LOUD Township Hall on M-33, between Commins and Atlanta, Montmorency County, Michigan, is an icon of American democracy.
This township hall is just as it should be. Township halls should all be loud. Loud voices should sound at meetings on a
regular basis as citizens show up to argue loudly about what would be best for
the town. America was founded on loud
voices debating ideas. Democracy is a messy,
noisy thing because human beings with different opinions interact.
The town meeting is a foundation of the Republic. Before there
was the Declaration of Independence—there was the loud town meeting. Before there was the Constitution—there was the
loud town meeting. Before there was the
English Magna Carta—there were loud meetings where the people decided to tell
King John a thing or two.
The American Revolution evolved from hot discussions at loud
town meetings where colonists decided to tell King George a thing or two. Back
in the day, people slogged through the mud, rode through the dust, and waded
through deep puddles to get to the town hall to have their say. Today, residents must drag themselves away
from reality TV and tear themselves away from Facebook or Farmville to show up
at real live town meetings.
Many
Michiganders do show up regularly.
The alternative is a quiet township hall. When township halls are always quiet, when public meeting places are always empty—leaders have too much freedom to make rules and policies in peaceful deluded states. Their good ideas or bad ideas are not subjected to the healthy tilling that weeds out the bad and forces the good to be strong to survive.
Loud Township
should be proud; proud to be part of an American tradition; proud to be part of
a democratic tradition.
In this 2012 election
year, brick and mortar town halls, virtual town halls, mass media town halls,
campaign stops at town halls, and citizen gatherings across the United States
should ring with the sounds of loud voices debating what is best for America.
Just loud is not enough.
Debates should deal with issues, strategies and solutions. Citizens should listen carefully to these
discussions, ask questions, comment and then debate the merits of candidates
and ideas again, and again, and again.
Discussions should be respectful, quiet, lively, controversial, emotional,
factual, boring, repetitive, idealistic, courteous, and yes, sometimes LOUD.
--Sireen
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