Get Engaged
"Civility" guides much of what we do. To be respectful of the individual and the institution. However, we have learned through manufactured consent that these social rules of civility disregard the institutionalized nature of manufactured consent to reach compliance and to wear the individual down while they are trying to question authority.
Therefore there are many ways for the individual to get engaged with
Individual actions
- Writing a letter
- Submitting testimony
- Voting
- Member on a citizens committee
- Representative on an association
Group actions
- Protest
- Speaking at a hearing
- Visiting legislators
- Boycotting
- Legal action
Civic Engagement, according to the American Psychological Association, is "individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern". wiki Some people believe that elected officials represent the needs of their constituency.
But we have been foolish to rely on a bankrupt system of representative democracy. It reality, governments realize there is a public component and that doing a dog and pony show to demonstrate that we are responding to the publics needs. But that is really not the case. We are listening to you and designed this improvement.
They are too beholden to corporations. Who contributes thousands of dollars to their election campaign.
But it is just to minimize complaints, electronically respond with call waiting, computer response, so that the caller will get tired. And using the excuse that we have so many constitutents that we need to manage for the greatest priorities.
The Students for a Democratic Society made very explicit that there was and is a fundamental difference between participatory democracy and representative democracy. ,
in participatory democracy, individuals in a group decide.
Then there is the component that people need to be inconvenienced, their routine needs to be disrupted.
Peaceful protest actually does very little to empower the person in power to make the necessary changes.
In actuality citizens are able to solve many more issues, problems at the neighborhood or town level than any politician. But government has the moral, ethical, legal obligation to equalize the rights, services to everyone.
Civic Engagement should be thought of as more of a necessary strategy that an a social obligation.
Tim McKay, endless pressure endlessly applied. That really is what it takes, not because the squeaky wheel gets the grease but because, civil servants and elecdted officials ... placate, procrastinate, institute delays and use the lack of precendents to not institute change for societies benefit.
The ways to engage involve your mind, money, labor, opinion, solutions,
In Western societies there is a pretence that civic engagement is necessary and works. That civil servants response to the public's needs. That elected officials respond to their constituents. But with money in politics, elected officials respond more thoroughly and promptly to those with the money.
But when people do not attend hearings, write letters, call their representative, l