The Great Political 'Engagement' Conundrum, Part Five

I believe that we as residents of the City of Hamilton need to be more engaged with our councillors.

I believe that in order for government to produce the results that we expect, to create the communities we crave, we as citizens need to be more engaged with our councillors.

I believe that municipal politics probably more than any other level needs to be a collaborative effort. And that in order to achieve a level of collaboration that's effective, we as voters have to step up, to make a commitment, to engage with our councillors, our elected officials, our City Council, our Mayor, and be part of the process of governing, not apart from it.

I believe that nothing in this world of ours is 'separate'. I believe that everything is inextricably -sometimes monumentally, sometimes tangentially- connected. That 'cause-and-effect' is a given, that virtually nothing exists in isolation...and that in knowing this, in accepting this as a Truth, we are obligated as responsible partners in this global endeavour called 'survival' to conduct ourselves accordingly.

With respect.

I've long maintained that a) except in a crisis, things don't move backwards, and b) unless we are talking about a crisis, some kind of calamity like war or depression or mass environmental impact such as drought or famine, things mostly change when something 'sexier' is introduced. (Especially in a consumer-based world, where 'newer' means 'better'.) At the same time, I'm equally convinced that while all of the negative components of typical behaviour I referred to in Part Four ('entitlement', 'Us vs Them', the 'culture of blame') are currently endemic to the world we've toiled to create, we have not even begun to tap into the more positive components of our essential human characters. Those revolving around respect. Around being of service. Around awareness of our surroundings, of those who walk through Life with us...of being aware.

Change, if it's what we desire, will not come from anyone else other than ourselves, and the nature of that change will not be decided by anyone else other than ourselves. The 'cavalry' many of us seem to crave on so deep a level, the great new political hope that will arrive to help sweep away the detritus of 'the bad politicians' who have perpetrated such injustices upon us...they're never going to arrive. This does not mean there is no Hope; it means that we all need to take responsibility for the change we crave.

Changes in ourselves.

Changes in our families.

Changes in our neighbourhoods, our communities, our towns and cities.

There is no piece of legislation that will accomplish any of this. No new rule, no overreaching mandate, no new government policy.

There is only commitment of self that comes from respect, from service, from engagement.

As we're in the middle of a municipal election campaign, I encourage everyone to consider doing what you can, doing what you're able, to begin effecting change in whatever way you see fit, even if it's only making a point of searching out your ward's candidates and actually engaging with them.

It all begins with you.