Barbara Lickness wrote:
David - It is much easier to do nothing and sit back
and criticize those who are. You know, the old arm
chair quarterback thing. Peace.
Oh, stop. It was ever thus.
The NRP has been less than perfect, their record is spotty in organizing who showed up to make the decisions. (Unexpectedly, Phillips did a fairly good job of getting people from all walks of life within their boundaries to show up. Good on them. Not to say that others didn't, but Phillips stands out on the south side to me.) That they couldn't continue that level of organizing push for ten years running should not surprise anyone. That's a lot to ask of humans.
The whole point of the NRP, originally, was to organize neighborhoods to address those issues ignored, undefended, underfunded, neglected, and screwed up by successive powers-that-be for thirty years and by an expensive and long-winded focus on the downtown of Mpls. There was a built-in tension between departments of the city and the populace, particularly in the nine worst-rated neighborhoods where the work would be most difficult. The stipends issued were connected largely to the housing stock and other infrastructural decline as a result of those same powers. I don't believe that Mr. Green takes those tensions into account.
At the same time, activists really are those people who have the time to devote to showing up for a zillion meetings, three times that many phone calls, and the rape and rapine of several forests for miles of paper.
Face it, democracy is labor and resource intensive. Some folks will not commit to that much palaver (or submit to it). Others will commit only so long, then they walk away from fatigue, not wanting to die with their boots on, so to speak. There is a sort of Shakespearean inevitability about it--last one left standing "wins."
The last one standing, in a protracted engagement, is sometimes the most doggedly bovine.
WizardMarks, Central ________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list.
2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait.
For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
