As we here face election day tomorrow, with a number of State officies up for re-election, I, in the face of questions, feel the need to re-emphasize two points.
- Virginia is NOT "Local Government." The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, the Herdon Town Council, or the Fairfax City government are "Local Governments." Virginia is actually quite large and incredibly diverse. So much so that one way to try to win an election is to try to promise Northern Virginia that you will give it its "fair share" of tax dollars and highway money. Northern Virginia is a very different place fromthe tidewater areas, the southern Piedmont, and the western and south-western parts of the state. Richmond, one of the few industrial cities in the South, is very different from all of them. Blacksburg, part of the "technology corridor" is very different from the pan handle. The same social policy will not be right, effective, nor just for all of them.
- Jamaicaâs Archbishop Samuel Carter rightly said that
When you give, the giver is always in the position of superiority; the receiver is always in the position of inferiority. When you give to someone who doesnât feel as though they have earned it, you diminish them as a person in their self worth.[1]
This is something we see and face in our governance here. Our politicians do often look down on the people they serve. Even our Boards of Education, dominated by the teachers' union, oftend do so. This is not right, nor is it healthy for us as a people and society.