Elect politicians who work for the greater good of all
FROM THE LEFT
If we could create a matrix of what qualities an ideal politician should have to best represent everyone in their particular constituency, we would start with believing in the inherent worth and dignity of every person, regardless of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or absence of religion, occupation and social status.
Unfortunately, we have a long history of prejudice against people that are not just like us, which makes it impossible for many to accept anyone that is not just like they are. A lot of this prejudice comes from holy books in matters of race, gender, religion and sexual orientation. Holy books can be and are interpreted by many to support and justify their prejudices. It makes it difficult for politicians to believe in the inherit worth of every person when many of their constituents harbor prejudice beliefs. It becomes a question of, do the politicians pander to those with prejudices to win an election or do they take the high road and appeal to those that believe in the inherent worth of everyone?
Having this basic belief would provide a base from which they could show compassion for everyone in their constituency. They would be truly representing everyone, not just those that contributed to campaigns and that they owe favors to. There is a great need for politicians that show compassion for the needs of people at the low end of income.
Every job we have in our nation deserves respect and everyone performing these jobs deserves respect. Every job in our nation is necessary to have a smooth running civilization and we can provide dignity and respect for every job by providing every job with a living wage. We need politicians willing to address the huge gap in pay between those at the top and those at the bottom.
The gap has driven the price of homes completely out of reach of those at the bottom, mainly because those with excess money buy houses as an investment, driving the price higher and higher, which is their goal. The recent tax cut for the rich increased the gap.
Another quality that should be a must for politicians is a belief in government and that it is a necessity at every level, local, county, state and national in our society. That the government is there to serve the needs of everyone by working for the greater good of all, not just those that contribute to campaigns. We need politicians that believe they are there to make the government work better and for everyone.
We need to elect politicians that have the courage to at least try to fix real problems we have. Like eliminating the Electoral College, the cap on FICA taxes, the 2017 tax cut for the rich and providing universal health care for all.
We need to elect politicians that are willing to fund government at all levels, instead of politicians that win elections by appealing to the greed inherent in so many of us, with the sole promise of cutting taxes.
Surveys year after year show that the happiest people in the world are from countries with high taxes, but that have universal health care for all, affordable higher education and housing for all and lower income gaps between the rich and poor.
We need to elect politicians who actually represent we the people.
We have too many politicians on every level that are elected to represent some special interest group that has a profit motive. The NRA is a perfect example, they are only interested in gun manufactures and dealers making more money.
The fossil fuel industry is another, which their goal is to preserve the use of fossil fuels to maintain profits, even if it means destroying the planet.
The good news is we the people can elect politicians that represent us. The ball is in our court on Nov. 6.

Marvin Jacobson