Right now, some people will be considering the local elections and their votes. Or they won’t be. It is now almost in the very nature of politics for people not to engage rather than the opposite and by this time next week we’ll know where we all stand, based on those who stood and those who turned out to make their votes count. It’s democracy in action – even if the action is no action at all and no vote cast. The word ‘politic’ originates from the time of the ancient Greeks and, in Latin, the term for a citizen. Last year saw more General Elections across the globe than ever before and on Monday this week, Canadians went to the ballot boxes in an election largely prompted by the words, if not the deeds of one Donald J Trump, himself a returnee of just over 100 days in The White House. What follows remains to be seen, but the prospect of a US ‘takeover’ of what is a nation state of the Commonwealth here certainly appears to have rallied support against Canadians inhabiting any 51st state of the United States of America.
On a lesser scale you can understand the kind of things going on here which bring senses – and actions – of unity to the county, to towns, villages and communities. A common interest or a shared goal in which everybody works to benefit from the outcome or is included in the challenge usually achieves more than the end goal itself. It is the journey, rather than the finishing line at the end which generates the glue I referred to earlier. The journey breaks down barriers, prompts new relationships and friendships, gives the participants a stakeholder sense and generally tightens up connections. In a sense it is a different kind of politics, but it is politics nevertheless – something of the people. It’s rarely a sprint either – and more of a marathon.
At home I’m part of a singing group. Set up after a number of men in our village decided to come together to rehearse and perform a single song at a theatrical night last year, the group has now expanded not only its repertoire, but its numbers. The ability to read music – or even to be able to sing in tune - is not a requirement of membership. Instead, it is a group aiming to being men together for an evening of comradeship, fun, a beer or two and maybe – just maybe – a few more songs which might also see the light of performance in front of an audience. Even if that doesn’t happen, it is the shared interest in seeing what we can all pull together, the benefits which accrue from doing so, listening to each other and contributing to the whole which bring an increasing number of us through the door. We will never threaten the standing and reputation of any formal choir – but it’s not an aspiration for us to do so either. Instead, our informal choir continues to make modest progress musically – but has come on in leaps and sometimes tuneful bounds in terms of friendships and reaching out to each other. Nobody (especially us) takes us seriously as musicians and heaven forbid that they should. But we now have an identity as a group, recognise each other in a different way and, I think, have a sense of belonging where previously there wasn’t one. That is a win. It’s not just the men either. The women of the village come together for their own ‘Ladies Evening’ in the pub. They have talks from group members, gather for a chat and now also have new friendships and an identity which is reinforced every time they meet. The benefits of doing so are clear enough, accruing from a shared experience and the same kind of comradeship.
Some years ago, I was a Trustee of the Northamptonshire Community Foundation. It led me to understand the vast benefits which accrue not only for the groups and communities being supported, but also the people running the groups. In a sense it comes down to inclusion – we could do with more of that. How does one prompt this kind of activity? Perhaps it starts with looking around and seeing something that needs to be done, then starting to do something about it. If people see the benefit, they might just join you – staring the ball rolling.
We are all stronger together – wherever we come from and whatever our shared aims…