Dear Editor,

Politics … at times can be a downright dirty word.

According to the dictionary, it means the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power.

It’s really more about feelings. How a leader or those who hope to become leaders make us feel. The only way to get people to react is to elicit an emotion, be it a positive or negative emotion. Think about it for a minute. What started the last argument or big discussion at your house? More than likely it was a feeling of some kind. Anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. Those are the 6 main emotions though there are many others. A candidate for office gets their constituents to donate time or money based on how they make them feel.

If those running for office can promise you that they care about the same things that you do, then you are more likely to spend your time or money on helping them achieve power. It’s the only way those things have a chance of becoming the law of the land. The opposite is also true. If you believe that they are wrong or misguided in their views, or against everything that you believe, it creates a conflict. That conflict probably makes you vote for someone else. It is how political parties achieve power.

According to Lord Acton, the 19th-century British politician, power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The theory is that as one’s power increases, their morals go down the tubes. The news is overflowing with powerful people acting inappropriately. Every day we see it happen more and more. How many people from every administration end up in trouble or behind bars? Even one is one too many. It’s not just in presidential administrations either. Look at Congress. Happens there all the time. Celebrities and athletes, too. Power goes to their head. They begin to think they can do no wrong. Why? Because we let them get away with it.

See, when all this political stuff started, those who served did just that. Why did they serve? Many felt it was their duty as a citizen. They served because they wanted our country to become better than it was before. Not to get rich. Most had other jobs. They didn’t need the small amount of money they earned from serving. It is not that way today, except within some state legislatures. They may all say they are seeking office because they care about you and/or our country. But in reality, all they care about is lining their pockets. With the hard-earned money of the rest of us. Because money is power. And power changes people and the world around them.

So which way will the power flow and how will the world around us change? What can you do to help those changes be positive ones? Get involved in your community and vote.

Shelby Lynn
Etna Green