THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A NATIONAL CONVERSATION ON ANY TOPIC (at least not one that resolves anything). ADDITIONALLY, THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS AN ELECTED OFFICIAL REPRESENTING EVEN A SLIVER OF THE TOTALITY OF THEIR CONSTITUENTS’ WANTS, NEEDS, OR BELIEFS.

Unofficially, we allow our elected officials to use a concept called, “substituted judgment”. Essentially, because an elected official cannot know (or fully represent) the thoughts and needs of every single constituent, they substitute their own judgment in the place of their constituents’ judgments.

We live in a representative democracy. One of the greatest experiments of a melting pot of humanity in the history of mankind. A sloppy, messy, chaotic democracy, but we are still here.

WE ARE A FRIGGING MIRACLE! EVERY DAY, OUR MESSY DEMOCRACY IS A MIRACLE.

It takes our thoughtfulness, kindness, toughness, grit, effort, and energy in order to keep our democracy afloat.

Charles Tadros, M.D.

January 13, 2022

Saint Louis, Missouri