Comment on It's great to see a politician that's progressive and Not a Millionaire.
Eldritch@piefed.world 2 days agoInitially politician wasn’t supposed to be a career. It was a side hustle you did after planting and after harvest. Which exains some of the session schedules you see today that seem odd.
I’d argue that we need to get these offices back to being what you do outside your day job again. Whatever that means in modern society. However, if were going to make the mistake of letting it remain a career path. We do need to pay accordingly. While codifying actual laws against graft. Not just unenforceable “norms”.
It was designed so that wealthy landowners could attend sessions more easily. Just like the u.s. senate does not represent the population, but the land area. The writers of the national and state constitutions were almost all wealthy landowners.
In my opinion, given the size of the population and the complexity of the economy, full time politicians who are paid very well combined with draconian anti-graft laws are needed.
The difference is that in ye olden days there was simply much less need for full time legislators. In an era where 90% of the population lived on largely self-sufficient family farms, and large scale economic regulation wasn’t widespread, part time legislators made a lot more sense.
Is it that different today? I’d argue a lot of the legislation getting done that isn’t just naming things. Or approving reoccurring spending isn’t just useless, but harmful.
All I’m saying is government at all levels today does a hell of a lot more than governments did in the 19th century. We simply ask more from our governments than we used to. And the more a government does, the more legislation will be necessary.
Did you mean after your slaves plantar and harvest?
NathanDerWeise@feddit.org 2 days ago
Most Americans get two weeks off a year, if they’re lucky. There’s no way to make this “outside your day job.”
Eldritch@piefed.world 2 days ago
They’re 100% is. But it 100% requires addressing what you just talked about. There needs to be a new labor movement. Where terms are renegotiated again.