Raise the Hammer

To Ryan: Right. Like marriages.

To highwater: I agree. And I believe there are some underlying reasons for this. One, people deep down inside want to be led. They love being led. Not entirely because they're sheeple or can't be bothered to think for themselves, but because it's part of the human condition to be inspired, to be taken to places that otherwise wouldn't be gotten to. (Yes, this can be a dangerous element of our psyches when it's perverted...and I'll end that thought right there and not list any examples.) But secondly, and perhaps more importantly, people are both apathetic and too damned busy to stay on top of things. That, and they've had their faith in 'the system', in just about any political system from town to county to provincial to national.

But this should come as no surprise; we're too all-of-these things to make marriages work, to make friendships work, to make families work. Why should trends regarding divorce rates, about non-nuclear families, about detachment from parents and grandparents not find their way to how we regard our politicians and our governments? (Or our old buildings?)

Editor Ryan may say that I'm seeing things too negatively, but at least I'm being honest about there being problems, problems that need to be addressed, beginning with the personal. (You can't address a problem until you've both acknowledged it and been honest in examining how it got to be that way in the first place. This isn't 'creative negativity', this is a practical part of creating a more livable world in which we all live.)

Part of my belief system is that ensuring we don't lose our past is to work on not only the practical (ensuring that by-laws are being enforced so that don't see 'demolition by neglect', etc) but also the not-so-practical: the mindset of the community, our collective value system.

The former requires bureaucrats. The latter? Inspirational leadership. (Oh, and actual involvement and engagement by the average citizen.)