A Broad View by Jerry Hogan: Three types of citizens

*This article was originally published several years ago and is being republished with some updated data at the request of several readers.

ROCKWALL COUNTY, TX (Aug. 8, 2022) My observations are that people can be categorized into three distinct groups: The Workers, The Lookers, and the Shirkers.

In the case of Workers, these are the people who are always involved when something needs to be done. They commit themselves to the task and they are the ones that can always be counted upon to help. Good examples of these type of individuals are those who volunteer to be on the neighborhood HOA boards, help with local bake sales, volunteer to run for municipal town councils, act as scout masters, deliver Meals on Wheels, and the multitude of other volunteer jobs that always need to be done.

The Lookers, on the other hand, are those people who are really not sure they want to get involved. They stand to the side and observe what is happening but are not ready to volunteer at this time to really help those workers involved with trying to make things work. If someone else does the work, they are happy.

The Shirkers flat out don’t want anything to do with what is going on. They see the Workers and the Lurkers, but they just want to do their own thing and not be involved. They are the ones you see slinking off into the sunset when someone asks for help.

So how do these three categories apply in an article written about the place where we live: Rockwall County?

In March of this year the Primary election was held in our county where County, State, and Federal candidates were selected to run in the General election this November 8. In our county at that time, there were 75,000 registered voters. These were citizens who had taken the time to fill out the registration forms so they could vote in the various elections held.

In this election, 16,254 people actual voted, or 21.7% of the eligible voters. As a comparison, in the Primary election in 2020, 18,602 people voted out of a registered population of 65,600, or 28.3%. (Why the decline this year??)

These 16,254 people who voted this year, in my opinion, are the Workers. They are the ones that are always involved. They do the volunteer work that needs to be accomplished and they understand the importance of the election process. They get up, go to the polling place, and cast their vote for the candidates of their choice.

The other 58,746 who elected to not vote this year can be placed in the category of the Lookers. They are interested enough to want to vote but not necessarily interested enough to make the effort to go to the voting place to cast their ballot. They may have an opinion on who they would vote for if they got to the polls but are not strong enough in their opinion to make the necessary effort. Maybe one of these days these registered voters will switch from being a Looker to a voter; but it will take a conscious effort!

Now the Shirkers are the interesting group in this example. These are the people who sit around complaining about everything and everyone. In their opinion no one is worth voting for, all people running for office are a “bunch of crooks”, and they are basically not happy about anything and want to make no effort to try and make things better. Will you ever see these people trying to be part of the Workers? Not unless they change their attitude and join the human race.

The point of this article. We all have the ability and the talent to contribute to make things better where we live. We are a fast-growing county that continues to have an influx of new citizens. How these people are taught about our community is up to all of us. Do we want a county of Workers, or will we be content to have a group of Lookers? And even worse, a group of Shirkers that do nothing but try to tear down what all the others are doing?

It really is up to all of us as to which direction we take!

Submitted Letter to the Editor/Guest Column contributed by Jerry Hogan, a former Rockwall County Judge. He can be reached at jerryhogan@sbcglobal.net or 214-394-4033.