It took me three weeks to leaflet the whole ward – four hours each day – and at my own expense, unlike the funded political parties. If the Scottish Green party candidate, Phyl Stuart Meyer, who doesn't live in the ward and was simply a paper candidate, had withdrawn his nomination as requested, I may even have been elected. It was no surprise to me that I beat the Lib Dem candidate, Stuart Bridges, as I am well known both nationally and in my community for my voluntary work (working with schools and local organisations on the issue of long-term sustainability). It takes their interest away from party politics and grandstanding within the closed club of councillors, and makes them focus on the more important issue of local services and amenities, and the everyday lives of the people who choose them. I'm not suggesting that everyone would be completely happy, but greater participation in local politics tends to improve the way councillors work. Councillors should never forget that they need to be accountable by explaining the decisions made at council meetings to the people they claim to represent.Īlthough I'm a penguin, I'm not daft. The electorate should choose councillors who keep on listening – even between elections – and want to represent both the social needs of the electorate and the environmental needs of the planet, while seeking to empower the electorate to have more say in how their taxes are spent. That's understandable but not very helpful. When I talk to people about politics at a local or national level, people grumble and shrug their shoulders, saying, "it's never going to change". That would help disminish the cynicism voters feel towards politicians – a cynicism that resulted in a sad 38% turnout of voters here in Scotland. But making councillors talk to the people they are supposed to represent can ensure they get a better idea of what they need to prioritise. In the current set-up, they tend to have the loudest voices. On your planet, people and organisations are selfish and self-interested. Funnily enough, by working from the ground up rather than from the top down, people get involved because they know their opinions will be heard. On my planet, need – and not greed – is the prevalent philosophy, with an economic system based on respect, which acknowledges the limited resources available. We don't have a huge, ever-increasing human population that nobody on this planet even wants to talk about. We have a quality of life that treasures family values, community participation and reconciles our aspirations for the good life with the constraints of our finite planet. By contrast, prosperity without economic growth is the system we have chosen on my planet. Here, everyone seems to be infatuated with what you call "economic growth", which is proving to be unsustainable short-term thinking.
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