BocaFirst has been my main form of reliable information about Boca Raton politics. I am writing this to share my own motivation and perspective in being involved on behalf of Boca Raton Residents. The pattern of problems illuminated by BocaFirst since it was formed 5 years ago (“Something Has Been Missing“), pervades all levels of modern society from condominium politics to national and international politics and goes beyond politics. Recently, the light has been shown on the takeover and control of “The People” by a mixed nexus of for-profit and governmental institutions. It is represented by the March 19 Candidates for Seat D. The question I want to pose is as individuals is, how do we confront this vast array of systematically organized situations, vote responsibly, all without getting exhausted?
How do we become part of a “We the People” that is relevant without becoming completely passive, oblivious, and ineffective? None of us has time to individually be informed in all the areas that we may vote, from condo/HOA (if applicable), to City, County, School District, State, National, much less to have effective influence on those governing institutions, besides voting.
BocaFirst is a Community of People
How do we develop the spiritual core of affiliation that can bring us into productive alignment with others, without torturing ourselves, in all these various areas? I felt compelled to develop mental clarity around the shifting behaviors of our City Council after the term limited exit of Ms O’Rourke. Here is my thinking.
We are all part of multiple “We the Peoples” groups. Our reference here is “We the People of (the City of) Boca Raton”. When I first moved here, in 2000, it was palpable to me that there is something distinct about Boca. I would feel it as I drove across the city limits. “We the People” needs to cultivate a felt sense of mutual recognition, not merely based on mental knowledge that we are citizens of the same city.
Sometimes this rapport is immediately obvious when meeting strangers from one’s home country during foreign travels. There can be an immediate feeling of rapport that is lacking even with friends or associates in that foreign country. This feeling of rapport has no need to turn us into friends (in any serious meaning of that word). It is just a mutual recognition of our common collective identity.
We can seek to “leverage” our communications with each other to include other contexts without substantively diluting out engagement about Boca Raton. It is much easier to do this “in person” than with written or distance communications. It is far easier to feel, follow and recognize mutual rapport in “off agenda excursions” that may genuinely contribute to engagement in other contexts.
Here’s how I frame the problem.
Government of the People, by the People, for the People is fundamentally different than government as corporate institution ruling, partnering with, or taking care The People. By “corporate institution”, I mean something that has a separate legal identity, like a “corporate person” has a separate legal identity.
A government “of the people, by the people, for the people” is more like a Trust that traditionally has no separate legal entity/identity, but is vested in its Trustees as living, breathing human beings. This may seem like conceptual hairsplitting, but it is of profound legal importance and the “hairsplit” has become a worldwide chasm over the last 150 years.
Institutions of governance, instead of being an organizational fabric to suit living peoples, in human relation with each other, have become organizations that largely define and control what and who their People is. Nation states that evolved governments around their national identity have given way to “Sovereign States”. Institutions of state propaganda then developed a contrived national unity and identity. “America” from Colonial times was a unique project of government by the people, strongly guided by what quickly became a trans-sectarian spirituality.
Those managing business corporate institutions naturally become adept at managing corporate persons. It was easy for business corporations to influence and infiltrate other institutions in subtly dominating ways, with their wealth generating power. The power of business corporations using advertising to glorify individual consumer “freedom” broke down the peoplehood that expresses itself in self-governance.
You have a Choice for Seat D on March 19. It Matters.
As I see it, BocaFirst is rallying the people of Boca Raton to express informed interest about the quality of life in Boca. For Seat D in the March 19 election, you can stand up to interests that have agendas inconsistent with quality of life of Boca Raton residents, notably Real Estate development interests. Look at the campaign finance reports (Stenberg, Thomson). The primary and most effective path we have is to be informed voters sharing that information with others and to be supportive of candidates who represent our interests.
