Altered States - The New "Commons"

We considered previously Paul Martin Sr.'s view of a strong citizenship deserving of enlightened leadership. Prior to World War Two, citizens lived their lives out through institutions - God, King and Country - but as prosperity filled the country in the years following, Canadians made their own private pursuits their chief occupation. Somewhere along the line the belief became prevalent that government exists to assist citizens in their private pursuits. This reasoning is part of what has led us into our permanent malaise regarding politics.Democracy without participation breeds a sort of uninformed consensus and slowly places more distance between those in charge and those whose interests they are supposed to be reflecting.  We need a new form of strong democracy so that we might define and redefine our common lives.  "There can be no patriotism without liberty; no liberty without virtue; no virtue without citizens.  Create citizens and you will have everything you need." So said the French philosopher Rousseau, and his ruminations have turned out to be prescient.The great institutions in our past brought us together and kept us together. Nevertheless, at some point Canadians decided that they wanted more of an individualism, something where they weren't always being lorded over. World War Two and a new prosperity provided them the logic and the tools required to do so. Now they stand at a distance from their political representatives and demand that they become relevant. This kind of distracted individualism has left them isolated - from themselves and from their government. And failing to provide a true vision for these empowered citizens has left politicians on the other side of the chasm.  The result?  Government often makes its decisions in a vacuum and citizens are right back to where they started - following a detached authoritarianism.Currently, citizenship is a status, a legal bond between an individual and her or his government.  It doesn't proceed much past that point. It's there, but only on the periphery - government doesn't really matter.  We have ended up with a country disconnected, though remarkable democratic work is being done at certain levels. We have ended up with unreasonable special interest groups and citizens sniping from the bushes through their blogs - no real connection to the political process. We are left with politicians and parties making their decisions with little citizen input because we actually don't know how to go about it. Above all, we are left with a citizenry that has thrown up its hands and doesn't even bother to vote anymore.But there are examples out there of those who have decided to take citizenry seriously, not in negative tones but in constructive ways that betters the political process. The next posting will be about one very special group - the prospective adoptive families who just had the ceiling drop in when the adoption agency declared bankruptcy. They have taken themselves on a remarkable journey and challenged the political process to accompany them in an effective manner.Somewhere along the way we went from being citizens under authoritarian institutions to citizens under no real authority at all. A piece is missing, left at the roadside when blessed with all the prosperity following the last great war. We must now define that piece and work to create a place for it in our democratic experience. Democracy is best learned when practicing it and for that to happen we require a new "Commons" where we all gather, we all deliberate, we all compromise, and we all progress.