Our big Why
Many of these social processes - political, economic, cultural, ecological and others - are global in nature and consequences. The covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine are just the most brutal examples. Even though we are more connected than ever before, including through the Internet and services based on it, we are fundamentally becoming more and more distant from each other.
Communities are increasingly neglected, as are their real interests, and their productive communication to unite around common ideas is increasingly weak. With our involvement, we want to mitigate the growing alienation that exists in the above structures.
Responding to the challenges posed by globalization is simply beyond the capabilities of individuals, even the strongest and most talented ones. The challenges require timely and appropriate action by the widest range of people, communities, organizations, and institutions.
Actions must therefore be designed and implemented in the sphere of public life and not private life.
Social networks and audiovisual media, on the contrary, are mostly full of contents that encourage individuals to focus on themselves as if this is their most important life task. There is a strong impression that it is in the interest of many influential people in power to alienate as many people as possible from their community, society, and country. Such individuals can then leave dealing with current social issues to "someone who takes care of it" and continue to fulfill their purpose "by devoting to themselves" through contents from the fields of health, beauty, sports, social intelligence, work, entrepreneurship, psychological self-help, family relationships, intimate relationships, arrangement of living space and other topics in which people are treated as isolated individuals - monads.
According to all relevant research, such a model does not bring fulfillment or success in the mentioned areas to the majority, but only obsession and additional dependence on social networks, as well as personal isolation and alienation from any collective, social passivity and incompetence, and susceptibility to manipulation. The quality and outcomes of processes in the public sphere depend primarily on the institution of control. In a democratic society, the people have the right to control, so the citizens must strengthen themselves and learn how to exercise this control and thereby define the goals the community strives for. Citizens need to learn about realistic goals in a certain social context and about realizable examples of good practice in education, healthcare and in all other areas that are vital to life.
The goal and task
strengthening of critical thinking
raising awareness of control mechanisms
strengthening of social capital, integration and relations between people who have common interests
engagement and education, the goal of which is not to be against someone, but for reform, which will begin with a change of consciousness itself.
The goal and mission of the Institute for Political Empowerment is to empower the widest possible range of individuals and communities to enter the field of public action, so that they can provide themselves and others with realistic conditions for personal development. Politics is ours and for us, so it must be from us. We have to say what kind of healthcare, education, agriculture, infrastructure, tax system, etc. we want and take the initiative in this direction by taking advantage of the many possibilities offered by the democratic state system. We must demand from the authorities to create and implement competent policies and to realize our needs and interests, not their own nor the interests of economic power holders.
Many participants in political life naturally want to avoid or minimize the responsibility of the public sphere. But we must not allow that the vote that we entrusted to someone in the election reduces the responsibility for the actions and decisions that are later made.
We need the constant vigilance and awareness of citizens so that someone in a public position conscientiously performs the duties. Of course, we also need institutions that will correct the consequences of the unscrupulous actions of the authorities.
A common basis for action is only possible if we communicate with each other and come together.
It is quite possible to imagine a minister of any department on which our lives depend on (education, health, defense, agriculture...) that manages a department in a way that does not bring a positive effect on the quality of services provided to users (pupils, students, patients, farmers...) because that is the easy way, instead of spending (our) money intended for this purposes in a quality way. Such ministers and other officials who want and often succeed in performing tasks without adequate education, experience, a clear plan, and high professional ethics can be imagined from the municipal level to the European Union. Therefore, those of us who live in societies ruled by such individuals must define the criteria for them to be met. Of course, there are also business circles that financially benefit from the politics of such holders of political power and the dominance of the most current content on social networks and in the media, which demotivates activism and government control. But there are also media performers who realize their interests and not the interests of the people, and thereby consciously fragment the public media space.
How to counter this?
Only by expanding the circle of empowered individuals who are interested in the defined policy or at least those few segments of it that relate to them, and by strengthening critical thinking and raising awareness of various mechanisms of alienation, to become aware of the possibility of overcoming them and changing the patterns. To be able to control and influence the processes that affect us, we need to exit our narrow enclosure into the private sphere. This in no way means renouncing the realization and development of one's private interests, but rather promoting the awareness that individual alone is not sufficient for development. Individuals must then acquire the basic knowledge and skills necessary to control and influence the government - from the institutional framework in which social processes take place to the content of concrete policies - and to organize and actively participate in the initiation of social processes. Individuals who are not organized into groups are focused exclusively on themselves and thus averse to socializing, public communication and coordination with others. Therefore, they are ideal victims of malicious and uncontrolled authorities, companies and media that are controlled by them. Even if or when they become aware of it, without adequate knowledge and skills, they do not know how to respond to it, who to contact and in what way. Inadequate reactions, however, generally exhaust them and plunge them even deeper into alienation and reconciliation with the existing situation.
The goal and mission of the Institute for Political Empowerment is to empower the widest possible range of individuals and communities to enter the field of public action, so that they can provide themselves and others with realistic conditions for personal development.
Politics is ours and for us, so it must be from us. We have to say what kind of healthcare, education, agriculture, infrastructure, tax system, etc. we want and take the initiative in this direction by taking advantage of the many possibilities offered by the democratic state system. We must demand from the authorities to create and implement competent policies and to realize our needs and interests, not their own nor the interests of economic power holders.
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