Reply #6: People are the power-brokers -- 100 citizen lobbyists can be FAR more . .

[pat_k]

. . . effective than a couple million in professional lobbying muscle. And 100 enthusiastic, hopeful citizens can do more to engage countless others in solving our common problems than a couple million campaign dollars.

Money is spent to advertise and to hire "professionals" to influence public opinion. Persistent citizens who enlist others to take some small action are worth more than their weight in gold when it comes to advancing our common interests.

It is time to challenge the immobilizing notion that "they" have all the power. That is an idea that does nothing but feed the downward spiral of hopelessness and apathy. When cynicism sustains and spreads the belief that there is "nothing I can do" about our common problems, we should not be surprised when they seem willfully ignorant about those problems. Why look at problems if you believe you can do nothing about them?

We can create (and are already creating) the conditions that support a virtuous cycle of increasing hope and ever more effective action. See http://thedeanpeople.com/files/herding_cats.html