Public Servant or Official

What should we call our elected representatives?

  • Officials

    Votes: 5 4.1%

  • Servants

    Votes: 75 62.0%

  • Doesn't Matter

    Votes: 22 18.2%

  • Who cares

    Votes: 19 15.7%
  • Total voters
    121
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thereisnospoon

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In another thread I HIJACKED we have begun discussing this principle and I wonder what your thoughts are.

Are the people we elect as our representatives in government, local, state and federal "Officials", "Servants" or does the term we use for them matter?

Your thoughts?
 
definitely servants, as they are supposed to be serving the public. it's not even worth going into the degrees to which that concept has either been forgotten or simply ignored.
 
As our form of constituitional republic is based on our representatives being subject to us, I believe they are public servants, i.e., they serve the the best interests of the public.

edited to add: That's the theory, anyway. :scrutiny:
 
definitely servants, as they are supposed to be serving the public.
Click to expand...
Here's an idea: Instead of just calling them "servants," how about if we actually make them serve us?!?!?

Somewhere along the line, the "servants" got "serve the taxpayers" confused with "sodomize the taxpayers".

Even worse, most of The Sheeple just bend over and say "baaaa!":barf:
 
Public servants are the folks our elected representatives hire to carry out the government’s official business.

~G. Fink
 
I don't think we can call them servants because they get paid more then us and have such great benefits.
They don't like it when we say "you work for us" so we can't call them employees.
Officials; hmmm, maybe, but it sounds kinda high and mighty so I don't like it.:barf:
 
Public servant isn't the same as servant. Servant typically refers to someone working in a household.

Actually, the elected ones are usually called elected officials. Then there are the political appointees - the agency heads and board members who come and go. Most of the lifers are just working stiffs trying to do a good job without getting buried by the system.

John
 
In NH, the elected representatives in the state house still have the same salary of $100 per year that they've made for over a century.

Not $100k. $100.

I like that.
 
Title

I think they, as elected representatives, fall under the catagory of "public servant" to the electorate.

That being said...... If you consider for a moment that we are actually their employers, we are doing a terrible job of holding them accountable. If this was the private sector our "company" would be in chapter 11 protection. :fire:
 
I notice alot of people on the boards suggesting words being used incorrectly who aren't correct.

official
1.) Of or relating to an office or a post of authority: official duties.
[From Middle English, ecclesiastical officer, from Old French, from Latin officilis, an attendant of an office, from officium, duty, service. See office.]
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

I believe I would say that all government officials are public servants and see no issue with using either term to refer to say your congress critter.

Also on the list is arsenal, which I notice people trying to correct others on:
1.) A governmental establishment for the storing, development, manufacturing, testing, or repairing of arms, ammunition, and other war materiel.
2.) A stock of weapons.
3.) A store or supply: an arsenal of retorts.
My gun safe is my arsenal. If you want to use battery feel free, although popular use of the word seems to suggest its more appropriate for large scale weapons and artillery.
 
Elected and paid servants.

If elected, you serve at the pleasure of the people. When you tick 'em off, they will vote you out. Tarring and feathering, sadly, has gone out of vogue.
 
It's all mere semantics, but...

Unfortunately, the idea of public service/servant is the prime meme behind the welfare state and the nanny state. A servant helps people. A public servant helps the public by ensuring they have food, housing, clothing, medical care and protection from all kinds of dangers, including eeevil guns.

On the other hand, there's just not much "serving" to do in a limited government in which the people are expected to provide for themselves.

When thinking of public servants, I'm often reminded of some 1950's B-film sci-fi about a robot/computer that becomes a tyrant in its quest to provide for and protect its creators.

"We're from Washington, and we're here to help you."
 
Spin their title or description anyway you want but the fact of the matter is that our elected officials have become our MASTERS! Not only in their own minds but in fact.

Temporary masters, maybe, but still masters.
 
thereisnospoon said:
In another thread I HIJACKED we have begun discussing this principle and I wonder what your thoughts are.

Are the people we elect as our representatives in government, local, state and federal "Officials", "Servants" or does the term we use for them matter?

Your thoughts?
Click to expand...

thereisnospoon=> My opinion: they are all "public servants," paid for by taxes. That said, there are different types. Each new administration, at the state and federal level, appoints "political appointees" in government. These individuals are different in classification than standard government staff that are almost entrenched in office. Recently, government employees, at both the state and federal level, have begun to state a preference for their title: almost all prefer "representative" as opposed to "public servants" or "civil servants", which they find demeaning. Higher-up government employees (department managers or directors) are called "officials".

They are all "servants" that work for you. Don't let any forget that fact.
 
I started my legal career as an assistant prosecuting attorney. Upside was that the boss hated politicians, and never once played politics with a case. Downside was that he pretty much hated the public as well. We were "officials" in his eyes, and didn't really care what anyone said.

Now that I'm a magistrate, (5th day on the job) my new boss is very different. He plays politics quite a bit, and he very much cares what the public thinks. He's much more a "official serving the public" kind of guy, whihc is what I think the best description should be.

For those of you who don't like officials getting any special privileges, let me point out that I have to park in the public parking garage two blocks from teh courthouse. No parking permits available. ;)
 
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