åðøåáò ,åðúéàî ,åðìù |
Shelanu: Direct Representation for Israel
Government based on Personal accountability and Public Service |
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Check out the blog at http://directrepisrael.blogspot.com
- Wednesday meeting in Tel Aviv
- A Call to Leaders
- Reading Thomas Paine
This Wednesday evening, at 19:00, there will be a meeting in Tel Aviv with a number of individuals who are committed to changing the Israeli political system to be more accountable. The meeting will be held at the home of Rachel Collins, 60 Raines, Apartment 5. You can contact her directly by phone at 052-3625303, or by email at rachelabigail@gmail.com.
For the past several months, I have not been able to dedicate much time to Shelanu as I have been job-hunting. I am pleased to say that, as of April 1, I have been working at Zion Oil & Gas as an operations engineer. It is my first full-time position in seven years and I feel fortunate for the opportunity to work with some great people on a project to help make Israel energy independent. At this point, I hope to be able to better structure my time in order to give a fresh push to Shelanu's cause, which is so vital to the well-being of our nation and our country.
I am looking for individuals willing to take on the leadership of this cause, or at least take an active role in sharing the leadership. We have a great message and a great potential, but it takes a great deal of attention and coordination. And so, I'm looking for someone with experience in non-profit organizing and someone who truly understands and believes in our cause.
If I'm talking to you, please talk to me.
Lately, I've been watching another renewal in America, the renewal of "We the People" as embodied in the April 15th "tea parties" all across the U.S., regional protests against the runaway spending that characterizes the current congress and executive administration. This activism has made me curious to go back and read Paine's classic work, "Common Sense," specifically the chapters relating to representative government.
"Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.
"Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one: for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries BY A GOVERNMENT, which we might expect in a country WITHOUT GOVERNMENT, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer."
I cannot think of anything more cogent that better captures the problem with Israeli politics and Israeli political media. The pundits and the reporters are constantly, misleadingly, and falsely emphasizing the political cliques as if they truly characterize Israeli society. At the same time, the proportional parliamentary government, rather than limit itself to providing essential governing services, tries to pry its way into every aspect of Israeli society and, in so doing, become a bloated, encroaching albatross on our shoulders.
We can crack this nut if we are persistent and if we attack the problem at its root. That root is the common Israeli misconception that democracy is just another tribal entitlement system. We must impart the idea that the individual has the power and the responsibility to make things happen. We must live this maxim by showing that a few individuals can inspire many more.
