I received a comment on a post...

...and wouldn't ya know it; when I tried to publish it, it vanished into the ether. 

The comment was on this post, and was as follows: 

WRCU2Mar 21, 2012 04:05 AM

I cautiously agree; So what do you propose we do to "change the structure of society?" I believe that once a society reaches a critical mass of unemployed, disenfranchised citizens, societal change takes on a life of its own. What do you believe needs to be done for the masses to peacefully regain power and avoid condition critical? How would you coax people out of their comfort zone now when they won't realize they were even in one until IT has gone south? And please don't quote someone else, I wanna hear this straight from the horses mouth.

As I apologized to WRCU2 for screwing up the exchange (in a very expurgated replacement response), here is what I had intended to say:

"First off, I'll admit I have to excuse myself from the 'dystopian path we're on' conversation that seems to be habitually lurking in the background. I have nothing to offer any discussion that has a "We're SCREWED!" starting point. 

But putting that aside...as much as is possible...I will endeavour to address your query, which to me boils down to 'How do we change the structure of society (as it pertains to local governance)?' I added this parenthetical, because this is what Bookchin was talking about in that quote. He wasn't talking about provincial or federal politics.

First, a personal tale. Last week, I had breakfast with some Hamilton residents. The reason we were noshing on eggs and the such was 'civic engagement'. During the conversation, one attendee mention an incident involving their councillor. Back in November, inspired by Town Halls Hamilton's inaugural event with Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr, the next day, they emailed a multi-point enquiry to their representative at City Hall. It was comprised of four salient, reasonable questions, dealing with unrelated topics. It was a solicitous email, not one that could be accused of being 'harsh' by any means. 

It's been four months now, and they've never received a response. 

Even though the email was resent three times. 

I asked them if they'd phoned the councillor. "No," they replied. "I didn't want to impose." (My paraphrasing.) 

This apprehension, this reluctance is part-and-parcel of construct that we've all been party to building, even if we haven't lifted a finger about anything in our city. I understand the mindset, but it does nothing to push along change in terms of how we're participating in our own governance, what role we collectively play in the process. 

Councillors are busy people. Anyone who accuses them of being lazy or not earning their pay-cheques clearly has no comprehension of what the job demands. 

But councillors work for us. We're the employers. They're the employees. They have every right to not get to enquiries immediately because of work-load...but they do not have any right to dismiss them out-of-hand. By the same token, we should all be gracious in understanding a councillor's limitations (and I'm including his or her support staff), but we should not assume that what we've taken the time to ask after doesn't rate a timely response. Or qualify as something apropos of a phone call. 

And yet this is part of the default mindset on the part of Hamilton residents. That either our concerns aren't sizeable enough to warrant attention, that the councillor doesn't care enough to try to sort things out, or that there's sufficient cynicism in place that we just...don't...bother. (And then, when a disappointment arises that may or may not be attached to the councillor, we have our cynicism's validation.)

So the first aspect of my response to WRCU2 is this: We need to re-frame our expectations. 

Another part is the fact that we –in the main– do not 'own' our local governance. 

'Ownership' is is made up of far more than simply exercising our right to vote every four years. That is the 'minimum requirement'. Leaving it at that is akin to interviewing a new employee, hiring them, handing them the keys...and going on holiday, checking in online periodically, but basically taking a hands-off approach. (It bears stating that this has become the status quo...because we've allowed to.)

So the second aspect of my response is: We need to be engaged, we need to be involved, we need to participate in our own local governance.

Now obviously, I'm talking about 'changing the landscape', and anyone who's ever attempted this, either literally or figuratively knows that we're talking about substantive effort, as well as notable resistance. (From either the physical landscape itself, or other parties involved in the figurative reference.)

We need to expect (and demand) commiseration, collaboration about decisions made in our city...and it must not be of the 'lip service' variety. I concede that the psychological hurdles needed to be overcome for this to happen are big. On everyone's part. 

Finally, and this is perhaps the most fundamental aspect of all, this: We need to develop much stronger manifestations of pride-of-place. We need to build a more wide-spread and deeper-entrenched sense of community. We need to care about our homes, our streets, our neighbourhoods, our wards...our Hamilton. I believe that in combination with pockets of initiative and innovation and enthusiasm provided by community activists, neighbourhood associations are the key. 

What I'm getting at is no less 'complicated' or 'basic' than the goal of raising our children to become kind, considerate, independent, creative and loving adults. (And it should be obvious that the two aspirations are directly connected.) But there is no 'magic wand'. There is no government or agency program that will guarantee the end result that I'm pretty sure we'd all like to see: thriving, supportive communities within a thriving, supportive city. There are myriad ways for us to get there, such as street and park clean-ups, community gardens, small business initiatives and seasonal celebrations. I believe in starting with basics, and having things progress organically: the simple things add up. Call me naïve, call me a dreamer, but I believe that just as 'It takes a village to raise a child', it takes a community to raise itself up. 

Though much can be contributed on seemingly endless fronts, in the end, the betterment of our future comes down to us." 






M Adrian Brassington