Why Representation Matters: Our Common Lot

Politics feels crazy, and people on all sides are angry.

I often find myself, like many other Americans, disquieted by the state of American politics. And as a political junky I probably dwell on this stuff more than is good for my mental health. But whenever I emerge from thinking about politics and pay attention to things in my real life I tend to feel better. Unlike so many on Capitol Hill, the cashier at the gas station I usually stop at is kind and cheerful. My church community is full of people who think of others before themselves, encourage each other when they are down, and try to do good works for our surrounding community. Farmers, Mechanics, Teachers, Religious leaders, small and large business owners, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and people from all sorts of other walks of life live cooperatively every day in small towns and big cities across America. If normal Americans in their day to day lives can live together so well, why when politicians get to Washington D.C. does that cordiality end?

The answer is because the vast majority of ordinary Americans have no substantial say in what happens at the pinnacle of American democracy. With House districts at 1 representative to 800,000 citizens the pipeline for ordinary peoples’ concerns to reach the halls of power have been effectively blocked. So the most vocal minorities band together in their respective parties, take control of the primary process, and make sure the only candidates that make it through the process are those who speak the loudest about their fringe issues–and because the cost of an average House race for such large districts is so high the ultra rich buy up these loud politicians and help them hang on to power. So now even the vocal populist or progressive minorities who took over the primary process come in second to the ever present need to keep that sweet sweet reelection money coming into the coffers.

But if normal Americans can remember why representation matters so much, and take positive action to regain it–things can absolutely get better. The House of Representatives was created to be an active, lively body bringing the concerns of all the various communities across America to the forefront of policymakers’ analysis. Overworked teachers in underfunded schools, exasperated professors dealing with huge increases in students turning in AI generated papers, Farmers losing their bottom line and countless hours of sleep because of the newest blight affecting corn in Iowa, or parents concerned about the ease of access predators have to their children on social media are all examples of the fact that real world Americans are intimately familiar with the problems facing our country. And that is far from an exhaustive list, we need a pipeline for those concerns to hit the desks of those tasked with coming up with cross partisan solutions to tackle these and other issues.

And it is deeper than just the myriad of practical problems facing our country that deserve our policymakers’ attention. The most important reason for which the government exists is to protect our natural rights like the right of religious freedom. Nobody knows more intimately the threats to religious communities than the members of the various religions. America stands as a bulwark of religious freedom and conscience for ALL Americans, and it is very important for our lawmakers to be able to hear from Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Atheist, and citizens of all other religious persuasions about the discriminatory issues facing their congregants, believers, or non believers. The same goes for citizens who face repercussions for their speech, or who suffer unfair treatment at the hands of law enforcement. But also law enforcement officers themselves deserve their voices at the seat of the table.

Ultimately, democracy only works when the people have a real voice on the direction of their government. So because I was tired of feeling disquieted and angry at the state of our politics I decided to throw my lot in with Project No Cap to help to repeal the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 and uncap the House of Representatives. Let’s make Congress concerned with the problems facing the normal and kind people of my community and yours once again.

Godspeed!

—Joey Carrion, Michigan

—Edited by Matt Beyer

Originally posted on Substack