Citizenship - "Blessed Are The Learners"

Jodi and Shawn are on something of a journey. Young professionals, they have been community leaders in their own right for the last number of years, but as part of the group of 10 that met a couple of weeks ago, I’ve watched them become more animated in their desire to make citizenship meaningful.This week the two of them were tweeting relentlessly from the city council chamber as our local politicians debated on whether to launch a green bin pilot project to dispose of compostable material. Like other Canadian cities, ours is getting squeezed and funds are hard to come by. While local officials, mindful of a city freeze on tax hikes, fret about the eventual costs of such a program, it remains popular with many citizens and could potentially lead to some kind of civic showdown.Shawn used Twitter to draw others into broader issues, however, making comments like, “It’s like every Council agenda item arrives in a little box. Each dealt with on its own with no thought given to all the other boxes.” Or again, “But doesn’t this sprawl item reflect on other decisions we’re making?”Jodi is entering even more dangerous territory, as when she tweeted the next day, “And if I hear one more reference to the taxman, I will scream.” Or later when she added, “It’s like taxes is the single most pressing issue. Never mind the environment, education, health care, or THE FUTURE.”You can see clearly in these two a growing willingness to connect the dots, to move out from under single issues into a broader understanding of how they all affect community. And they are not alone. Citizens across the country are stretching their wings, their understanding, and their commitment.For many, society is but an aggregation of self-interested individuals pursuing what they perceive to be their own destinies. But that’s doesn’t describe Shawn, Jodi, or likely a good many others. They view society rather like an organism composed of interacting, interdependent, living parts. A thing is called organic when it is made up of parts which are quite distinct from one another but which are destroyed or vitally altered when they are removed from the whole. Claim to be an individual all you like, but we each have benefited from the social condition of the society we live in. And Canada has possessed a cohesive past.The unfortunate trait of citizens who love their country being lost in their disenchantment of the political process has isolated them from government so far that they maintain little hope things can change. But some emerge from this distant condition to engage the political process over single issues. There are now so many of these “hot spots,” like green bins, that they are effectively dividing citizens from one another. Sure politicians often exhibit a real hesitancy to deal seriously with the great issues in front of them, but the multitude of citizens out there who embrace isolated causes often unknowingly reveal something similar – an unwillingness to tackle the big picture because they are pursuing single issues. Leaders of groups dealing with such files often presume to speak for everyone but in fact only hearken to the voices of the view. Political leaders were quite accustomed to balancing a few well-recognized and defined constituencies in past times, but must now expand their interest to include a myriad of narrow and often unfamiliar needs.This development of thousands of interests but no common interest has actually eaten away at the very roots of our democracy. How we – politicians, bureaucrats, and citizens - deal with this will determine if we can save our democracy from its mindless and expensive drift. In order for citizens to feel a sense of effectiveness, there must be something more than just a cause or an interest. They want something grander, and continue to say so in polling.Sooner or later, history will move all these scattered efforts aside as it seeks instead those causes which seek to undertake the hard work history requires if a movement is to last from generation to another. Sadly, many leaders of these single-issue groups opt for quick recognition instead of long-term success. They are almost singularly focused on the media for that awareness instead of citizens. Media complies, covering their efforts briefly, and then move on to other stories. Which leaves us – citizens – to attempt to draw all the issues together and seek a more sustainable arena where they can all be represented.Genuine democracy is very difficult to accomplish, regardless of the issue or context. The reality is that the strength of dedicated individuals is no substitute for the power of “organized” citizens. As long as society is energized and dominated by structural government on one side and narrowly based interest groups on the other, then the true work of democracy will always atrophy. Citizens and governments are meant to work together to accomplish the greater tasks that are beyond the capacities of individuals or special interest groups themselves.Jodi, Shawn and their ilk get this and are branching out. They fight for individual causes, always have, but they’re elevating their sights, thereby inheriting a broader vision. They are dealing with their frustration with government by actually seeking to assist, not replace it. They are becoming the embodiment of what Eric Hoffer thought progressive people should be: “In times of change, the learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” Blessed are the learners.