Musing

Well said when you said "in most levels of government or large organizations of any kind, the game seems to be more about power, manipulation of issues, and what those behind the scenes really want rather than altruistic service of citizens, of community, of stakeholders". in my experience most of the time the most important factor is what those behind the scenes really want. Some people know that if they create enough fuss and insinuate negatives and threats of exclusion about opposing points of view, then most people will melt away. Here's a theory about the lack of engagement you mentioned. Some in the generations previous to me chose points of view that seemed good to them and then those engaged people were treated with disrespect in the changes of the late sixties. There began a pattern of disrespecting individuals whose points of view did not match the causes celebre of the times. That basic disrespect in public discourse was one among many factors that led some in the baby boom generation to retreat into their cocoons. We should not be surprised that the next generation has retreated even further, LHE, Calgary

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Mark, Your comments about apathy were scary but true where I live. Many people, especially the younger generation (45 and under) don't feel their votes count for anything. In fact, many young people do not even vote. How can we get them to realize it is important to vote? What can we do to insert excitement in politics? I think it should be done in schools but schools have so many social problems to deal with now that putting something else on them is perhaps too much. I remember, as a young person, my mother kept a scrapbook of photos of all the political candidates in our area, maybe candidates for the whole province. She was very involved in her own personal way. Politics was discussed around the house and table especially after a relative entered politics. The politics in our house were very one sided for a few decades. Slowly and surely changes occurred and the family politics changed totally from left to right. Unfortunately I believe you're right in talking about the "...game of politics; it seems too often to be more about 'right or left' than it is about 'right or wrong...." I shake my head at the 'game' being "...more about power, manipulation of issues..." than service and love of the country. Re: Toastmasters - I was a Sergeant-at-arms at the contest I attended in October. I couldn't consider a contest speech- my mouth would 'dry up and blow away' just before I opened my mouth to speak! Good on you that YOU had a humorous speech. We need all the humor we can get in this old world, B, ?,Sask.

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Well, we in the United States currently have a president who is criticized incessantly because he won't make policy decisions based on public opinion polls. While I have supported many of his decisions, President Bush has obviously gotten some very poor advice from some of his closest advisors along the way. Whatever one may think about George W. Bush, it is apparent that he believes state-sponsored terrorism exists and that belief caused him to go into Iraq. We can all only pray how the situation in Iran will play out. For those of us who live another 20 years, we may learn what are the root causes of Islamic terrorism and who has financed it since 1990. In the meantime there will be lots of noise from all over - and hopefully lots of silent prayer as well, JE, ?

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