Public-spirited means having or showing an active interest in the good of the community.
I aspire to one day become a public servant that is permeated with an essence of public-spirit. Why? Because I’ve been left to suffer at the hands of the government and I constantly hear heart-wrenching stories of tragedy caused from a lack of concern by public servants.
Maybe I have an active interest in the good of the community because I am currently not a public servant. But, will I be strong enough to resist the dangers that come with holding office? Or will I become sick with greed and begin to fill my own pockets with as much public money as I can?
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Will I lose my empathy and think that it’s OK for me to take $61/day for meals, $19,000/year for housing and a $105,000/year salary while many constituents struggle?
And will the greed then seep into my bones as I come to believe that I deserve expense accounts on top of that? Will I lose sight of the constituents who do not have enough to eat, nor a safe place to sleep? Will I listen when constituents trust me with their painful stories? Will I be able to remember that once I was filled to the brim with public-spirited energy?
Or will I be whipped so badly that every ounce of compassion and decency is bled out of me.
Our communities are rotting with homelessness, hunger and suffering. Citizens are injured at work and their lives are destroyed.
They call out to the public servants in their suffering and inform them of the corruption. What is being done? Is anyone out there? Do our public servants have access to human emotions? I think it’s time to bring public-spirit back into the B.C. public service.
Susan Ladner
@SalmonArm
newsroom@saobserver.net
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