On November 8, I sat in the Mayor’s office in San Pedro, Belize. Together with other elected officials, we talked for two hours about their vision for the future as I worked with them to develop their first-ever Economic Development Plan.
The conversation revealed a simple truth I have encountered in 24 years of working with communities: more connects us than divides us as a humanity. When you ask people about the future, the thoughtfulness is always about making things better for people….helping people enable pathways to prosperity and happiness…and finding ways to be gentler to the earth along the way. It’s never about anger and conflict. Politics creates the angry – carving divisions on fine lines, making much ado about nothing that really matters.
What really matters is revealed by watching a 20 person team make concrete on site and sling it to the top of a building under construction in San Pedro. A human chain of arms and legs is in continuous motion, sweating profusely in the heat. One can viscerally feel the rapid pulse of desire for a better life.
People from across Belize come for the chance to lift dreams and aspirations into the light in San Pedro – the fastest growing community in Belize – being driven by tourism attracted to the largest marine reef in the western hemisphere. A good job. A roof over a head. Food on a table. A chance to smile and enjoy life with family in a beautiful park, to pursue educational opportunities for children, or to be treated at a needed local hospital – in a community that is taking action when it comes to quality of living.
Isn’t this what we all want as civil societies? And can we help government help us achieve it?
In Canada where we barely participate in democracy, and have record-low trust in government, any consideration of a bolder path forward feels like pushing on a string. Maybe enabling life’s possibilities is a bit more raw in San Pedro amidst a developing economy; I felt more optimistic about government.
If we don’t believe in the value or role of government as an enabler, then who steps into the gap? I love the private sector, but if life is a symphony and it’s in need of a conductor, I don’t think the private sector can holistically consider words like compassion, values, equality, and adaptability that are important to high-functioning society.
Winston Churchill once said that “democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.”
Good and talented people of the world – now is not the time to step away from your ability to make legacy contribution to democracy. We have to break the generation-long negativity toward government and make it what we want it to be rather than slingshot rocks at it from afar. We need more of you involved now more than ever – because if you shy away in your anger or distrust – we get what too many of us have been thinking about it for too long. When we no longer lean into the light, or become quiet in our passion to participate with positive ideas, we simply give the world to humanity’s darkest instincts. Never assume government is just “there.” It’s an investment in our future.