Reply #23: The Obama Presidency made clear what I'd long feared...

[RufusTFirefly]

... namely that our role in national politics is practically irrelevant, unless, of course, our name ends with "Inc." or "Corp."

I say this as a long-time grassroots idealist, who began participating actively in presidential campaigns when I was still five years shy of being able to vote (my mother might argue that it actually started when I was only 9). That didn't stop me from staffing stands at county fairs and "lit dropping" throughout neighborhoods in my general vicinity. I believed in American democracy with all my heart and soul and worked hard to play a role in supporting it.

At this point, I'm convinced that I have no meaningful voice in federal elections, limited voice in statewide elections, and that the key is to organize and make changes in my community with the hopes that our local successes can inspire people nationally and perhaps even internationally. As I told a dear friend of mine today, I view local elections and the Transition Towns movement as our only hopes at this point.

The tried-and-true bumper sticker "Think Globally. Act Locally." is finally sinking in for me. It just took about 40 years of flailing about in the political arena to realize it held the simple truth.