Meme: pork
Comment to this post and I will pick seven things I would like you to talk about. They might make sense or be totally random. Then post that list, with your commentary, to your journal. Other people can get lists from you, and the meme merrily perpetuates itself.
hildakrista gave me: loyalty, pork, domesticity, fantasy books, wool, fun, and your favorite adult beverage.
When a region elects an official to represent them, they are not just electing someone to voice the region's preferences and opinions. They are also electing a person to look after the region's interests: economic, social, environmental, etc. Part of that responsibility is making policies that will best use the resources of the region, bring in jobs, support infrastructure and otherwise improve the region that the official is responsible for. This is called pork (aka pork barrel spending) and for some unknown reason it is maligned. Talk about counter-intuitive. If it's the responsibility of the official to promote laws and policies that benefit the region, why do people complain when the official does so? Just as people can be greedy or stupid, so can elected officials. That's why some of the pork that the officials support is too. In such cases it is valid to complain that an official is being greedy and stupid if they promote pork that the region does not need. However, it isn't valid to complain that they are bring resources into their region. In other words, pork in and of itself is OK and arguable required of an elected official. How, why and what type of pork is a valid criticism.