The Trouble of Politics

In this other episode of Northern Exposure, the town has its first election for mayor. The town is in turmoil over this new found right that they have seemingly always had, but never directly associated with their community nor been able to use for their own politicians. The most interesting element of the episode is the reaction of Maurice. He is upset that this whole process has occurred. He calls it a Pandora's Box. He chides his friend Edna for opening the box by contending the current mayor for the spot. Though he admits had it not been her then it would have been upset by. What I think he is most upset by is the fact that the neighbors can no longer resolve their own issues. They now need representatives to resolve their issues. These shows that the community is growing more complex than Maurice desired. He says, "I wanted development, but not the consequences." This scene still confuses me because I've never grown up in a community where our elected officials weren't resolving something, but for the frontiersman this was not always the case. Have we taken our leaders for granted? Has this system made us used to others resolving conflict for us and making decisions for us? I think so. I sort of sympathize with Maurice. At least I think.