What to do?

There must be millions of people willing to write about what is wrong with our society, but there always seems to very few who offer solutions. In response to a comment on a previous post, I decided to offer my ideas.

To disclaim, this is the big picture as I see it. I cannot speak about what can be done in each locality in the country. My suggestion concerns only what must be done within culture and society at large. It is up to you to decide how such ideas can be implemented in a location near you. I'll give you both the long-term and short-term vision, recognizing that social changes will never occur overnight, at least in any desirable manner.

Short term:

If we want to get out of Iraq, we need to support those candidates for public office who run on that platform. I think the answer is fairly simple and my take on it is likewise simplistic. Certainly, there are people running for the Senate or the House this year who want to reduce the number of troops in Iraq. Certainly, some of them will change their minds when they get to Washington, but not all of them will. The war will end regardless of the victory strategy, when enough people in this country make it known to their representatives, that our continued presence in Iraq will cost them elections. If our representatives do not acknowledge this fact, we will send another representative who is more willing to follow the dictates of her/his constituency.

This is a principle that does not concern political parties, which say and do whatever it takes to consolidate their grip on the power. If that means doing something against the party line, they will do it save their own skins. However, if we do not get involved in this process, as is largely the case today, the representatives will not have that pressure and will answer to their campaign donors, rather than the voters. We must apply that pressure.

Long Term:

We need to reduce the number of barriers between people. Due to the proliferation of automobile ownership, suburbs, highway projects, business parks and campuses, drivethru's, supermarkets, and strip malls, we have become detached from each other. This trend continues to a frightening degree through email, chat rooms, and many other recent communication innovations that allow for anonymous interaction.

While none of these things is inherently bad, at least one overall latent consequence is that they disengage people from each other. They smother casual and informal relationships between people and that only serves to brew fear and selfishness. It is hard to care about people you do not know. It is impossible to form a relationship with a supermarket, but easy to do so with the corner grocer. When was the last time you recognized the cashier at your local supermarket? (Ironically, most of the TV commercials for these establishments would lead you to believe that you do have a relationship, going so far as to portray satisfied customers reminiscing about their favorite deli worker. Is that really the case?) When you do not realize the stake that you hold in your community; and worse yet, when you have no stake in your community, it becomes nearly impossible to involve yourself in it.

People who associate with other people will inevitably begin to realize their potential. That potential can manifest itself in countless ways. First and foremost, it will empower people to take a more active role in their communities. Once they realize their stake in the community, people will start building stronger communities.

Let me illustrate. Many people own a piece of land in a town, but most feel like they have no ownership stake in the town. Most people rely on large businesses to move in to create jobs, and pay taxes to fund schools, build parks, and other amenities. There is no reason why enough people cannot put their heads together and take their lives into their own hands. It takes creativity, ingenuity, certainly time and it does take money, but above all, it requires people to get together. Almost every town has a chamber of commerce where business leaders can push their agenda, but how many towns have resident councils, neighborhood councils, or some other entity which represents the community's interest at large? There is no reason this cannot happen, but people have to remove the barriers and start talking first. For some wonderful examples of what people can accomplish, take look at this book.

I am not naïve enough to think that the state of affairs is going to change dramatically because a few people started having conversations. However, I know that no desirable development in this country that we use today to extol our greatness occurred because the government granted it without a lot of people asking. Each of these movements and each result came about because enough people decided they wanted it, and worked for it. They gained a voice, and used it.

We can certainly take our chances by doing nothing, but change never resulted from doing nothing. Iraq is a symptom of the larger problem of fear, apathy, and a general sentiment of helplessness. Engagement and association with each other is the solution.