THE NEXT REBOOT ALBERTA

A look at making Reboot Alberta a place and platform for active, effective purposeful citizenship. A new website is coming very soon.

SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION

In August 1963, Martin Luther King spoke at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., at the March for Jobs and Freedom. The theme of his remarks was “...to make real the promises of democracy.” It famously came to be known as the “I Have a Dream” speech.

INSPIRED BY MARTIN LUTHER KING

It was suggested that I listen to the MLK “I Have a Dream” speech. It might be helpful as I write what I see in the potential, promise, and purpose for the next stage of Reboot Alberta. I did listen to it and it was meaningful and helpful.

I came to realize that the essence of Reboot Alberta was not as profound as MLK’s great “I Have a Dream* speech. What I sensed is that the aspiration and striving behind Reboot Alberta is more of a Great Notion than a Great Dream.

With the help of serious citizens, we can move Reboot from passive-aggressive to purposely assertive to effectively activated.

REBOOT ALBERTA AS A GREAT NOTION

I say Reboot Alberta should be about great AND serious notions because it must be more than playing with inclinations or whims. It should be about a desire, an idea, and an impulse to take action.

We should be about concepts and campaigns and concrete, achievable goals for creating change. Change is worth believing in, worth imagining, worth experiencing, worth the effort, and worth achieving.

MLK TAKEAWAYS

MLK captured the necessity for change and the potential for hope in achieving change in the American society of his time. He challenged America to live up to the promises of its Constitution and the aspirations of its Declaration of Independence.

I got some useful takeaways from his Dream, using my 2025 Alberta foresight lens, not from my youthful 1963 vintage American hindsight lens. He said there is “security in Justice.” He declared a need for a “fierce urgency of the Now.”

He admonished against what he called the unaffordable luxury inherent in complacency. He denounced the “tranquillizing drug of gradualism.” His challenge was “..to make real the promises of democracy.”

None of my current awareness and applications of these personal takeaways are in the same context of segregation and the racial injustice of MLK’s America. But his observations and admonitions do adapt well to my Alberta of today. It takes some imagination and reframing of context, but MLK’s intentions and objectives travel well through time.

ARE YOU READY AND ABLE BUT NOT YET WILLING?

There is a need for an activated citizenry with an urgent sense of the Now because of the dire consequences of complacency in the face of complexity.

For example, Justice is still a source of personal and societal security but it is not available for too many of our vulnerable fellow Albertans. We have our share of racism, bigotry, misogyny, hate, and discrimination. It will not go away simply by waiting for change..

Incrementalism is not an acceptable approach to getting the change we need either. We are dealing with more than a mere discontent, as some blithely promise to return us to an old-fashioned, familiar“normal.” There is a complexity, a rapidity, and a profundity to the changes being imposed on all aspects of life in Alberta. We are called to take on transformation not merely stumble into transition.

FORGET THE ALBERTA ADVANTAGE. NOW IT'S THE ALBERTA ASPIRATION

For Alberta to live up to our promise and reach our potential, there must be a renewed sense of aspiration. To make it happen, there must be a mindful commitment to personal striving, and a shared societal ambition to build our preferred Alberta.

I found it a useful personal tool as part of my thinking about what Reboot Alberta is. What can individuals do to contribute to the common cause of creating a better Alberta? That tool was reflecting on the core insights from Daniel Pink’s book “Drive, the Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.” His message is that human motivation is largely intrinsic. He identifies Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose as ways to motivate citizens to use knowledge, to work smarter, live better and be high performing.

I see those three elements as pillars in becoming a better citizen. Autonomy is what some call freedom. Mastery comes with hours of discipline and practice in being an effective, impactful citizen. A purpose has to be something larger than self-interest in the service of a greater good.

There will not be a better government in Alberta unless and until we become better citizens. That means we need to SHOW UP, STAND UP, SPEAK UP AND ACT UP, but as informed, aware and able political participants.