Ranting about Right and Wrong and Representation.

The question of right and wrong is far more complex than people want to admit. When you look at events frozen in a moment, it can distort perspective.

Imagine you walk into a store. There are five people. Two of them are in an altercation. One pulls a gun and shoots the other. Killing is wrong. That person is wrong. They’re the bad person. Seems simple, doesn’t it?

But who are those people? Where did they come from?

Let’s say one is a sex trafficker, and the other is a teenage girl he’s trafficking. She sees an opportunity to free herself, grabs his weapon, and shoots him in the middle of the store.

For her, the choice was clear. It was the right thing to do. Her future was gone. Her freedom had been stripped by someone who kidnapped and exploited her. Even though she was in a public place—and even though it was dangerous—she figured this might be her only chance to be free again.

To determine what is right and what is wrong, you have to understand that life is a series of choices: yes or no, forward or backward, right or left. Small choices—layered and compounding—lead to the big events in life.

But our tendency as humans is to react. It’s a defense mechanism—it can keep us safe. But when we react, we often do so without all the information. And the thing is, humans are limited; a person could never have all the information. So, determining right and wrong is nearly impossible for a single individual to do.

I say all this because I’m struggling today. When I am struggling, I try to understand. I have all this stuff in my head and can’t get it out. I keep absorbing all this negativity from people who are stuck in the moment and refuse to take a step back.

I don’t know how to get through to them, or to anyone, really.

What’s happening in California is complex and dangerous—it just is. For so many reasons. It makes me sad that both the governor of California and the president of the United States are acting so childish. It also makes me sad to see friends and family reacting and arguing about it on social media.

It’s possible that Newsom and Trump don’t even know what they’re really fighting over. It’s not just immigration. It’s not just morality. It’s not just the rule of law.

They’re fighting over representation—and if they do know, they are unlikely to admit it.

I thought about writing an op-ed. Something to explain how the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 came about because of an influx of immigration, and how we (Congress) didn’t solve it then. We used it for power. We used immigrants for congressional power, and we’re doing the same thing now.

We shouldn’t pretend one side is more guilty than the other. Both sides benefit from the current system. That’s why they’re fighting over immigration instead of discussing representation.

Nobody should be here illegally. Everybody should be here legally. And our government should make it easy for good, decent, rule-following people to come here. We want those people.

But our government doesn’t write clear rules anymore. They haven’t decided what to do about immigration, and the Founders didn’t leave them a roadmap—because immigration wasn’t the same kind of issue then as it is now. And we can’t solve it, because it affects the 435 seats in Congress. It affects representation. And people don’t want to give up their power.

I don’t know who understands this and isn’t working on it, but someone does—or at least they should. I’ve read the debates on the Apportionment Act, and I know what members of Congress thought at the time.

Like I said, life is a series of decisions. And they’re all happening simultaneously. Different people make different decisions based on their interests. And someone’s interest—almost always—is in staying in power.

They’ll tell you it’s about something else. But it’s not. It’s about power.

Our Founders knew that, so they built a system to guard against it. One protection was plentiful representation. The more people in government—elected, known, accountable—the harder it is to control. Small groups are easy to control. Large groups are not. If you balance the small and large groups and give everyone a chance to be heard, then it’s no longer about control but compromise.

But right now, our government has too few elected officials. And that’s a big problem. That’s the root of it. We, the people, have to say: You are too small a group of people to do the job.

Give us more representation!

I don’t know why this gets me so upset. Maybe because I’ve read too much history. I’ve read about what happens when small groups of people control governments.

And no, I don’t believe most of our elected officials are corrupt. I believe they’re stuck in a state of learned helplessness. They know how to run for office. They know how to speak in front of a camera. But nobody ever taught them how to be a representative in a republic. After all, it’s hard to know what no one talks about.

That’s what gets me down. These moments—right now—should be wake-up calls. If you’re frustrated, angry, or looking for answers, you should be searching for someone talking about representation. I happen to be one of those people. But I don’t know how to connect with you.

We need to understand that life is hard and complex, and sometimes, we need to step back and realize we don’t know everything. Things won’t get better unless we do that, but they can get better—and fast—if we work in the right direction.

That’s not the only thing that’s got me down today. I try to be there for my family. I want to be strong. I want to be positive. But I’m human. My capacity is limited. Sometimes I do too much and get overwhelmed. Then I can’t do enough. It’s a cycle.

You might think, well, then just don't do so much, and yeah, I try. I schedule, plan, and organize. But I can’t control everything. And sometimes, I don't know, you just do the things you have to do. And sometimes that's more than you should be doing. But you do it anyway because all the other choices led you here.

I hate days like this because there's a little part of me inside that says, “Give up.”

And I hate that part of me.

And I hate feeling hate.

I scroll Facebook and see friends arguing over things they don’t understand. And I just want to shake them and say, “Let’s unite for representation!” It’s probably not the right thing to say in the moment. But I don’t know what the right thing to say is. So I say nothing…. Is that right?

People give me advice all the time—how to get attention, how to keep it, how to craft a message. I try to listen. And I think I’ve done well with the messaging part. But attention? That’s been a struggle.

Because I don’t want attention. I’m a private person. I want people to take the message of representation seriously—not turn me into just another influencer chasing views.

I just want people to understand: you have rights. And your right to representation is your most important one. Nobody talks about it. But it’s the foundation for all your other rights. Speech, protest, due process, bearing arms—none of those mean anything without representation.

So, I’m going to end this rant. I’m going to wipe away my tears. I’m going to pick myself back up and go to my kid’s end-of-the-year party. I’ll smile. I’ll make the kids laugh. I’ll help them have a great day.

And then, when I get home, I’ll get back to work. Maybe I’ll write that op-ed. Maybe I’ll find another way to connect with you.

But I’ll keep trying.

Because you deserve representation. And you deserve someone to WORK for it.

Peace & Love,

Jeff Mayhugh