The Great Political 'Engagement' Conundrum, Part Four

Let's look at this 'relationship of engagement' challenge in a nutshell, shall we? The goal is for people to not only change how they see their role in local politics...but that they embrace this role not out of duty or obligation, but because it's a part of their life they value, it's something they truly want to do. You know; like being in a fortifying marriage, being a great parent, committing yourself to a lifelong pursuit of fitness, learning a skill, becoming knowledgeable in a particular area...or just being a good person. The ideal would be that it's second-nature behaviour, something that people have to schedule time for but do so without begrudging what's required.

This goal isn't something you can mandate. Yes, you could start by making voting mandatory, and perhaps that might have a minor groundswell effect, but probably not.

You could start by creating contact groups, ward-specific advisory committees, increasing involvement through these groups, and hope that there's a regular spillover effect by way of the town hall meetings, a general spreading-of-the-word, slowly increasing the cultural impact.

You could stress civic activism in our schools, changing the awareness of community involvement from an earlier starting point, also possibly gaining the benefits from home ripple-effects through the students' parents and families.

But I believe that the best results of action are organic. Synergistic. Non-specific. Nature doesn't conduct itself one task at a time, separate, isolated. It's an eco-system, an environment...a 'super-culture' if you will. So really, nothing exists in isolation. Interconnectedness is probably Nature's primary descriptor. So I prefer to address this notion within this model, as we're part of nature, and have much to learn from it.

So in order to create the kind of mindset for which civic engagement is a natural extension, we should strive to create a much bigger focus than just those things that are clearly connected to the end goal, and as a result of effecting these changes, a greater shift in values is achieved. We need to look at the bigger picture, think in much more organic and interconnected ways.

Keeping this 'greater overview' in mind, we're brought back to a few notions I've previously introduced in this series: 'entitlement', the 'culture of blame', the 'Us vs Them' mentality, and 'being of service'. For me, addressing these is paramount, for they hold the key to achieving better engagement with our elected officials, and by extension, better government. (Or at the very least, better government than we've had; you'll never convince me that improved communications in any situation, better transparency, a more robust interaction is ever a bad thing. Unless you've got Machiavellian machinations at play.)

The first of these, 'entitlement', is deeply embedded in our consuming/consumer-based society, the free-market capitalism, materialism-at-all-costs, self-fulfillment-through-acquisition world that we've been perfecting since the dawn of the Industrial Age, most intensely for the past sixty-five years. Over the past quarter-century, we've seen an acceleration that nobody could have anticipated, so that today, it's easy to fear that all perspective has been lost. (Admittedly, I'm speaking in the broadest of terms.)

The 'culture of blame' is tied to 'entitlement' as much as it is to its other sibling, 'Us vs Them'. In the end, I see it as as the end of the process wherein disillusion, disappointment, disenfranchisement have run rampant. And not surprisingly, it's a common theme when politics is being discussed.

The third, the 'Us vs Them' mentality is seen in almost all walks of life, beginning with siblings, extending to neighbourhoods, to schools, offices...city vs city, different parts of the country, the world...even humans battling nature. Not wanting to turn this into a treatise, people project this 'Us vs Them' mindset as a result of fear. Plain, simple fear. This state is often the result of ignorance. Or bad-experience-leading-to-dogma. 'Us vs Them' is also found in most biases, in prejudicial treatment, in partisan thinking...and really has no place in a modern world, at least not one in which we're keeping in mind what I've just suggested about our basic model, Nature, where interconnectivity and synergy rule.

The final consideration is the notion of 'service'. Being of service to others. You know, it's commonly accepted that the core definition of Love is 'putting the welfare of others ahead of your own'. And as 'service' is merely a means of expressing Love, we can see that to 'be of service' to others is nothing more complicated than a practical, hands-on manifestation of Love. For me, 'being of service' is in fact the great nullifier of the first two considerations, entitlement and 'Us vs Them'. For when you adopt a mindset of 'service', these two dissipate, dissolve away, leaving something much more pure, much more evolved, much more enlightened.

Keeping in mind the above, how do we effect an adjustment in perception, how do we accomplish a societal value system shift away from isolation, from blinkered vision, from selfishness to something more inclusive, more aware, something more engaging?

I've spoken previously about respect. About respecting ourselves, our living spaces, respecting the world in which we live. And I believe that recreating our political process is inextricably tied to this.

It begins with respecting ourselves. Going back to Marianne Williamson's 'Our Greatest Fear', adapted and presented in the film 'Coach Carter', when we respect ourselves, and afford ourselves what we really should, if we're all components of a world defined by Nature's designs, the foundation for much of what I'm proposing -a more engaging environment- is laid; everything begins there.

It continues with respect of family, of neighbourhoods, of community. Naturally, volunteering, helping out those in need, the elderly, a stretched lone parent, these are obvious ways in which we can express respect, be of service. But were I asked for a single suggestion as to how I'd effect a change in how people can be motivated to generate respect for their communities is to address the litter problem pandemic in our world.

I'd like to see neighbourhoods show more respect for themselves and their environment and 'caretake', regularly do sweeps through streets, collecting rubbish. I'd like to see elementary and secondary schools sponsor local areas, take 'stewardship', make this expression of respect a part of the educational mandate. I'd like to see community events based on cleanups. Doing this brings people together, it breaks down barriers, in enhances communication...it promotes engagement.

Caring for our living spaces in this way is a powerful form of both generating and showing respect, but it's also a wonderfully simple form of 'being of service'. Because it has the added effect of being communal, it's also fortifying, nurturing in a way that's so elemental that we can't help but respond to on an equally basic level.

What I've suggested here is just one simple example of civic involvement that helps promote and produce a greater sense of community, of belonging, helping to foster the paradigm shift to a culture where we're contributors to our own fates, in direct contrast to the muddled -and muffling- one we have been constructing. The list of potential activities that individuals and groups, neighbourhoods and communities can participate in is endless, so I won't bore you with my suggestions. In fact, I challenge you to take five minutes and come up with a list of your own.

I suppose the one thing I would keep in mind throughout all of this is that creating 'events', opportunities for 'feel good' moments is not the goal. In fact, you could say that the goal is for these activities is that they're not 'events'. They're simply things that you do because you want to be of service, you want to contribute...because you know that they help make everyone's world a better one in which to live. So being mindful without being 'mine'-filled.

Next up: the final word on what a 'relationship of engagement' culture could mean.