No long blog post today. Why? Because I have to write letters to the local paper and the town council, as I beat myself about the head with a sharp stick. When we moved here, I promised myself I wouldn’t get involved in town politics. As I learned from my parents’ experience, it’s thankless work that can take over your lives. Better to spend your political energy on a national level.
However, keeping my mouth shut is not an easy task. Two months in, I spoke out at the town council meeting and ended up in the town paper. Since then, I have restrained myself. But now some candidates want to save on taxes by turning the town into a fast food heaven.
Apt. 11d 
If you can spare the time, Laura, fill us in on the debate, and the letters you’re writing. Turning your town into a “fast food heaven”? I’m all over the fast food nation thing these days.
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I’ve never yet had a discernable effect on national level politics. On the local level, I have done a few things which worked, at least moved the debate. So from my experience, it’s the national level which is pointless…
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Kinda gloomy on the national level, though, isn’t it?
State and local politics are great. And good for you for getting involved. It is true that our Town Meeting has sometimes turned into Old versus Young, with old folks (I say at an age ready for AARP) trying to delay votes until parents with school-age kids have gone home. But it generally doesn’t work. Maybe the parents with school-age kids are used to sleep deprivation. Anyway, for humorous writing, nothing beats local politics. So don’t restraint yourself!
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from my perspective, i think local politics are a great place to practice lobbying and political action. you’re more likely to get an actual response from the office of a city or county politico than from a national one. state politics can be pretty inaccessible too, depending on the state.
national politics is old versus the young as well. just look at the spending priorities of Social Security and Medicare/caid over things like healthcare for children or spending on education.
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