And thank you, John Kerry.

'Love the sinner, but not the sin.'

You familiar with that? The actual quote is from Mahatma Ghandi: 'Hate the sin, but love the sinner.'

The core of it is 'Take issue with the behaviour, but don't damn the person behaving that way.' For many, this is a tough sell; looking deeper into the 'reasons behind the reasons' isn't the kind of work they want to be doing, so they go the superficial route and damn the person, throwing the baby out with the bath water while generating their feel-good quota via the self-righteous indignation. This approach is fraught with risks, it's hardly the stuff of an enlightened soul...but we live in busy times, so there ya go.

If you've visited this blog previously, you'll know that one of my passions is the notion of increasing the 'relationship of engagement' between citizenry and their representatives. Between ward residents and their Councillors. (Not, I need to point out once again, the other way around. If all the 'romancing' and 'wooing' and 'contact' is coming from one party, then the relationship is, not to put too fine a point on it, 'fuckled'.)

Seeing things this way necessitates acknowledging that the average voter is...well, apathetic. Uninformed. Hardly a good partner in terms of his or her contribution to the dance known as 'the democratic process'. (Beyond pointing out that we had a 37% turnout for the last municipal election, I could belabour the point by suggesting that you a) browse the Comments sections at various online sites, or b) go out and perform your own survey amongst Hamiltonians, asking people to list the top three election issues, describing them in detail, who they'll be voting for in their ward and for Mayor...and why.) And people don't like it when the mirror is held up.

Bringing me to the inspiration behind this post.

In this Boston Herald article, Senator John Kerry (previously a US Presidential candidate) is quoted as saying “We have an electorate that doesn’t always pay that much attention to what’s going on so people are influenced by a simple slogan rather than the facts or the truth or what’s happening.”

Ahem. Sound familiar...?

Over at Salon, Rick Shenkman's article 'John Kerry is right: Americans are ignorant' delves a little deeper into this issue.

Naturally, I invite you to take a look at both.

Some have accused me of being arbitrary in my declarations about the voting public in the City of Hamilton. (This 'some' includes at least one candidate.) That I am elitist, that I am dismissive...that I am unreasonably harsh in my assessment of voters.

So I want to state once again certain personal truths.

1) Everyone has the right to not give a damn about what goes on in their local governance. They have the right to be apathetic, they have the right to be ignorant, they have the right to say 'I'll vote every four years; between those times, leave me alone, don't expect me to take time out of my life to help you do your job.' They just don't have the right to conduct themselves in these ways...and then complain about the current state of affairs at any given point in time. (Correction: they have the 'right'...but it's hardly rational conduct.)

2) We get the government we deserve. And nothing will substantially change for the better, in the long-run, until we-the-people get involved. Yes, the odd candidate will come on the scene and provide a stellar burst of illumination, of inspirational leadership, of trust-infusing credibility...but then they'll be gone and things will return to 'normal'. And let's face it: 'normal' over the past thirty years hasn't exactly been something worth writing home about, yes...?

3) 'Love the sinner but not the sin.' Apathy, ignorance and everything that goes along with these traits regarding how we're governed locally, how the quality of our lives is affected within this arena, are worthy of dismissal. The people who exhibit them are not. I have infinite faith in people. If they're given the opportunity to rise to the occasion. (Keeping in mind #1.) I just don't happen to believe that we've applied the effort and resources necessary to effect this kind of paradigm shift, this change in value systems where people are actually and authentically engaged in their local governance. And this actually brings a smile to my face, because the unrealized potential is enormous.