Has the reader ever thought about running for office? It may be that the reader will lose. However, as an official candidate, one has access to reporters and journalists, is asked to speak at political gatherings, and may get radio and television interviews.
If the reader thinks this is absurd, 22 republican candidates for US President don’t agree.
Running for office is the fastest way to become influential in politics – even if you lose. The reader has reason to organize and sustain a political organization. This organization expands one’s voice by magnitudes.
In local politics, the fact that one runs may be enough to be elected! Especially in these times when politics grows more volatile in its philosophy of government, upsets are common. The reader’s influence begins at the smallest political level, usually a precinct or a politically oriented club (think Rotary, Lions, Masons, etc.) There are personalities in these organizations and precincts called “king makers.” If they like you, they will spread an influential word in your behalf.
Many readers may not want to step into politics as a candidate. There are many legitimate reasons to deny one’s self such an opportunity. The next best thing is for the reader to attach one’s self to an acceptable candidate. By attach, the mariner means become the candidate’s right-hand person. The reader will have access to policy and campaign meetings, become known as someone to listen to because the reader’s voice is the candidate’s voice, and if one is young enough and in a position to change careers, the candidate will win and take the reader with him/her to a job on staff. This happened to a close friend of the mariner’s daughter, who now is a speech writer in the White House.
The reader could become a member of a local advocacy group that plans marches, gatherings, trips to the offices of elected officials, and forms blockades at the entrance to abusive corporations.
The bottom line is the reader must feel in his/her heart that something must be done for the sake of humankind, for justice, for the wellbeing of the planet, for the health of governance.
Ancient Mariner