Do you believe that you play a role in the formation and development of your country or in the world?

Yes! Well, for me it’s by voting this upcoming election and even something as simple as recycling.

Right on! Vote and recycle! Simple but affective. I take public transportation. When I can…

I do my part as a citizen and consumer. I’d like to think I help nudge the statistics in the right direction, but I don’t think I form or develop the politics of my country or the world.

In a society, I think everyone’s action’s, and sometimes more importantly our inactions, affect everyone else, even our simplest acts of kindness or meanness in day-to-day interactions ripple outward in ways that we can’t imagine.

Also, people do inform policy much more than you might think. One of the most visible examples in recent years was the groundswell of grass roots objection to second class smoke that made workplaces, restaurants and public buildings smoke free.

When public outcry is great enough, politiicans feel compelled to act.

@Marina I agree that the voice of people will count, no matter what they may think. I believe each district has their own criteria but if more than a few responses are received in any given issue then they will seriously look at it.

When I lived in the States I worked actively on some NAMI issues, it required a good deal of time every now and then, but was nice to know that even those small efforts were helping to effect change.

But even the smallest of moves help, and I don’t personally think any move is to small if its done consciously. Thanks for your input.

I’m not entirely sure I agree with the smoking ban being a good move, but it shows how it is possible to get politicians on a case.
Mind you, ever since the ban came in to effect, I’ve spent far less money on going out – I prefer being around mine or someone else’s house where you can still smoke with your drink. Of course this has also meant a lot of publicans have received far less income….oh well, c’est la vie!

I’m not sure that I can provide any better response to this question than all of the above. They are all great answers and the question itself is truly interesting to ponder. I suspect that all genuine thinking people wonder about it at some point or another. (Although, admittedly it probably helps if you have read or travelled a bit. It tends to make you aware of the historical changes that have occurred when individuals gather to create change. Personally, I am from a rather provincial small town in the midwest and wonder whether I would have given any thought to social change and the individual if I had not been afforded the opportunity to move around a little)

This question reminds me of a definition that I heard a college professor once remark when talking about politics. He said that politics is merely “the authoritative allocation of values.” In other words, the power to allocate the values that you as an individual, group, political party, etc believe in.

It is such a a sublime and simple definition, and yet explains so much of what we mean when we talk about creating change or a social movement, doesn’t it?