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How often do we hear[br]that people just don't care?

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How many times have you been told

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that real, substantial change[br]isn't possible

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because most people are too selfish,

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too stupid or too lazy

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to try to make a difference[br]in their community?

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I propose to you today[br]that apathy as we think we know it

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doesn't actually exist;

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but rather, that people do care,

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but that we live in a world[br]that actively discourages engagement

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by constantly putting obstacles[br]and barriers in our way.

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I'll give you some[br]examples of what I mean.

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Let's start with city hall.

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You ever see one of these before?

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This is a newspaper ad.

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It's a notice of a zoning application[br]change for a new office building

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so the neighborhood[br]knows what's happening.

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As you can see, it's impossible to read.

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You need to get halfway down

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to even find out which address[br]they're talking about,

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and then further down,[br]in tiny 10-point font,

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to find out how to actually get involved.

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Imagine if the private sector[br]advertised in the same way...

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If Nike wanted to sell a pair of shoes...

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(Laughter)

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And put an ad in the paper like that.

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(Applause)

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Now, that would never happen.

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You'll never see an ad like that,

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because Nike actually wants[br]you to buy their shoes,

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whereas the city of Toronto[br]clearly doesn't want you involved

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with the planning process,

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otherwise their ads would look[br]something like this,

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with all the information laid out clearly.

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although the font has changed[br]on the PowerPoint

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so it's not as clear as I thought[br]it would look in the ad,

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but you know what I'm saying.

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As long as the city's putting out[br]notices like this

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to try to get people engaged,

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then of course people[br]aren't going to be engaged.

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But that's not apathy;[br]that's intentional exclusion.

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Public space.

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(Applause)

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The manner in which we mistreat[br]our public spaces

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is a huge obstacle towards any type[br]of progressive political change,

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because we've essentially put a price tag[br]on freedom of expression.

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Whoever has the most money[br]gets the loudest voice,

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dominating the visual[br]and mental environment.

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The problem with this model[br]is there are some amazing messages

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that need to be said,[br]that aren't profitable to say.

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So you're never going[br]to see them on a billboard.

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I'll move on to the next one -

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There was a closing line there.

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It will come back to me later.

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The media plays an important role

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in developing our relationship[br]with political change,

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mainly by ignoring politics and focusing[br]on celebrities and scandals,

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but even when they do talk[br]about important political issues,

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they do it in a way that I feel[br]discourages engagement.

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I'll give you an example.

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The "Now" magazine from last week:[br]progressive, downtown weekly in Toronto.

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This is the cover story.

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It's an article[br]about a theater performance,

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and it starts with basic[br]information about where it is,

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in case you actually want to go and see[br]it after you've read the article...

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Where, the time, the website.

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Same with this... it's a movie review.

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An art review.

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A book review... where the reading[br]is in case you want to go.

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A restaurant... you might not[br]want to just read about it,

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maybe you want to go there.

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So they tell you where it is, the prices,[br]the address, the phone number, etc.

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Then you get to their political articles.

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Here's a great article about an important[br]election race that's happening.

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It talks about the candidates,[br]written very well,

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but no information, no follow-up,[br]no websites for the campaigns,

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no information about when the debates[br]are, where the campaign offices are.

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Here's another good article,

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about a new campaign[br]opposing privatization of transit,

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without any contact information[br]for the campaign.

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The message seems to be

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that the readers are most likely[br]to want to eat, maybe read a book,

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maybe see a movie, but not be engaged[br]in their community.

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You might think this is a small thing,[br]but I think it's important,

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because it sets a tone

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and it reinforces the dangerous idea[br]that politics is a spectator sport.

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Heroes: How do we view leadership?

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Look at these 10 movies.[br]What do they have in common?

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Anyone?

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They all have heroes who were chosen.

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Someone came up to them and said,[br]"You're the chosen one.

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There's a prophecy.[br]You have to save the world."

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And then they go off and save the world[br]because they've been told to,

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with a few people tagging along.

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This helps me understand

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why a lot of people have trouble[br]seeing themselves as leaders...

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Because it sends all the wrong messages[br]about what leadership is about.

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A heroic effort is a collective effort,

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number one.

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Number two, it's imperfect;[br]it's not very glamorous,

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and doesn't suddenly start[br]and suddenly end.

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It's an ongoing process your whole life.

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But most importantly, it's voluntary.

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It's voluntary.

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As long as we're teaching our kids

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that heroism starts when someone[br]scratches a mark on your forehead,

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or someone tells you[br]you're part of a prophecy,

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they're missing the most important[br]characteristic of leadership,

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which is that it comes from within.

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It's about following[br]your own dreams, uninvited,

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and then working with others[br]to make those dreams come true.

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Political parties: oh, boy.

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Political parties could and should be[br]one of the basic entry points

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for people to get engaged in politics.

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Instead, they've become, sadly,

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uninspiring and uncreative organizations

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that rely so heavily on market research[br]and polling and focus groups

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that they end up all saying[br]the same thing,

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pretty much regurgitating back[br]to us what we already want to hear

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at the expense of putting forward[br]bold and creative ideas.

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And people can smell that,[br]and it feeds cynicism.

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(Applause)

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Charitable status.

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Groups who have charitable status[br]in Canada aren't allowed to do advocacy.

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This is a huge problem[br]and a huge obstacle to change,

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because it means that some[br]of the most passionate and informed voices

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are completely silenced,[br]especially during election time.

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Which leads us to the last one,[br]which is: our elections.

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As you may have noticed,

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our elections in Canada[br]are a complete joke.

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We use out-of-date systems

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that are unfair and create random results.

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Canada's currently led by a party

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that most Canadians didn't actually want.

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How can we honestly and genuinely[br]encourage more people to vote

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when votes don't count in Canada?

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You add all this up together,[br]and of course people are apathetic.

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It's like trying to run into a brick wall.

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Now, I'm not trying to be negative[br]by throwing all these obstacles out

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and explaining what's in our way.

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Quite the opposite...

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I actually think people are amazing[br]and smart and that they do care,

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but that, as I said,[br]we live in this environment

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where all these obstacles[br]are being put in our way.

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As long as we believe[br]that people, our own neighbors,

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are selfish, stupid or lazy,

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then there's no hope.

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But we can change[br]all those things I mentioned.

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We can open up city hall.

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We can reform our electoral systems.

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We can democratize our public spaces.

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My main message is:

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if we can redefine apathy,

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not as some kind of internal syndrome,

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but as a complex web of cultural barriers[br]that reinforces disengagement,

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and if we can clearly define,[br]clearly identify what those obstacles are,

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and then if we can work together[br]collectively to dismantle those obstacles,

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then anything is possible.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)