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EducateWorthington.org

The 912 Project - Glenn Beck

912 Group of Central Ohio

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[What will it take to bring Americans back to the public square?]

This from Fettucini:

They have been pretty interesting discussions in the past (Social Security, and State Budget wer previous topics). The Left will likely be there, and it is an open forum for discussion. Typically a fairly small group (10-25), which allows it to be more educational and interactive than a large group allows.

A detailed outline is below, and I will be sorry to miss it, but I thought you might be interested.

Feel free to share it as well, if appropriate. Have a great day!  


This Sunday, September 11, 2:00. Governing America. Using a Kettering Foundation National Issues Forum outline, we'll be discussing what can be done to increase citizen participation in governing locally and nationally. (A summary of the issue is at the end of this email.)

What will it take to bring Americans back to the public square?

Americans by the millions are turning away from the public places, the town square if you will, where we come together to solve problems, and turning instead to private endeavors – home life, work, and play. They say they are fed up with politics turned into bloodsport, with bureaucrats who too often don’t want to hear them, with a culture that seems to reward the coarser rather than the better parts of our nature.

If democracy is defined as people governing themselves, then it follows that citizens in a democracy work together to solve the problems they face. What happens, though, when people have difficulty even thinking of themselves as citizens? What happens when politics, the machinery of problem-solving, becomes a dirty word?

Whatever course we choose, this would be very hard work. It probably would mean wrenching, fundamental changes in American society, asking us all to pitch in more than we do now.

The goal of this book is to serve as a discussion-starter for conversations about which approach is most promising, and what we need to change in our families, communities, and public institutions.

Approach 1: Instill the right values

Democracy depends on the character of its citizens. The values that should be instilled in families, in places of worship, in school, either aren’t being taught or they’ve been eroded by a culture that increasingly elevates rights over responsibility. We are becoming a society that cares more about immediate gratification and less about leaving a better world for the next generation. It seems we’re no longer willing to make a sacrifice for anything.

We need to re-emphasize the teaching of basic values, especially a sense of responsibility. This starts at home, but it should continue in the schools; this doesn’t mean bringing religion into the schools, just essential American values like hard work, responsibility and sacrifice.

We should make jury duty more widespread and more difficult to avoid. We also should have a serious national discussion about reviving the military draft. These are the kinds of responsibilities we used to take seriously; other countries still require either military service or some form of national service.

We must make clear to our leaders that we expect them to uphold the same kinds of values as they go about the nation’s business, to show responsibility and self-discipline. We also should respond willingly, not sullenly, on the rare occasions when an elected official calls for any kind of sacrifice from us.

Cons

Teaching values is fine, but by itself that’s not going to solve the problem. This is still private life. People can become more responsible all you want, but if they aren’t learning how to be citizens in a democracy, we won’t see more deliberation on common concerns.

You can’t legislate character. Nations go through cycles of permissiveness and restraint, and it happens naturally. We’re just seeing the pendulum swing.

Approach 2: Practice democratic habits

The habits of democracy are learned as we associate with our neighbors. It is at Kiwanis, PTA, the local union hall, the American Legion, and countless other places that the rituals of leadership and citizenship were practiced – taking risks, learning to compromise, learning how to lose. As Americans have stopped joining those associations, they’ve severed ties with fellow citizens and lost the opportunities to develop such skills.

We need to reacquire the habit of engagement, starting where we live. It would mean giving up some private time for other pursuits, but the rewards would be considerable. Join a civic organization in the community, find a cause that matters to you.

Expand the scope of the nonprofit sector, through individual efforts, tax incentives and philanthropic support. Nonprofit organizations can help rebuild the web of civic connections.

In all forms of education, we need to restore a conscious effort to teach the habits of citizenship – not only the founding documents such as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, although those are vital, too, but the responsibilities that go with being a citizen of a democracy.

Cons

Yes, we should educate citizens – by reminding them that democracy is essentially messy and politics is often ugly to watch. Setting impossibly high ideals for democracy and citizenship only leads to disappointment and cynicism.

This is just nostalgia for bastions of white males. People are still engaged, they’re just engaged in different ways than they used to be. It’s estimated that one hundred million Americans do volunteer work. Many others join organizations that represent their interests, from the National Rifle Association to the Sierra Club.

There’s nothing wrong with joining the PTA. Enjoy. But it doesn’t mean that democracy will improve. Democracies succeed in spite of people’s habits, not because of them.

Approach 3: Return the citizens’ voice to government

A large democratic government must do all it can to involve citizens in decision-making. Our government, at all levels, has evolved to a point where it requires minimal involvement by citizens. That cannot continue. This means not only changing the structure of local and national government to bring more citizen voices into the process, it also means that citizens must make their voices heard. It would be a very difficult undertaking.

Government could be reformed to include citizens in decision-making, along the lines of what has been done in Hampton, Va., and other communities. Although it is more complex on a national basis than in one community, we have the technology and the know-how. From individual legislators to civil servants designing a new program, we should foster a culture of involvement, so that no one feels comfortable with a new government initiative until they feel they understand the public’s concerns.

“Civic literacy” should become a priority for all Americans. We should use every means at hand – television, radio, especially the Internet – to ensure that everyone understands what it means to be a citizen, and the benefits not only to the nation but to the individual.

Cons

This is not practical. Americans do not have time to maintain this level of involvement, and they don’t need to. This is a representative government, and when people are no longer satisfied with the way it’s run, or when there is a sufficiently compelling issue, they’ll do something about it.

You can’t start with the machinery of government if you want to restore the health of democracy. It has to start with citizens, their habits, their values.

Widespread participation isn’t necessary for a democracy, and there isn’t any evidence it would improve our government. Increased participation wouldn’t necessarily mean that a coherent, unified public voice would emerge.

How about Option #4: Clamp down on the News Media. Americans hate government because any time a Democrat needs a microphone to tear apart America and our chosen leaders by making libelous accusations, the news media is more than eager to put one in front of their face and call it "mainstream thought".

Yes, these forums they hold are interesting.  

You're exactly right Robert, I like your option #4, and I'm sure that could/should be brought up today!  

Not that we could "clamp down on the news media" but there needs to be some standard of "truth" required of the media, or accountablility for integrity and fairness........and the punishment should be severe enough ($$$$$$$) to have their absolute attention!!! :blink:  

In my response to the library's discussion moderator, I touched on this also, stating that if Americans can't and don't get the actual truth through the media, we end up making decisions based on lack of information, false information, and distortions.  That's not good for democracy, is it? :huh:  

In addition, the library's moderator asked me for suggestions on future topics for these forums, and "the news media role in all of this" was my suggestion for a future topic.  That would be a fun and interesting conversation to have with the local liberals, now wouldn't it???    

[critical thinking]

Boba Fettucini,

Part of the problem is that the leftists really believe that the media is biased against them. And "the media" thinks that if both sides see them as biased, they must be exactly in the center (Peter Jennings said as much before he passed on).

Lest we become blinded by our own opinions, we must at least consider that perhaps the media is centrist, but they just do a really bad job of reporting the news in the first place.

I personally don't believe this, but I do think that those of us that care about political matters (on both sides of the fence) have a tendency to become obstinate in our opinions and often unable to clearly discern the whole truth. To the mindless iconoclasts of the left, critical thinking is nearly heresy. Of course, there are those on the right that exhibit the same symptoms, but it's not endemic like it is on the left.

Any attempt to talk about media bias has to begin with deconstructing the leftist belief that they are the victims of media bias.

[Edmund Burke]

And now, for a deeply conservative point of view.  The central problem of declining civic engagement (as I see it) is the marketplace itself.  In the past people did things socially because this was the only form of entertainment.  Most civic clubs had multiple purposes, including good governance, but also simple socializing.

Today, we have too many distractions, and too many choices.  Why engage with people you may or may not like that much when there are so many other things to do?  Why "neighbor" when you can ring up someone you REALLY like on the cell phone from across the metro area?  

Bottom line...people spend 40 hours a week or more "socializing" with people that they may not care too much for (i.e., work).  We have come to value our leisure, and the marketplace provides myriad distractions.  Thus, the kind of civic engagement we enjoyed once upon a time is a relic of a bygone era.

Solution?  The problem with being a real conservative is that you appreciate the complexities of social situations...no one planned things to turn out this way, and no simple-minded solution will make it different.  In my opinion, civic engagement must also evolve with the times.  Townhall meetings, online forums, rallies...all involve only a tiny fragment of the political population.  

Electronic voting might be one route...essentially a constant survey of the will of the people.  Warning, however...the people are really stupid sometimes.

My mid-term advice is that people "like us" who want to be engaged in politics should understand that we must influence an elite.  Our primary goal is essentially to become advisors to the elites.  Some of the ideas of "branding" and letter-writing are a good start.

As for this online forum...have a good time.

On a couple of points:  I think people are more engaged in the political process than they have been in the last 20 years. The people who recoil at the thought of participating in the system, and those "distracted" by celebrity-worship, recreation, self-gratification, etc, Probably should stay away from anything having to do with politics and the electoral process. I'm not really concerned about their degree of participation, so I won't waste any brainpower trying to get them interested.  They suck.

As for the leftist mindset that claims that the media is biased against them, or even centrist in their reporting: If the media is swayed against the Left, just how Left is the Left then? Geez, I shudder to think!

Dain, you are right that leisure has taken over for many or most, as the primary goal in life.  For many parents it is even more important than investing the time required to succesfully raise their children, as unfortunate as that is.  (This is a significant factor in the failure of public education!)

For a number of reasons, I am concerned about efforts to make it easier to vote.  Getting more people who are uninformed and uninterested to the polls will not improve life in America by any stretch of the imagination!