Last week I went in search of some inspiration to put me in touch with my political animal. I met up with a young guy called Shane Chowen, President of the Student’s Union City College Plymouth.
After I interviewed him www.youtube.com/knowingmeknowingurup there was one thing he’d said that really stuck in my mind,
“I saw something I didn’t like and that I had the opportunity to change it, so I grabbed it.”
This struck a chord with me, as I often catch myself ranting over issues such as the price of utility bills and organic foods, how irritating plastic packaging is and my disgust and utter dismay at pollution on our gorgeous beaches and in our seas!
And do I do anything about these issues? Well sometimes I volunteer with an organisation like BTCV http://www2.btcv.org.uk/display/volunteer or Surfers against Sewage http://www.sas.org.uk to pick up litter and generally conserve our natural environment and sometimes when I have a bit of extra cash (which is not often, with the ruddy cost of my utility bills!) I donate it to charity.
But have I ever thought of contacting my MP or MEP to discuss these matters. NO. My reason for this is quite frankly, it never even occurred to me!
Perhaps if I were made more aware of my right to contact these politicians over any of these issues, then I’d be more conscious of how my involvement in the whole democratic process works and as such be more inclined to vote?
As Shane mentioned Democracy occurs at a grassroots level. We are the ones with the power and need to learn to recognise the opportunities to make a change and grab them.
X
