We need your vote at town meeting! Please attend and change Wareham for the better.

Don’t believe the myth about town meeting being the purest form of democracy. That was only true for the Puritans who started town meeting over 380 years ago. In those days only adult white male property owners (worth a minimum value) were allowed to attend. In fact they were required to attend. If they didn’t their name was written down in the town meeting book and they were fined.

Shouldn’t democracy require secret votes so people can express their views without being threatened? Town meeting doesn’t use secret ballots except in extreme cases. People are able to see what you support by watching when you raise your hand to vote for or against things. Myth busted!

Shouldn’t democracy allow for equal representation? At town meeting the few hundred people there were not elected and fell no obligation to represent anyone’s interests but their own. Supporters of town meeting openly claim that people choose to not show because they are happy with not being represented. Elected representatives are expected to vote in the best interest of everyone. Town meeting is rigidly held at times when many people are busy taking care of their lives. Real democracy holds elections over a large span of time so most, if not all, people can work it into their schedules. Myth busted!

Shouldn’t democracy produce unity and civility among its citizens? Obviously town meeting had it easy in the beginning when the community was actually the congregation of a single church. They simply prevented people from joining the community unless they were deemed suitable. The supporters of town meeting yearn for a day when all the town leaders are of “their mind” and the interlopers are thrown out of office. Check out the hateblogs and Facebook if you doubt what I am saying. Real democracy gives everyone an equal opportunity to serve as an elected official. Those not seeking public office are free to pursue improvements to their own lives while their elected officials take care of the business of the community and protecting the laws. Every person is a representative in a town meeting community and can dabble in the functioning of the government. They are all “congress” members for the town or to be blunt they are politicians. We all know how well politicians get along. Myth busted!

Try it yourself…come up with a characteristic of “democracy” and describe how it works under the town meeting form of government. Compare that to how it works in a representative democracy. You can use the state government or the federal government as a model for representative democracy. Fortunately we have been living through years of debate about establishing democracy in other countries so there are plenty of instances where the minimum standards for democracy have been discussed. Try to find places where anyone has advocated for the town meeting form of government rather than representative democracy. Was it in Iraq? How about Afghanistan? Myth busted!

Let’s stop looking back and get on the path to improvement. Everyone else is busily involved in the great experiment to perfect democracy. We have some catching up to do. The first step is to attend town meeting on Monday, May 10, at 7:00 pm in the Wareham High School auditorium. All of the registered voters of Wareham are needed so please attend town meeting once so you can make a change. Your vote is a game changer!