Today, I want to tell you about something that is very important to me: civic engagement. Civic engagement means being involved in one’s local community, such as school, church, or city. Civic engagement means getting involved to make where you live a great place to live. When one is civically engaged, one listens to others’ opinions, especially if these opinions are different from one's own, and tries to find compromises. A compromise means finding a solution that everyone can agree with.
I have noticed several different kinds of civic engagement that I here in Germany. I noticed one example of civic engagement in a farmers’ demonstration called the “Tractor Demonstration.” In this demonstration, thousands of farmers from the rural areas came to Dresden and parked their tractors on the old city streets and bridges connecting Dresden. Can you imagine what it would be like if thousands of tractors were parked on your local bridges and narrow streets? It was truly impressive. The demonstration stopped traffic! More importantly, the demonstration helped farmers peacefully get attention for their concerns and struggles. Not everyone agreed with the farmers, but everyone involved found a compromise to help the farmers.
