Represent

There's always been a lot of talk about representation in government. I mean, by us here in United-States-Land (and to a lesser extent elsewhere, although they've usually had a lot longer to talk about it). Taxation without representation is one of those little slogans that all schoolchildren learn but don't really understand.

But I'm not going to disabuse you of your notions about that particular slogan. No, I just mentioned it because representation is featured in it, and representation is the topic about which I want to talk. Because right now, there's a heap of talk about representation.

Women are currently complaining about the fact that they aren't represented in government (largely because Hillary Clinton didn't win the primaries). Black people complain about that too. So do various other groups, minority and majority alike. Because, see, as Americans, it's our God-given right to have people who look like us in government. If there aren't, per capita, precisely enough people who look like us in government, well then, we're being denied representation.

What a load. Because you see, I can and do vote. And yet there will never be a President who looks like me. Why? I'm under 35. I can't even have a Senator who represents me (I would have to be 30). And if I were under 25 (still voting age, last time I checked) I couldn't really have much of anyone represent me in government.

Or perhaps I should say, "represent," because that's not what the word "represent" means. Represent doesn't mean resemble. It doesn't mean look anything like. It doesn't even mean agree with. You can have representation which is totally in disagreement with you. We are not (indeed, few countries are) purely democratic, therefore we have representatives in government who act on what are supposed to be our best interests, but they don't necessarily have to do everything we say, nor do they have to look like us.

Look, I'm not arguing that only white men should be allowed to be included as representatives of the people. But by the argument that some people seem to be setting out, that's what I should believe, because I'm a white male. After all, I should be represented. The president won't accurately represent me unless he's a white man.

Instead of supporting a candidate simply because he or she looks like you, why not take a look at how well you think this person will actually represent you? Certainly, if you are black and feel that only an African-American can accurately represent you because only another African-American can know the struggles that you've gone through, then that's a good reason to vote for that person. If you feel that only a woman can represent you, because you're a woman, and only a woman can understand your issues, then vote for the woman.

The system breaks down a little when you consider that, if you're, say, of Pakistani descent and are missing one arm, there are no Pakistani amputees in the running this year. Likewise if you're a homeless dwarf. Or a hermaphroditic half-Swede-half-Melanesian. If you don't happen to fall into a demographic who happens to have a candidate running who resembles (I didn't say represents) them, you're sort of out of luck in this particular game. And you might have to choose a candidate based on something other than demographics.

Again, this is not to say that minorities shouldn't be allowed in government. Far from it. I will happily vote for a hermaphroditic half-Swede-half-Melanesian over a white man should the opportunity arise - provided that I agree with the hermaphrodite on the issues.

My suggestion is that we stop worrying about what these people look like, who they are, where they came from. Those things should only be factors if they affect the candidate's stance on the issues. So if a woman, because she is a woman, believes that my tax dollars should be used to fund research on breast cancer, that's important. But if she, because she's a woman, is viewed by some as bitchy, that's unlikely to affect my judgement of her.

Vote for a person who will represent you, not resemble you. I can't vote for a president who will be in my demographic, and neither can a lot of people. I don't let that bother me.