A lot of activists are still stuck in the dream that we will change things just by voting out whatever “current crop of bad people” we consider to be “the problem.” Nope, it doesn’t work that way. First, the different parties are too much alike in terms of not really wanting to rock the boat.
Second, and even more importantly, what we are needing is a cultural shift. Elected leaders can set a tone, and can help facilitate cultural shift to a degree, but it’s really the masses (with our wallets and our word-of-mouth) who hold the real power to change things.
You decide how and where you want to serve. Not everyone wants to run for office and not everyone is cut out for it. The petition-gathering table in front of the public library, or the eco education booth at the farmer’s market, can be as powerful a channel for change as the voting booth.
The good news is that regardless of who is in office, we everyday people have the potential to continue to have a stronger and stronger voice, as:
1) We become stronger in our convictions; deepen our degree of knowingness that we are pushing for good and necessary change;
2) The physical environment continues to supply horrific evidence backing up our claims in realtime. From dead manatees to toxic waterways here, to heat-domes and wildfires way over there …. Mother Nature is building her case against industrial-colonial culture’s default settings; and
3) We become more ORGANIZED. We are less and less Lone Rangers these days, and more and more networked and teamed up! From the hyperlocal to the regional, continental, and even global level, grassroots connections are strengthening and overlapping. We are networks; and networks of networks.