An animal born and raised in a cage thinks of its world in terms of that space. If the keepers provide its basic needs of food and shelter, it is probably satisfied that that is all there is. I know lots of people who'd resent being compared to a caged animal, but I see little difference because we, too, get used to living within the confines of our space as defined by church, government, social class, etc.
A talk show host from this area loves to rattle cages. North Dakota's money surplus bulges with about six hundred million dollars, and he rails against our conservative state legislature since they spend a lot of time talking about establishing "rainy day funds" instead of returning the money to the taxpayers. His solution to making the state house and senate more responsive to the citizens' wishes would be to operate the state with a unicameral system of government, much like Nebraska's. I remember studying the unicameral system in a university political science class over forty-five years ago, so he is not plowing new ground here, but it's good we are reminded that something different exists out there.
My thesis in all this is that we become so comfortable in our cages that we feel uncomfortable in stepping out of the boundaries to try something different. At any rate, the debate would be invigorating. There are many other areas that could be scrutinized and updated such as our presidential electoral system, tax system, foreign trade issues, health care, social security, border issues, etc., but they will be fodder for another day.
