WEBVTT

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How often do we hear
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
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
in their community?

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I propose to you today
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
that actively discourages engagement

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by constantly putting obstacles
and barriers in our way.

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I'll give you some
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
change for a new office building

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so the neighborhood
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
they're talking about,

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and then further down,
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
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
you to buy their shoes,

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

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with the planning process,

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otherwise their ads would look
something like this,

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with all the information laid out clearly.

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

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to try to get people engaged,

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

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But that's not apathy;
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
our public spaces

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

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

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Whoever has the most money
gets the loudest voice,

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dominating the visual
and mental environment.

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The problem with this model
is there are some amazing messages

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

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

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The media plays an important role

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in developing our relationship
with political change,

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mainly by ignoring politics and focusing
on celebrities and scandals,

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but even when they do talk
about important political issues,

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

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I'll give you an example.

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

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This is the cover story.

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It's an article
about a theater performance,

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and it starts with basic
information about where it is,

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in case you actually want to go and see
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
is in case you want to go.

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A restaurant -- you might not
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,
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
election race that's happening.

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It talks about the candidates,
written very well,

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but no information, no follow-up,
no websites for the campaigns,

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

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Here's another good article,

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about a new campaign
opposing privatization of transit,

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without any contact information
for the campaign.

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The message seems to be

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

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

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You might think this is a small thing,
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
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.
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,
"You're the chosen one.

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

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And then they go off and save the world
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
seeing themselves as leaders --

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because it sends all the wrong messages
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;
it's not very glamorous,

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and doesn't suddenly start
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
scratches a mark on your forehead,

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or someone tells you
you're part of a prophecy,

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they're missing the most important
characteristic of leadership,

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which is that it comes from within.

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It's about following
your own dreams, uninvited,

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

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Political parties: oh, boy.

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Political parties could and should be
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
and polling and focus groups

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that they end up all saying
the same thing,

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pretty much regurgitating back
to us what we already want to hear

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at the expense of putting forward
bold and creative ideas.

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And people can smell that,
and it feeds cynicism.

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(Applause)

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Charitable status.

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

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This is a huge problem
and a huge obstacle to change,

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

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are completely silenced,
especially during election time.

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

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As you may have noticed,

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our elections in Canada
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
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,
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
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
and smart and that they do care,

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but that, as I said,
we live in this environment

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where all these obstacles
are being put in our way.

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As long as we believe
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
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
that reinforces disengagement,

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

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

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then anything is possible.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)