Whose Voice Speaks for Whom?

I am tired of people who are not part of a situation thinking that they know what is best for that situation. 

Take as a recent example the question of whether to reduce the size of the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument in southern New Mexico.  The Monument was created by executive order of former president Obama after attempts to pass legislation to do so were unsuccessful.  At a recent Senate hearing the Interior Secretary, reviewing the possible reduction of several such documents, stated he was open to keeping the size of this monument unchanged.  Representative Pearce of New Mexico, the representative from the district in which the Monument sits, beseeched the Secretary to indeed reduce its size.  Pearce had the signatures of hundreds within his district seeking the reduction.  Yet, those who live outside the district, those who know nothing about the area, or the Organ Mountains, or the effect of the Monument’s size on the economic opportunities in southern New Mexico, those folks contend that maintaining the size of the monument is crucial. 

Now, I am all for wilderness and open-space, and having the entirety of this area preserved as a national monument sounds great to me.  But I do not live in southern New Mexico, and so I really don’t know how this might affect the people who do.  The people within the district, or at least a significant portion of them, would seemingly like to see the Monument reduced to its size before Obama single-handedly increased it via his executive order. And isn’t it those people, through their duly elected representative, who should have the say, rather than those who hundreds or thousands of miles away think they know better what is best?

And, here, more importantly, is the problem with many on the Left.  They think they know better than those actually living within a situation what is best for those in that situation.  They think they have a better understanding of a variety of circumstances than those actually living in them: what is best for people of a race or culture of which they are not a part; what is best for those living in different economic circumstances than do they; people who hold more traditional values; people who have different life goals; etc.  The PBS News Hour recently did a story on how check-cashing businesses and even pay-day loan operators serve a very real need for low income people, a need that banks and others cannot fill.  Yet those who have never actually experienced life day-to-day and year-to-year in that economic situation would have such businesses shut down with no viable replacement because they think they are not good for those who actually use them. 

This country elects its representatives from specific districts; there is a reason for that.  The representatives go to Washington to speak for the people of their district.  The people in a rural area may have very different things to say than those who live in high-rises in a large city.  And people from one area, or one situation, should not assume that they know what is best for all others.

That, actually, is probably one of the best, if not the best reason why it is good that Jon Ossoff lost the recent Georgia-6 special election.  He was not from the district and, not having lived as/not being an actual part of the day to day life and culture of the district, he would not really have been able to speak for the people of that district.  If it were possible that one could just listen to those in a different situation and truly understand their struggles, what they feel and have to say, then we would not have a need for our House of Representatives. 

Sadly, many on the Left do not see the importance of this representation from all the people, from all the many different situations that exist across this country.  Instead, they think that they alone know what is best for everyone.  That perhaps is one of the reasons that they seem to so fear the idea of populism.  And it is their belief that they know better than the electorate that prompts their unrelenting attempts to overturn the results of the presidential election by any means possible and install one who represents their own views instead. 

Yet, accepting that there is not just one voice is a key to our democracy.  We must hear and tolerate other voices, especially those that come from situations and experiences that are not ours.  And, when those voices and the views they express seemingly cannot co-exist then we must find ways to compromise; we should not simply assume, and must never accept,  that only one voice is best for all.