| EQI.org Home | Democracy Feelings and Democracy July 2011 - In the past few days I have gotten a bit involved in a local government issue here in Australia. The issue is a proposal to open a waste transfer/recycling facility near a river and the city's central business district. The idea immediately sounded to me like a very bad one so I felt motivated to learn more. On July 18th I went to a local government forum discussing the proposal. The "proponents" of the proposal gave a presentation trying to convince the worried residents that there was nothing to worry about. I personally felt very skeptical and untrusting during most of the presentation. I believe these feelings were shared by many, if not most, of the residents listening. I told one person I felt trusting about 3 on a scale of 0-10 and he said he felt about the same. I regret not asking more people a few feelings questions after the meeting. For example: How much did they feel cared about, informed, respected, understood? From my conversations with the residents I would say they felt less than an average of 5 or 6 on all of those feelings. My conclusion from the forum is that someone needs to be asking people specifically how they feel and recording the answers. Feelings are an important source of data in a democracy. If those governing have good information about how the people feel, they will be able to govern in a way that meets the needs of the people, including their emotional needs. In this case, people living nearby the proposed location felt uninformed because the local government didn't let everyone know that there was any kind of plan to put this facility in their neighborhood. I suspect they would also say they felt left out of the process. When the local government did give them a chance to present their concerns, it was not organized and managed very well. By that I mean the residents did not feel satisfied with the proceedings. In particular, in addition to feeling skeptical and untrusting, as I mentioned above, I believe they also felt confused by the presentation since conflicting statements were made and much important information was not sufficiently addressed. I suspect that many people also felt invalidated because they probably felt their concerns were not taken very seriously by either those making the presentations or by the local politicians who were present. The residents were basically told, "Don't worry. Everything will be ok, there is nothing to worry about. Your concerns and fears have no factual base." I suspect that many people there also felt intimidated to some degree. By this I mean they felt a bit afraid to stand up and speak or to ask questions. I am one of those people who felt intimidated by the very formal setting and process, so I prefer to write about my thoughts and feelings. Also, I can state things better in writing. Anyhow, I am trying to listen to both sides of the issue, do some fact-finding and possibly help bring the two sides closer together and generate a mutually acceptable decision. I would personally like to see a park put in the area but I am trying to stay as unbiased as I can so I can listen to everyone better. It is an interesting issue for me for several reasons and it gives me a chance to put some of my ideas into practice on a personal level. Also, it is an opportunity for me to meet a lot of people and ask a lot of questions, two things I enjoy doing :) S. Hein |
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