When thinking of the Minnesota State Capitol, it may be helpful to recall The Wizard of Oz. From a distance, we see a majestic and imposing facade, a place where it seems power is wielded as though by magic. But once we peek under the curtain, we find a person frantically pushing buttons and levers to keep the machinery working. The key difference between MN state government and Oz is that instead of one person, there are a whole bunch of people. And no one person is sure what each button or lever actually does. What first appeared all-powerful and all-knowing turns out to be human, flawed, and confusing. My hope is that once we all recognize this, just like in The Wizard of Oz, we get over our initial disappointment and understand that we have the power to shape our state within our own hands.
Read the rest of this blog post on the Minnesota Humanities Center Website.