The problem isn’t that government exists. The problem is that we have all slowly allowed it to be shaped by people who are totally out of touch with everyday life. People whose reality looks nothing like yours or mine. People who trade in influence, access, and power. People who trade in our sweat, labor, and lives. Not people who are members of a community as we understand them, not people who have to balance responsibilities and checkbooks, not people who suffer from the consequences of their choices. And when those people dominate the conversation, we end up with a system that feels distant, unresponsive, and fundamentally unfair. There’s a famous line often attributed to Benjamin Franklin: “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security.” I don’t read that as anti-government. I read it as anti-complacency. It’s a reminder that democracy isn’t something you outsource. It’s something you participate in. It only works if ordinary people stay engaged, ask hard questions, and refuse to hand over their agency to anyone. No matter how rich, famous, or powerful they are. I’m running because I don’t think anyone should be elevated above the people they’re supposed to serve. I don’t believe in political saviors. I believe in neighbors. I believe in communities. I believe in showing up, listening, and making decisions based on reality; not ideology, not donors, not headlines.