southern culture and taken
it to an extreme. We would much rather just stay at home and watch sports than
watch c span. I don’t blame anyone for picking sports over politics. We must
however, be willing to sacrifice a little bit of comfort for the good of Texas.
According to Vista Online, “If everyone would devote just two hours a year and
attend one local government meeting, every local government meeting would have
someone watching
them.” This can affect our lives in numerous ways. We are less informed about
what our elected officials are doing with our tax money. We are in general just
less informed about the changes taking place in our community. Worst of all, we
are never in a position to effect the decisions our congressman make if we
don’t know what decisions they have been making. It is time for us as Texans to
take responsibility for our state and start getting more involved with politics
in Texas.
