Ordinary people can do extraordinary things

By Vamini Selvanandan

We live in a time of complex and wicked problems: climate change, economic inequality, violent conflict and human rights violation. These problems seem too large to tackle and much too difficult to solve. What can the ordinary person do but despair?

But we don’t have to accept the way things are. We are not too small or insignificant to make change. Cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead declared: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

We all have values about what is important and beliefs about how the world should be. But impact in the real world requires more than good intentions, it requires action. Many of us want to make change, but don’t know how to get started.

The first step is to be able to articulate what it is you most care about. This is usually something that angers or frustrates you or keeps you up at night. Is it the threat of wildfire and the fear you will lose your home? Or are you worried that your children will not be able to afford renting or owning a home when they become adults?

The next step is getting together with other people who share the same concerns to build a team to tackle the issue together. Usually having face-to-face conversations and building relationships is the best way to start. To make real change, you collectively need to define your issue and state it in terms of the change you want to see. For example, do you want your provincial government to double its investments in renewable energy? Do you want your municipality to ensure twenty percent of housing stock in your community is perpetually affordable?

You have to be strategic in how you get your demands met. It is necessary to understand who makes decisions about the issue you have defined. Mapping out the power landscape and building relationships with the people who are decision-makers on your issue is key to having impact. Timing is also important in influencing decision-makers. Politicians tend to be most responsive in the period leading up to the next election and corporation annual general meetings are a good opportunity to hold a company’s board of directors and executives to account.

Democracy means power is distributed among the people and not concentrated in the hands of the few. It means that people have power and responsibility to shape the future. For democracy to work, it cannot be a spectator sport. We cannot simply sit back and watch politicians score points off each other, spurred on by a media that is more interested in sensationalism than substance.

So, if you are worried, frustrated or angry about the way things are in the world, or if you have ever thought that someone should do something about an issue, then, guess what, it is time to break out of your complacency and realize that that someone is you!

Vamini Selvanandan is a rural family physician and public health practitioner in Alberta.