I like to recommend the movie Ikiru to people for its portrayal of bureaucracy in Japan in the early 1950s; the same as here and now, and everywhere at every time — I would recommend it for many reasons; it’s a great movie.
Bureaucracy’s no mystery
It’s unchanged throughout history
With power, privilege, and with wealth
It works to keep them for itself.
Like any testing, meaningfully involving yourself in government policy requires being prepared. Not just prepared with the facts and information, but being prepared to use them in a constructive and meaningful way. What are your plans?
Having a vision can give you the resolve for the long haul.
If my more conventional attempts had worked; I wouldn’t be writing this book. And if I could have handed the job off to someone else; this book would never have been started.
Coronavirus? When our governor banned gatherings of 500 people or more; a little chill went down my spine. I wonder how many people felt the same uneasiness.
Getting “public servants” to see eye-to-eye with the public on policy decisions goes beyond logic, and into the world of politics. Even with a groundswell of public support; committees, experts, and agenda filled studies can be used to load the deck and leave the public on the sidelines. No one can divert a flood of voter concern into a thousand rivulets of fast-drying intentions better than an experienced politician.
With Cornithaca County’s large college population and their 4-year memory; the sands of time are turned into a veritable sponge for false promises and self-serving policies. The legacy of this year’s biggest event is, a few months later, merely the mention that it was last year’s biggest event, and within another year almost forgotten.
Politicians know that the students are ephemeral, but the powerful interests are always there.
