The New Year brings to Prince George’s County news that we shall soon be saved from the deadly scourge of pot-bellied pigs in our midst. Unable to fix the chronic school system, keep world class research jobs in the county or to contain the destruction of the rural tier, we can feel safer knowing that our neighbors will not have pet pigs. The duty to enforce the bewildering array of laws within the county is not in question, but the inability to find a way to quietly find a solution to the public-good-threat from a 14 year old pet is indicative of how far we have not come.
How nice it would be if our government had found away to bring employment opportunities for the current residents of Prince George’s County. Would it be too much to ask for a package of incentives to lure the federal and state government to open offices in our county? How about a WAMATA that encourages development around metro stations? Could we not find away to present a package of incentives that would encourage redevelopment in partnership with our established communities?
These ideas require political leadership; leadership that can find ways to rise above the politics of the small while considering local needs, no easy task. I wrote about a Prince George's County candidate platform guaranteed to lose an election with a platform for my non-candidacy. Instead of pig control, I think finding the resources necessary to establish ambulatory health and care services should take precedence. Instead of creating a night-mare for one person based upon inflexible rules and legislation, I think we should be searching for meaningful work with dignity that would pay a “living wage” reflecting the true value of a person’s work.
But sadly we will continue to bicker and dicker, and wonder why nothing changes. We will make the same political decisions and choices over and over again, getting the same results every time; and we shall be surprised - continuously. We shall call for change; but be afraid to try anything new. We shall cast our net for leadership into a small pool of self selected pre-approved politicians dreaming of things that are not to be. We may find ways to control the potbellied pig, but we will not find solutions to our real problems until we are ready to join as a new, special-interest group of energized individuals.
