Breaking from tradition by posting editorial article in here, but I had thoughts on it and there's not really a better sub for it.
I tend to agree with the point of the article, but disagree that the solution is to engage with the local government- in an ideal world that would be the solution, but the problem is the local government isn't functioning to the desires of the people.
Guerrilla gardening is a sign of failure. Failure of the local government and the community to effectively decide on and communicate desires and act on them. There is dysfunction which makes people pursue a solution outside the system.
Essentially the dysfunction is that everyday people are apathetic about politics. Very few people care to attend the town hall meetings about community planning that decide to cut down the trees in your neighborhood. The reasons are many, some examples are that politicians tend to ignore individuals and small groups, people are overworked and don't feel they have time to spend 3 hours at a tedious meeting. Edit: people also feel impotent, powerless in the face of government system: their petition was denied for no real reason. The lack of transparency, or the priority to a "community plan" over individual desires, disenfranchises people.
So because people are not engaging in community planning, or because they get ignored or overruled when they do, they seek solutions to improve their neighborhood that don't involve lengthy planning meetings, petitions, and agreement from people who live far away.
I'm not sure if the problem can be solved, since there is a clash of authoritarianism, a sprinkling of rules from afar, a time and energy gap and issues getting many people to agree.
I'm not against guerrilla gardening but I can see how it could lead to conflict, and conflict avoidance is why government process exists.
Breaking from tradition by posting editorial article in here, but I had thoughts on it and there's not really a better sub for it.
I tend to agree with the point of the article, but disagree that the solution is to engage with the local government- in an ideal world that would be the solution, but the problem is the local government isn't functioning to the desires of the people.
Guerrilla gardening is a sign of failure. Failure of the local government and the community to effectively decide on and communicate desires and act on them. There is dysfunction which makes people pursue a solution outside the system.
Essentially the dysfunction is that everyday people are apathetic about politics. Very few people care to attend the town hall meetings about community planning that decide to cut down the trees in your neighborhood. The reasons are many, some examples are that politicians tend to ignore individuals and small groups, people are overworked and don't feel they have time to spend 3 hours at a tedious meeting. Edit: people also feel impotent, powerless in the face of government system: their petition was denied for no real reason. The lack of transparency, or the priority to a "community plan" over individual desires, disenfranchises people.
So because people are not engaging in community planning, or because they get ignored or overruled when they do, they seek solutions to improve their neighborhood that don't involve lengthy planning meetings, petitions, and agreement from people who live far away.
I'm not sure if the problem can be solved, since there is a clash of authoritarianism, a sprinkling of rules from afar, a time and energy gap and issues getting many people to agree.
I'm not against guerrilla gardening but I can see how it could lead to conflict, and conflict avoidance is why government process exists.
Breaking from tradition by posting editorial article in here, but I had thoughts on it and there's not really a better sub for it.
I tend to agree with the point of the article, but disagree that the solution is to engage with the local government- in an ideal world that would be the solution, but the problem is the local government isn't functioning to the desires of the people.
Guerrilla gardening is a sign of failure. Failure of the local government and the community to effectively decide on and communicate desires and act on them. There is dysfunction which makes people pursue a solution outside the system.
Essentially the dysfunction is that everyday people are apathetic about politics. Very few people care to attend the town hall meetings about community planning that decide to cut down the trees in your neighborhood. The reasons are many, some examples are that politicians tend to ignore individuals and small groups, people are overworked and don't feel they have time to spend 3 hours at a tedious meeting. Edit: people also feel impotent, powerless in the face of government system: their petition was denied for no real reason. The lack of transparency, or the priority to a "community plan" over individual desires, disenfranchises people.
So because people are not engaging in community planning, or because they get ignored or overruled when they do, they seek solutions to improve their neighborhood that don't involve lengthy planning meetings, petitions, and agreement from people who live far away.
I'm not sure if the problem can be solved, since there is a clash of authoritarianism, a sprinkling of rules from afar, a time and energy gap and issues getting many people to agree.
I'm not against guerrilla gardening but I can see how it could lead to conflict, and conflict avoidance is why government process exists.