Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet Read Online Free PDF Page A

All one debater had to do to discredit an opponent was to label her source an “activist”!)
    Here in the United States, democracy’s become a thin, weak notion, buttressing social atomism. Democracy and government are conflated. Democratic government is viewed as a necessary evil to sort out collisions of competing “social atoms.” Government is traffic cop—or, at best, protector of individual rights. Democracy’s only economic job is to keep the market functioning smoothly.
    Government and politics are something done for us—or, more frequently, to us. We feel disconnected, far removed, from the decision makers. On the “Phil Donahue Show” last year, an irate member of the audience challenged funding of the Savings and Loan bailout. Leaping to his feet, he exclaimed: “I don’t understand why taxpayers have to pay for the bailout, why can’t the government pay for it!”
    Government is them . Not us.
    This notion reflects our view of democracy itself. Sitting on a long flight last week I chatted with my seat-mates. One was a Marine major; the other an engineer with General Electric. Because they were curious about my work, we started talking about the meaning of democracy. The engineer began quite certain about his views on the subject: “Democracy is the laws we have. It’s like they’re written in stone. They’re fixed. So democracy is protected.” In other words, democracy is what we inherited. We were lucky enough to be born into a democracy—there is little left for us to do.
    With this perspective, citizenship becomes simply the defensive posture a prudent person assumes to protect her or his solitary self-interest. A recent poll conducted for People for the American Way found that young people hold a markedly passive notion of citizenship. It means not causing trouble. Eighty-eight percent of the teenagers polled thought that getting involved in politics has nothing to do with being good citizens. 15
    While these views dominate, I sense a profoundly different understanding emerging. I think more and more Americans are realizing that the problems we face are simply too great—too deeply rooted, too widespread, and too complex—to be met without our active engagement. Solutions require the ingenuity of those most affected, the creativity that emerges from diverse perspectives, and the commitment that comes only when people know they have a real stake in the outcome. It takes an active citizenry to create public decision making that works—decision making that is accountable and creative enough to address the root causes of today’s crises.
    In the emerging alternative, democracy becomes no longer a set of static institutions, but a way of life . Democracy as a way of life means we each share responsibility for making the whole work. Democracy is not as much structures or laws as relationships .
    Democracy as a way of life is what the term “citizen democracy” suggests to us. We see its potential emerging in several distinct themes:
        Citizen democracy re-dignifies the public realm . It challenges today’s privatization of meaning. The 1980s celebrated only private reward—money, career, family. Such was the good life. Neglected was the deep human need for purpose larger than one’s self.
    Public life is the larger stage—all our relationships in the workplace, school, religious group, social concern organization, or formal political process. It is on this stage that we express our values—including our commitments to our family’s future—and develop distinct human capacities that can only be cultivated in public life. It is on this stage that we express our need to “make a difference.”
    Thus, the most successful community-based citizen organizing today sees itself as preparing people for effective, sustainable public life—not just achieving victory on a given issue. Ernesto Cortes, a founding force in creating the successful Communities Organized for Community Service in