Romper, bomper, stomper, boo...

So.

What is it about the prospect of changing disengagement, detachment, apathy, cynicism, disinterest to their opposites amongst the vast majority of Hamiltonians that seems so...so...

See, I can't even nail down the right descriptive.

'Daunting'?

'Pointless'?

'Anathema'?

Regardless of how you frame it, the fact is that putting aside the enormous challenge that turning around Those-Who-Are-Not-Civically-Energized is, even discussing the challenge seems to be something almost everyone in this city wants to run away from.

Why?

Is it because it's easier, more fun to focus on politicians?

Is it because people in general have built-in defence mechanisms that resist self-analysis, especially where potential culpability is part of the transaction?

Is it because we feel powerless to change something so close-to-home?

Is it because we're locked into habitual nihilism when it comes to imagining things being made 'better'...especially at our hands? That there's an entrenched degree of fatalism that vetoes optimism by default?

My guess is that it's probably 'All of the above'.

Recently, I had an editorial published in the Opinion section of The Spec. It dealt councillor term limits, focusing on the responsibility we all have as voting residents to 'hire the best employees' each election.

In one of the more engaging Facebook groups civic-activism-wise, a post was put up about the piece. (Quite a gesture really, considering the blow-up that occurred there earlier this year between myself and some of its members...) The last time I checked in, there were over seventy comments.

What I found fascinating...and quite reflective of how things generally proceed when the finger is pointed at 'we, the people'...was that rather than debate the crux of my article (that we should be focusing on finding ways to bring Those-Who-Are-Not-Civically-Energized towards the light, into the fold, working coercive magic go seduce them to the local-governance table), the conversation took off on other various tacks. Politicians and their innate disappointments. Our mayor and de-amalgamation. The rights of people not to vote versus mandatory voting. Preferential voting versus 'first past the post'.

I was gobsmacked.

Admittedly in silence, but still gobsmacked.

I wasn't offended by the divergence from the core issue, mostly because I have a reputation for 'mystoneycreeking' threads. (That is, going 'off-topic'.) Nevertheless, I was surprised at the apparent reluctance to 'go there'. To chew on what I'd presented in the article, that really, the biggest potential game-changer is us.

So in addition to the possible reasons I presented earlier as to why the discussion doesn't include holding up the mirror, I'm also wondering if, despite the opportunities provided by the Internet and social media, some of us would prefer to kvetch rather than examine our own shortcomings. To reinforce the 'Us vs Them' construct.

Even with my generally sombre take on our current local-governance landscape, I'm still quietly chuffed by the activity that seems to be constantly unfolding towards re-imagining our city. It seems I'm regularly sent a link or coming across one on my own that introduces me to another effort, that broadens my horizons, gives me hope. So I don't want you to think that my glasses are the opposite of 'rose-coloured'. In fact, 'improved clarity' is the appropriate catchword.

Still, at the risk of flogging a dead horse, most of us don't vote in municipal elections, and most of us that do, do so by way of 'name recognition'. Most of us aren't commenting on Spec or Raise the Hammer or The Hamiltonian articles. Most of us aren't members of civic activism groups. And most of us aren't members of our local neighbourhood associations...if in fact our neighbourhood even has an NA.

If we can't talk about these realities...and arrive at a point where we acknowledge that 'we've met the enemy, and the enemy is us', then I believe we're fuckled.

The optimism I feel...labeled on that Facebook group as 'a little idealistic'...stems from the fact that in the 2012 world in which we live, tapping into 'the 90%' has never been attempted. So the potential is, for many, unfathomable.

All that means to me is that they need to either step aside and let someone have a go at attempting something they can't get their heads around, or put their money where their kvetching mouths are, have a little faith and grab a figurative shovel and do something for their city.