Politics?  Grrrr . . . ! But Hey Wait a Minute! 

Politics?  Grrrrrr . . .! But, hey, wait a minute!

A “Local Commentary” appeared in my home town daily newspaper, the Bath/Brunswick (Maine) Times Record, a few weeks ago and got my surprised attention. It was written by a private advocate for families of children with special needs.

He writes: “ When I first began advocating for special needs children, my intent was to do so one family at a time. I had never expected to work with my state representative crafting legislation. Fortunately, with his encouragement and seemingly limitless energy and commitment, our efforts yielded some changes to public policy and brought the importance of special education to the foreground of the [Maine] Legislature.”

What surprised and buoyed my spirits was his discovery, to his own surprise, that politics can actually work for you. So many concerned citizens do not believe this, and often they are quite right. Though Hugo, the man’s name, was not anti-politics, yet it is apparent that he just did not think of politics as an avenue in which to accomplish anything good and valuable. He had settled instead, as many concerned people do, for approaching people one at a time. This is popular with many fine activists for human and natural good and has its good aspects. But there is much more than can and must be done if our troubled world is going to survive, much less prosper.

One of the crucial ways in which something can be done and must be done is through politics. This means direct political engagement – whether, as did Hugo, work vigorously with one’s elected representatives to help craft legislation; or to yourself run for office.

Hugo’s example shows two things: that there are people who do “get it”, who do realize that politics is a critical avenue for accomplishing a public good; and that taking such action can produce results.

It is a small example, granted that. But it’s there and there are many other such instances. Can we figure out ways to spread the word, especially among young people, that getting into politics is a critical and worthwhile step to take?

Once that step is in one’s mind, the next step is to figure out how to do it. One question is, can effective political engagement be accomplished through the two major parties? What is their record in the last few decades?  Do we need a new party? Do they already exist?  The answer is, of course they do. That is a subject for further blogs.

Comments