"In This Town Somewhere ..."
We do not say that a person who takes no interest in politics is one who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all.
A remarkable statement given by Pericles during the city of Athen’s first forays into democracy. It speaks to a truth we have perhaps forgotten or just willingly overlooked – politics is as necessary to our society as economy, the arts, education or social interaction.We now know how we got into this position. As the decades passed, politics, especially at the two senior levels, drifted more and more over the horizon – away from us and fading in the distance. As economies, democracy, demographics, and, yes, governments became more complex, it would have taken a herculean effort for average politicians to keep governance real. With the internal structures of political parties moving ever towards the “leader as god” theory, politicians found that their opportunity for independent thought and action were effectively hemmed in. The only way out of it would be for them to speak openly against their party, at which point the wheels would come off the bus of their candidacy and they might even be booted out of caucus.We have witnessed in recent years how this growing distance between politicians and those they are elected to serve has taken on kind of a caricature status. Citizens hardly ever accept responsibility and this leaves the other side of the equation – the politician - open to endless criticism. It has descended to the point where it has now become easy to provoke a response merely by uttering words like “those politicians,” or “more interested in elections than in their constituents.” I listened to a talk this week in which the speaker artfully constructed his sentences in this way in order to solicit popular responses from his audience. It was a designed performance, honed over two decades, that not only reviled politicians, but revealed his own political party leanings. The audience loved it, yet someone more interested in gaining a response than offering hope had played them.There is no future in this, merely an ongoing downward spiral. For politicians to display the courage necessary to challenge the prevailing system would require constituents showing the same bravery of democracy – to engage, to persuade, to challenge, and ultimately to vote. At present, that’s just not in the cards. Some will say that’s because politicians haven’t chosen to act yet, despite the fact that certain politicians displayed promising attributes in this regard only to be ruined by partisanship or low voter turnout.Rumi, the thoughtful 13th century poet, spoke of the initial spark of political yearnings in his Quatrains: “In this town somewhere there sits a calm, intelligent man, who doesn’t know yet what he’s about to do.” I know of a number of individuals interested in running at every level of government, not because they’re egomaniacs (there are some in politics), and not for all the perks (there are those too), but because of their discouragement at the present condition of the public space - something they wish to restore. In truth, if they don’t run we will be the poorer.We have foolishly bought into the present political lie that only by supporting a particular political party can we find progress. Canadians see through it all and increasingly reject it. What we want is governance – the respectful, dignified, human, empathetic, smart and progressive kind. Partisanship is so rancorous at present that it turns us against government altogether. Sadly, this only results in us turning against ourselves and leaves others to determine our future.By tending to politics we look out for ourselves. But first communities must wrestle political control away from special interests – something that will only happen if we pay attention. At some point the critical mass of citizens must make the following admission: the potential situated at the heart of our democracy will not be realized despite our politics but through it. There is no present alternative and our potential will never be realized without it. Our best option is not to dispose of it but to reform it, to pull it back into our communities, holding our political representatives accountable, rewarding and supporting them as they properly reflect our concerns.This isn’t about bad people getting into politics, but good people winning elections and then becoming trapped in a system where the better part of themselves is severed in favour of party desires. All politics is about power – don’t deny it. The real issue is whose power – the party’s, the special interests, our community's? Our politics is dying in this nation because it refuses to select and champion the latter. Our politics is no longer human but some kind of deformed hybrid that can only produce more of its kind.Just as we require business and social entrepreneurs to throw open the windows and discover new concepts for tomorrow, so we need political entrepreneurs – a new breed of public servants willing to undertake the long and arduous process of returning power to its rightful owners. Mindful of the quote of Pericles above, politics is one of the citizen’s primary interests; to not attend to the political life of our communities is to undermine our very citizen status.I’m with Rumi on this. Somewhere in my community – any community – sits a calm and intelligent person who as yet doesn’t know what to do but who is seriously considering politics as an option. I say to you: “Go for it.” Just remember that you belong to us and not to the political world itself.