To the Editor:

Whether it be a deficit or a debt, no amount of money owed a creditor is a good thing; not on the federal, state, or local level. Unfortunately, for too long it has been much too easy for us to borrow when we should have saved instead. The fiscal conservatives have been there for many years. Mores the pity that they have been ignored by both parties, the bureaucrats (un-elected office holders) who manage the government on a day-to-day basis, and the vast majority of the American people who are too busy watching “Dancing with the Stars.” Consequently the piper will come to collect his due, soon.

Unlike “Astroturf,” which is essentially a tool of public relations/publicity campaigns, authentic grassroots movements don’t arise, grow, and become powerful overnight. This is especially true when apathy in participation in government has been overwhelming for so long.

How could a county manager be able to get away with the irregularities and abuse that he has for so long? How could a board of commissioners be able to spend our county into backbreaking debt otherwise?

Ask yourself, “when have I gone to, sat and listened, and sometimes used the public comment period (our First Amendment rights!) at a county commissioners meeting? Did I want something from the commissioners, or did I go because it was the right thing to do? Have I participated in a meaningful way?”

Previously on the federal level, any surpluses were merely on paper and only affected the deficit, not the growing debt. Americans of all stripes are only just waking up to the fact that the deficit and the debt (two different wolves) have been enormously increased by unscrupulous elected and un-elected office holders who have not been following the Constitution. For this citizen, it makes me wonder if anybody else has read (and understands) the socio-political contract between us and our government? And do they care?

But take heart; for the truly concerned individuals lamenting the pending demise of our republic, there’s always as a last resort Locke’s “appeal to Heaven” to achieve a restoration of the founder’s vision of what we still could be.

Carl Iobst

Cullowhee