AN OPINION
PIECE
Do
not buy into the mistruth that Term Limits is "purer" or older or some
such thing than No Term Limits.
The
Term Limits question can be argued either way, depending on what sources you
want to cite. For example, you can argue for
Term Limits because in the US we now limit the President to two consecutive
terms and further cite the fact that George Washington set the precedent for
only two terms before it was amended constitutionally. But then one can argue
back that there are no limits on US senators or representatives, and that
Supreme Court justices serve for life.
Those
who believe in Term Limits will then counter-argue that Term Limits is commonly
applied elsewhere or that Term limits goes back further in history—conveniently
going back in history to a time and place making their
argument! Etc., etc.
All this misses the point:
Neither Term Limits nor No Term Limits is INTRINSICALLY better than the other. Intelligent framers of a constitution—or rules whereby a society is run—seek
the right balance in government. To
do this they employ MANY VARIABLES. These include rights, duties and restrictions
applying to officials; election vs. appointment to office; the number of
officials in a given body such as the House or the Senate; length of a single
term in office; and the application or
non-application of Term Limits.
It's
like a machine you tinker with to get working right. There is no right or wrong
intrinsically to Term Limits. Here it may work well; there it does not.
The
point for us in Century Village is simply to decide "Does Term Limits or
No Term Limits work better for us?" We should also be asking: "IF
Term Limits, which positions should this be applied to—all officers, some or
none?"
Given
CV's present set-up, I say "none" for the reasons many have given
many times over. Some will disagree citing their reasons. That's okay. Let none of us say, however, that Term Limits
or No Term Limits is better because it is the "original" and is thus
"purer." This is a false argument. Both are just adjustments among
other adjustments a society must make to their governing "machine" to
get it working right.
