It is most important for the citizens of a democratic society to be involved in the political process if the society is going to prosper for the common good. So often I hear people say that they don’t have time to be involved in politics or feel that their involvement will not make any difference. I have even heard some people say that politics is dirty therefore they do not want to be involved.

It is a fact, I believe, that unrestrained power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. However, if that occurs, it only occurs because not enough people are involved or the vacuum created by non-involvement results in individuals being involved who do not have the appropriate ethics or commitment to the common good of our society.

Those people who claim that political activity is corrupting or that is corrupt have no one to blame but themselves. I believe that everyone who has the benefits of a great community, society, state and nation, as we do, should have a responsibility or obligation to serve in a representative position if not an elected position. For our country to prosper the involvement of the electorate is mandatory.

As being involved in politics is important, so is being involved in the two-party structure. The control of one party over the other without balance has nationally and internationally proven to be corrosive to the common good. As power corrupts in the concentration of power in an individual, it also does in a party. The long-term focus of one party has the effect of removing the power from the electorate generally and passing it to those being involved in the specific party.

Obviously when you consider a party, you need to decide which party represents your basic belief system which best helps the common good. Is it better to have government collect more and more resources from us and redistribute to meet perceived needs or is it better to foster more individual incentive by leaving more resources with the producers to invest or us as their individual families decide?

The Republican Party in Freeborn County and southern Minnesota has a track record of offering committed people to serve in various levels of government. Generally, Freeborn County, because of the redistribution of resources, has done better overall by reducing the amount of money that is forwarded to state and federal government. This occurs because the general redistribution of resources does not generally benefit southern Minnesota. This occurs because of high valuation of property and stable economies.

It is a serious mistake when our representatives vote for tax increases and graduated tax structures. The committee structure of the Legislature is made up of members who favor individuals who generally are taking positions to expand spending of their particular special interest. As a result, when tax receipts are up the money gets spent and when they are down people want to raise taxes as we are seeing in the current economy.

Once the tax rates go up, they don’t come back down, and when the funds are distributed they do not come back to Freeborn County. They are redistributed to more urban populations where the population is growing and is stronger.

The repeated efforts to increase LGA may look like a benefit at a local level because it helps reduce real estate taxes and allows local government to spend more. The problem with this approach is that relative to other communities and other population bases in the state of Minnesota, Freeborn County gets the short stick. Therefore, we are better off focusing on living within our means and not looking for someone else at the state and federal level to pick up our expenses.

There are a lot of good Democrats and Republicans serving government. If you want to complain, get involved to change things for the better.

Henry J. Savelkoul is a member of the Freeborn County Republican Party.