Politics – To become actively involved – or not…

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? . . . And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON

This post has been prompted by a comment on the previous post. Thanks Sean for getting me to put my thoughts down in words.

Yes, I agree that the situation with the Green party is sad. A lot of people have given of themselves over the years to create a party which was to have the care and responsibility for a healthy earth as it’s prime motivator.

I have never been a party member however I know many who are or have been very actively involved in the party and I know that many of them are really feeling the disappointment now.

Some of them feel that the compromise that is happening at government level is worth it, others don’t agree.

I am now considering joining the party and encouraging all the alternative minded people that I know to do the same in an effort to reclaim the party from Dublin intellectuals and career politicians.

I do like the fact that party members actually do have a say in what happens. If I do become a party member and if I am unhappy with what is happening then I would have the chance to try and shape new policy. It does require some serious consideration.

I have never been a party person, never had unwavering allegiance to one party, preferring instead to choose individual candidates in my local area. I used to be quite involved in local politics at one time because of the campaigns that I was involved and I saw the local politicians in light that most of the electorate do not.

Most Irish people have never attended a local council meeting in their own area. It is an interesting thing to do because you see the politicians behave in a way which you don’t see when you watch them through the public lens. It is particularly interesting when a really important decision is to be made as sometimes national politicians turn up to oversee from the public gallery and ensure that the locals do as they have been instructed.

I have distanced myself from involvement in politics and campaigning as a thoughtful action, not passively or because of apathy. It does take a certain level of energy to maintain an active and thoughtful interest in both active campaigning and politics and I decided some years ago that enough was enough.

I became tired of trying to change things from the top down and instead I have concentrated on working from the ground up. I now prefer to quietly just get on with my own business, trying my best to live as sustainably as possible. I have always loved the quote – And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

I guess that is what I have been doing for the last few years. Change that comes from the ground up is very rooted. It is well tried and tested by the time that change becomes the norm.  It may seem as though nothing is changing then slowly you may start to notice a change in attitude or habits of people a long way from your sphere of influence – so to speak.

I have some thinking to do on this, whether or not to become more actively involved again.

All input is gratefully received, please comment if you feel moved…