When asked what form of government we live under, most reply: a Democracy. This is incorrect. Our nation’s founders revolted against British rule to give us a Democratic Republic.

Founders knew human nature all too well, understanding that pure Democracy would soon degenerate into chaos, anarchy and dictatorship. What they did give us was a Government of the People, by the People and for the People.

We, like many others, have unfortunately drifted far from this, and today we live under a Dictatorship, albeit one of our own making.

Council meetings are generally brief, with little or no discussion by members or mayor, before items on the agenda are voted upon. Extremely important issues affecting the town and its very future are never even placed on the agenda.

The few members of the public who bother attending such pointless meetings and desire to speak, are limited to three minutes.

So, with Council and Mayor having little or no discussion and attending citizens limited to three minutes, just how is our governance actually getting done?

Self governance isn’t easy and We the People are allowing governance to take place behind the scenes, essentially on auto pilot.

Most Porcupine viewers would agree, this doesn’t appear to be working out very well.

Politics is the Art of Compromise. None of us get everything we want even when the system is functioning as intended. We must be willing to work and get along with those having differing points of view.

Our founders believed small, limited governance with numerous checks and balances would do less damage than large, all knowing, all seeing government. Did you know that early on, Congress rarely met for more than two weeks a year?

We don’t believe in going behind our politicians backs to cause trouble. The Porcupine has attempted to communicate with those officials about to become ‘named subjects’ in articles before publication. Not even one has responded.

Does this seem like a government that wants to keep citizens informed and working together, or does this appear to be the act of officials who are ashamed of what they are doing, supposedly on behalf of We the People?