In the coming weeks, we will all be called to vote for the renewal of the European Parliament, some will also vote for the administrative elections. Voting represents a fundamental step in societies that are characterized by being democratic. It is the moment in which every citizen is called to make choices that then guide policies and daily life for the following years. Politics and politicians are certainly not experiencing moments of great notoriety, but indeed it often seems that they are committed to giving the worst of themselves, through taking positions and behaviors that have little to do with the ultimate goal of politics which is good government and the common good.
We undoubtedly live in an extremely complex, controversial and articulated society, which however paradoxically leads us continually to simplistic choices, in the logic of with me or against me, in a permanent conflict marked by the opposition of stadium ultras. The numbers of those who exercise the right (or duty) to vote are reduced every year, and the fans remain the ones to vote. The majority that someone defined as “silent” a few decades ago often remains to watch with disillusionment and a sense of frustration, living a situation that seems to have no solution. Some think that the problem could be technical, the voting method, the preference, the premiership. But despite continuous adjustments, participation is increasingly reduced, leading our society to have less than 50% of those eligible to participate in elections.
Sociologists also tell us that it is precisely the segments of the population with the greatest needs that are missing from participatory processes. So what to do? We must resign ourselves to a slow and gradual loss of meaning in politics and democracy or we can commit ourselves to reversing this situation. Let’s try to take our training project into our own hands and see what it tells us: “God wants us to be responsible for the city of men, that is, for the organized human context of which we are part, which is given to us as a gift and as a task. (…) Being a citizen means knowing and understanding our time in its complexity, grasping the meanings and risks inherent in the social, economic and political transformations underway, assuming the attitude of someone who does not limit himself to rejecting or celebrating these transformations in an uncritical manner, but it faces them as the fruit of its time, placing itself in them and working to direct its developments.”. – “In the world not of the world”.
It is therefore necessary to rediscover the value of “I Care” which is the heart’s response to I don’t care, I don’t care. In a plural and complex society, as Christians we are called to inhabit places by giving reason for the hope that is within us, and we can only do this through training, study and in-depth analysis, rediscovering the value of words; coming out of the fences that we have built for ourselves and in which we have often wanted to lock ourselves up. In our cities there is a need to re-educate citizens about the meaning and value of their citizenship. There is a need to find ways of conscious and active participation if we want to experience a new political season.
We acquire the ability to build participatory practices in our communities aimed at the real involvement of citizens in the most important administrative decisions. We feel the duty to commit ourselves to training sensitive citizens in our associative paths, who guarantee a real contribution to the life and future of their city. Let us then carefully choose candidates, capable of embodying the good of politics, inclusive and non-divisive, not sowers of hatred and fear, but capable of building a society of solidarity and attention to the weakest.
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