Wiiiiii!!!! How To Make Government Entertaining

It was a cold Tuesday night a few weeks ago. NCIS was in re-runs and I wasn't motivated to proceed with one of my renovation projects so I decided to tackle a laundry basket full of "whites."

So while I folded undies, I tuned in the TV to the Cape Girardeau City Council meeting that was airing live on channel 5. Usually the meetings are on Mondays, but the day before was a holiday resulting in the deferment.

It was an important meeting. The council was casting its initial vote on the first major overhaul of the City's zoning ordinances in 43 years. But from my television vantage point, besides the people who were required to be there -- city council members, the Mayor, and certain support personnel of the city -- the "crowd" at City Hall consisted primarily of a troop of boy scouts.

Got to love Democracy in action!

But this is not surprising. The world is a much more apathetic place than it once was. Most modern Americans are indoctrinated at an early age to leave all that governing B.S. to the handful of folks who seem to enjoy that kind of stuff while everyone else does more important things like watch re-runs of NCIS.

To be honest, I've been just as guilty as a lot of American's when it comes to letting someone else govern. For instance, I don't vote in a lot of primaries. They seem pointless to me.

But is that attitude good for Democracy? Is it good to entrust everyone's destiny to just a few life-long politicians.

Now, I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking, "Brad, this is the City Council of Cape Girardeau you're talking about. They have minimal powers and because of term limits they're definitely not life-long politicians" and you'd be right.

But City Council is like the entry-drug for those with political aspirations.

First it's City Council or maybe the School Board. It gives them a little power buzz so then they take a shot of County Commission. The hours are not much more, but the high from the salary a Commissioner in our first-class county makes is hard to beat.

Then after awhile that position and it's salary doesn't get them as tight as it once did, so they start experimenting with state legislative seats where they hang around other hardcore politicos in seedy places like Jeff City.

From there the descent spirals out of control. Lines of legislation in the state capital can lead to a Congressional position or a governorship. The most driven addicts eventually wind up tap dancing on the desk in the Oval Office gripping an M-16 with a grenade launcher attachment and warning terrorists to "Say hello to my little friend!"

So I know where City Council can lead and I think that the only way America is going to continue to exist as we know it, is to break this cycle of life-long politicians foisting their lobbyist-directed agendas off on the rest of us. And the way to do that is to get more people involved.

Now, I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking, "Brad, how can you possibly get more people involved in city council or other forms of government? Most people just don't care" and you'd be right.

Most people don't care. So we have got to make them care. We've got to get them involved. And what better way to do it than to turn government into a game.

We have the technology now. The country that put a man on the moon and created robotic hamsters and allows you to play poker over the Internet against opponents a half a world a way can bring governing back to the people in a way that will engage them and keep them engaged.

I'm talking about Wii™ Government™.

Oh sure, I know we -- we as in American's -- didn't invent the Wii™ gaming system, the engineers at Japan's Nintendo corporation did. But we can take this already good idea for a gaming system and make it even better.

With its built-in networking, there's no reason to limit ourselves to just six City Council members. With Wii™ Government ™, we can have dozens, even hundreds of Cyber Council Members whose avatars could discuss and debate local issues all from the coziness of each citizen's respective living rooms. It would be like Speakout and the commenters on this website, but without the anonymity.

Now, I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking, "Brad that's a brilliant idea, but what happens if the Council starts discussing rather boring topics like storm water effluence or waste water treatment? Won't the Cyber Council Members just tune out?" and you'd be right.

Boring subject matter will likely cause Cyber Council Members to tune out. We might as well recognize the fact that most Americans today have the attention span of 6-year-old on Red Bull. The City Council will need to focus its energies on exciting city issues that people can sink their teeth into. I can't say for sure what these issues will be since municipal politics can be very personal.

For me, it might be property tax or trash issues while somebody else might want the city to act on a neighborhood "drug house" while another guy whose basement floods every spring might actually be concerned with storm water effluence.

As far as I'm concerned, I will happily buy a Wii™ just so I can participate in the Cape Girardeau Cyber Council Meetings. However, if the council has to hold another Tuesday night meeting because Monday was a government holiday as it was the week of the zoning vote, I may have to pass that evening.

It all depends on if NCIS is not a re-run.