Fw: [Winona] Citizen Involvement versus Apathy

Sat Dec 9 21:45:57 CST 2006

I'm surprised that Dwayne cites schools not teaching community and civic 
involvement since I know that WSHS did just that when my kids were students 
there.  Moreover, I believe that community and civic involvement are taught 
by example, not by giving course credit and classroom lessons.

I didn't grow up in Minnesota.  I grew up in very small town rural Indiana, 
and as an adult lived in the Washington DC and Detroit metropolitan areas 
prior to relocating to Minnesota 18 years ago.  I am continually impressed 
and amazed at the level of accessibility to all levels of government that 
are open to every single citizen who cares to avail themselves of the 
opportunity.  I know county commissioners, school board members, the mayor 
and his wife, a state senator, a state representative; I spoke directly with 
the governor of our state when he was in Winona, shortly after his first 
election to the office.  He was at a citizens' meeting in city council 
chambers.  I didn't have to pass through a metal detector or take off my 
shoes or open my purse or jacket.  I just showed up.  I'm not bragging---I 
am amazed at the way that in Minnesota, our elected officials really are our 
neighbors, are really the people next door or down the road or around the 
corner.  Pretty often I strongly disagree with many of the public decisons 
that are made at every level of government, but I know that I have a voice, 
if I am willing to open my mouth--or write a letter or email.  If you grew 
up here, you may not realize how rare and precious this is.  Like the bluffs 
and the lakes and river and the rolling prairies, it may be that you take it 
all for granted.  You really should not.

I do agree that most people are really over-worked, and have little time or 
energy left to inform themselves about issues.  However, much information is 
accessible if you are willing to give up a little time in front of the 
television.  You have to be willing to invest the effort.  And you have to 
be willing to invest the time and effort even if you don't think you'll win 
your point.  That's the hard part, in my opinion:  being willing to stand up 
and speak up; being willing to go to a lot of effort and still not reach 
your goal---the first time, anyways.

Democracy requires investment of time and energy, heart and mind.  It 
requires courage--and not just on the battle field or in board meetings.  It 
requires courage to risk not being listened to, courage to investigate and 
find that perhaps you weren't correct in your initial assumptions.  It 
requires courage to accept that you will be criticized for what you say.

Terri Hyle

>From: "Dwayne and Denine Voegeli" <voegeli at hbci.com>
>To: "E Democracy" <winona at mnforum.org>
>Subject: Fw: [Winona] Citizen Involvement versus Apathy
>Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2006 14:43:30 -0600
>
>[Winona Online Democracy]
>

>Hello Craig and Others,
>
>Craig, the poll about people caring was interesting.
>
>According to the article, some of the main reasons people don't get more 
>involved are,
>
>-----
>
>"The turnoff, the poll found, is threefold: Much of what's billed as an 
>opportunity for citizen involvement in government amounts to 
>wheel-spinning, with too much discussion of problems and not enough action. 
>That makes it excessively time-consuming. In addition, politics has become 
>too mean-spirited to be any fun. And too few decision makers seem to care 
>about what average people think. "
>
>------
>
>I can understand the frustration with wheel spinning.  I feel the same way 
>many times.
>
>I would also add there are at least three other reasons why people don't 
>get more involved.  They are:
>
>1.  Schools:  Our schools do not teach community and civic involvement.  We 
>study government and politics from a distance but we don't practice local, 
>hands-on civics and democracy.  People may feel an urge to get involved and 
>help out but they may not know how since they have never really done it 
>before.  By the way, the new federal No Child Left Behind education 
>standards only makes this problem worst.  Most student councils have no 
>real "power."  They are usually a bunch of great kids doing wonderful 
>things but in essence, they are just a student glee or school spirit club.
>
>
>2.  Over Worked:  Because of what we have allowed to happen to our lives, 
>most Americans don't simply have the time to get involved.  For many 
>people, there isn't enough time to get the laundry done, let alone become 
>involved in the community or to volunteer.  The average work week in the 
>U.S. is over 46 hours a week, not the mythical 40 hours most of think of.  
>Do we simply have enough time for democracy, our neighborhoods, or even 
>ourselves?
>
>
>3.  System Problem:  Our current democratic system is not meant for mass 
>participation.  It says it is but it isn't.  It's really designed for a 
>small group of elected officials to watch over a large group of 
>professionals.  I'm not saying that is necessarily all bad, it's just 
>simply what it has become.  Democracy was originally meant to involve far 
>bigger numbers of citizens in real and direct ways.  Could we move back 
>toward that?
>
>
>The article also said,
>
>------
>
>"The Citizens League intends to use them in the next 18 months to develop 
>recommendations for a tune-up of the state's problem-solving systems, timed 
>for the 150th anniversary of Minnesota's statehood."
>
>------
>
>Is there anything we could do locally to become a part of this interesting 
>and important discussion?  (Can we drag ourselves away from the more juicy 
>blogs?)
>
>Dwayne Voegeli
>
>Dec. 9, 2006
>
>
>==============
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Craig Brooks
>To: WOD
>Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 5:04 AM
>Subject: [Winona] Citizen Involvement versus Apathy
>
>
>[Winona Online Democracy]
>
>
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>Do we really want to be involved?  A recent survey says we do.  An 
>editorial in the Trib.
>http://www.startribune.com/561/story/856093.html and
>in the Pioneer Press
>http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/16119334.htm
>summarizes the results of a Citizen's League survey.
>http://www.citizensleague.net/
>The poll results are found at
>http://map150.org/poll/statewide-poll-findings/
>
>What might you recommend as ways citizens here in Winona could be involved 
>in local government and in issues in ways that are meaningful enough to 
>motivate participation?  Much is said about public input being a facade or 
>being fixed via who is named or what the group is allowed to do.  How can 
>that be changed?
>
>Craig Brooks
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
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