IT IS NOT ABOUT ‘I’ IT IS ABOUT ‘US’

By Joe Ingino Editor/Publisher ACCOMPLISHED WRITER/AUTHOR OF OVER 800,000 Published Columns in Canada and The United States “I live a dream in a nightmare world” Always Remember That The cosmic blueprint of your life was written in code across the sky at the moment you were born. Decode Your Life By Living It Without Regret. The other day in conversation I came across someone that is thinking of putting their name in the municipal election. He is undecided on the ward and on if he should be regional or city. He even expressed opinion of possibly putting his name in for Mayor. This particular person has no political experience. Unemployed, but has great community involvement. I asked him why he wanted to run for office? His answer floored me. “Well, I know I probably won’t get elected. I am doing it to get more name recognition.” Wow, really. Sadly his answer is not that uncommon. Many that have entered municipal politics do it to get name recognition. Look at our current Mayor. An unemployed television broadcaster. Ran for a council seat and won it on name recognition. The same person ran for Mayor with no real business experience and won on name recognition. Sad, that we as taxpayers vote on name recognition and not competency, experience and contributions to the community. Imagine using the same process of democracy to hire the CEO of GM, or OPG. Personally, I put my name forward because I care about the community at large. Anyone can have an opinion and anyone can criticize. It takes character to do something about it. I am tired of driving downtown and witnessing people living on the streets. You don’t have to look far to see people smoking crack. Or people that have overdosed in door ways. We have a system that is broken. That due to neglect it has deteriorated to a level never seen in Oshawa before. I decided to run not for me. Not because I needed a job or the money. I decided to run because something positive needs to be done. It is not about ‘I’, it is about “US”. We can’t afford to continue this way. We must plan for the future of Oshawa by implementing a solid path. We must create this path by ongoing setting of goals that will lead us to success and prosperity. No matter what you do in life “I” can only be used in selective places such as: “I”, must be the one that must go to work to assure my family is taken care. “I”, must be the one that will stand up for what is right. “I”, have a duty to my family, community, country. “I”, have the responsibility to assure that my children are educated and productive members of society. “I”, must live by the law of the land and support those less fortunate. I can further tell you that “I”, should never be in: “I”, am doing it for my best interest. “I”, should think of me first and my fellow man second. “I”, have no responsibility and it is my life. “I”, should not be about rewarding the self but about contributing in any way possible for the betterment of society. There can never be an “US” in an “I” mentality. Unfortunately this is the biggest problem with society today. This in part is why Oshawa is failing. We can’t run a corporation with an ‘I’, mentality. Made up of retiree's, realtors and the unemployable only looking to up their pensions, get a job and or name booster recognition types. Only thinking of how they can better their lives and not ours. If I am wrong. Tell me this. How has your life become better in the last four years? Choose wisely. Choose one of ‘US’.