The Silent Majority

The silent majority is usually defined as a group of people that have a common interest, opinion or desire but for a variety of reasons decline to act on their own behalf. As a result they defer to a more active minority to dictate a specific outcome.

This is the world that we find ourselves for a variety of reasons. Most people need to put their collective energies into their own economic interests to survive. This would include their jobs/career, their relationships and their children. They simply do not have the time it takes to become involved in the issues that take time away from these important elements in their lives.

While this has always been the case in our society it has become even more pronounced as our economy has struggled locally, regionally and nationally. People are focused on survival not on the issues that have become so political. People are also turned off by the partisan bickering on issue after issue, so they simply tune out. As a result, the vocal minorities seem to dictate overall policy which we are seeing is leading to seemingly disastrous results.

Locally we see the same people who jump up and down for balanced budgets for our City, are also those who seemingly don’t care about the State and Federal budgets that are out of control. In fact, they are at the front of the line for the handouts that fuel the problems. Let’s all remember what Milton Friedman said, “There are no free lunches”. Every grant from the State or the Federal government ultimately comes out of our pockets in the form of higher taxes.

Every request for a good or service from government has a cost. That cost is born by us, the tax payer. From simple public information requests to major social programs, each has costs. Costs that in most cases far exceed the taxes we pay. Each may well be worthy but government does a lousy job of cost recovery across the board.

Then there are the lawsuits. If an issue is decided by a majority it has become the norm for the minority to sue in an attempt to change the outcome. The result is years of very expensive litigation that is paid out of our taxes. In many cases the lawsuits are really nuisance suits designed to result in a cash settlement for the attorneys and minority organizations that filed the suit. Unfortunately, it’s more cost effective to settle a case for money than to fight it on the merits. It’s not a matter of right or wrong, it’s a matter of getting paid for a minority view.

So what do we do about the issues that are really important for all parties involved? Perhaps we need to pick and choose our causes a bit better. We simply can’t take all the issues on, so we need to find those that really mean something us. We need to find ways that we can better express our opinions without having to sit through hours and hours of City Council meetings. We need to find the time to write a heartfelt letter to our City Council members, our State Assembly and Senators, even our Federal Representatives about matters that are truly important to us.

Now is the time to make your voice heard so please make the time to express yourself. There really is too much at stake for our collective futures not to let your opinions be known.

More later…