Once again, Rhode Island legislators have introduced legislation to the General Assembly that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana. The bill would allow the sale of marijuana to individuals 21 years of age or older. The New England National Association for the Advancement of Colored People vocally supports the initiative and marijuana legalization is indeed supported by a majority of Rhode Islanders, but there is still a significant chance it will not pass this year. It all depends on the votes of our part-time representatives.
This possible misrepresentation of a community’s desires by the representatives is not unique. For example, in school districts across the country, there is a somewhat consistent pattern in which school board members egregiously misrepresent the voiced interests of students and teachers. The students and teachers will maybe attend a meeting or two and protest the board’s efforts and policies, but when election time arrives, the seats often go uncontested. School board members are left in their position of authority, which they can and often historically do use as a jumping-off point for bigger political careers.
We propose that Brown students take greater note of what happens in local politics and how we might effect change in this arena after we graduate. Graduates — and all citizens of the United States, for that matter — should not only continue to be thinkers, advocates and activists but should consider actually removing career politicians from seats of authority on a local and state level. This idea is nothing new, but lately the most successful new stream of candidates at the local, state and even national level have been Tea Party candidates, who certainly do not represent the interests of the average person. The University undoubtedly has a culture of social justice activism, and of challenging policies promoted by mysterious boards and committees as well as the Corporation. But do we have encourage students to run for political office at the local and state level?
The realization of fundamental political change at a national level is not impossible, but it requires nothing short of a lifetime commitment to public service and the political world. It is not unreasonable to be turned off by such a career. But what we propose is a commitment among Brown students to some sort of public service over the course of a lifetime, because it is our civic duty. In the state General Assembly, representatives are not full-time employees. Most have day jobs and do their work as representatives after 5 p.m. It is not in itself a career but an act of civic duty, like coaching the local Little League team, running a grassroots campaign for same-sex marriage or attending Parent-Teacher Association meetings.
Brown students are often drawn to the idea of social justice activism, but rarely speak of working within the representative system that already exists. Many will contest that real change comes from just about anyone but politicians, and this may be valid to some extent, but surely we need more people devoted to social justice actually running for office.
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editors, Matt Brundage ’15 and Rachel Occhiogrosso ’14, and its members, Hannah Loewentheil ’14 and Thomas Nath ’16. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
ADVERTISEMENT
