If you don't (xxxxxxx); don't complain

It's not good enough to show up and vote once every few years and then feel you've done your part for the political process and our country. If the only time our representatives receive feedback is on election day they are ill-equipped to understand or respond to what we care about. Imagine if the only time your employer ever spoke to you was to either fire you or extend your contract annually.

We need to be the people who become known in the constituency offices, not because we're always complaining or critical; but because we offer a reasoned perspective that both affirms and argues respectfully as needed. If we don't do this the only voices to be heard will be the constant griping of the annoyed and the thoughtless praise of the loyalists. Politicians can't do their jobs well without our ongoing participation.

This doesn't mean we need to become associated with any political party. In a previous post I was critical of forming committed allegiances of this type, at least for those who call themselves Christians. In fact, I suspect that the most influential voices to a politician often are those who are undecided. After all those are the people they want to convince.

During the course of a campaign we are bombarded with political messaging, and still often we respond only by marking our "X". Between elections we are often completely silent. If we can't do better than that we don't deserve better government than we are getting.

On Obama

More than ever before in my life I am becoming politically conscious. I'm more attentive to the election campaigns both here in Canada and in the US. And I've taken the time to contact the leading candidate in my area about issues that matter to me, though I haven't yet decided how to vote (though my two year old has declared his allegiance...)


One of the best bloggers around posted this on how Niebuhr's philosophy has impacted Barack Obama. It's good.

(I have a daydream where someday I come up with something worth writing a book about and Al Hsu is my editor).