From An Old Fart

The Communities Conference at Twin Oaks, like most conferences, had too many sessions, so that it was impossible to go to all of them.  But that was OK.  The sessions were good, but the most valuable part for me was the one-on-one and small group discussions.  Unlike my usual group self, which tends to hang back, I walked up to people and started talking with them.  Where are you from?  Why are you here?  If I really got brave, then I would ask, What do you think of politics?  And the question was not, Who will you vote for?, but the question became, Do you vote?

One of my plans for this trip was to campaign a bit.  Especially in Missouri, where Claire McCaskill is running for Senate against Todd Akin.  Akin really put his foot in it when he said that women who were victims ‘legitimate rape’ couldn’t get pregnant because their bodies shut down.  I figured I would have some good support in Missouri.  But, as I mentioned in The New Earth blog entry, no one in the communities seemed to be interested in that.  Political engagement, even just voting, was almost non-existent.

I found an exception at Twin Oaks.  A talked with a resident of TO about this issue of unconnectedness with the political world.  He told me that, during one election, he had talked 50 TO residents into voting for county sheriff.  The sheriff won by 8 votes.  So, now the sheriff knows who they are and is interested in their well-being.  This is politics in action.

Tocqueville wrote a number of things that I think are pertinent here.  He claimed that democracy tends to isolate people.  They have a tendency to withdraw.  Remember, he wrote this in 1835, but I feel it is very true today, especially with the advent of TV.  People work hard, come home and the last thing they want is to have intense discussions.   As Don Henley wrote in Little Tin God:

“We’re tryin’ to make a livin’ down here


And keep the children fed.”

Living our lives takes a lot of energy.  Not much left over for writing to Congress.

Tocqueville said that local political associations can, not only counteract that, but are truly the only way democracy can survive.  Organizations not only raise their voices together and allow us to interact with our neighbors, but organizations are harder to oppress than an individual.  He also said that political associations fail because they try to do too much.  I have certainly seen that in my time.

‘In my time’.  Holy jeepers, I sound like an old fart.  But this trip has helped me feel much younger and much more connected.  I now want to hear people’s stories.