Enforcing the moral imperative

Talking with Phil Cubeta and AKMA this morning about enforcing the moral claims that support the resources that support local action.

The dark side of community organizing, decentralization and local action is that those who are aggregating resources are hoping that this trend continues, in order to keep energy focused at the local level and money flowing to the centre. Releasing these resources to support meaningful change, including stuff like building infrastructure in First nations communities.

In First Nations, there are actually a number of tools that help to express power and enforce claims. Access to litigation, treaty negotiation, self-government and other tools give First Nations communities leverage, but what remains unenforced is the moral claim. This is a deliberate bait and switch. It is easier to implement a political and legal claim because the tools are there. Enforcing the moral claim is more difficult. It relies on inspiring hearts across the divisions that cleave apart Canadian society.

The tool to enforce the moral obligation, to redefine of “right,” is poetry.

See also, Ernesto Cardenal, Martin Luther King, Vaclav Havel and others who wrote or spoke their truth in a way so compelling that it transcended the carefully constructed segmentation of societies.