In fact, I had decided not to resonate with politics in close-up. On the other hand, I find the attributes that this association from the Kolping city of Kerpen has written as a motto on the flag or rather in the flyer quite desirable for its own reporting: regardless of religion, belief and party politics. Since, I simply could not resist publishing this text on the visit of Jörg Eichenauer in Horrem in the run-up to the local elections, even if I do not like the soldier-appellative in the naming of your democracy association at all. If you want to shout, "Stir."
"Democracy must come from below"
"We citizens cannot change anything", Jörg Eichenauer had chosen the apology of the resigned and political disgruntled as the headline of his lecture on the civic instruments of political participation – in order to contradict it. The message of the man from the state executive of the "More Democracy e. V. North Rhine-Westphalia" was "Democracy must come from below, from the people".
Jörg Eichenauer 
Patrick Wittkowski 
Discussion
Face show for diversity
About 20 people welcomed Patrick Wittkowski from the Kerpen initiative "hab8cht" to the lecture on the keywords referendum, citizens' motion and citizens' petition in the Socio-Cultural Center.The club, which was founded in 2018, is always on the lookout for teammates, Wittkowski said. On Sunday evening, he was mainly looking for those who would like to upload pictures to the server of their homepage https://hab8cht.de/ for the photo poster campaign "We show face for diversity", anonymously, without specifying the name.
On a billboard on Landstraße 162 at the entrance to Kerpen, three weeks before the election, they want to put up the faces advertising "diversity, against right-wing populism, racism, group-based misogyny and homophobia".
Elections are a matter of emotion
In order to strengthen democratic understanding, Eichenauer quoted Article 20, 2 of the Basic Law: "All state power comes from the people. It is exercised by the people in elections and votes."But voting is not enough, especially since elections have all too often become "a matter of emotion," Eichenauer said in an interview.
In the lecture, he urged people to seek dialogue with others, with politicians. And he called on individuals and groups to submit residents' applications to local councils and district councils, and then the council would have to deal with certain issues in public."Far too little is used in NRW at the municipal level for citizens' decisions. Of the federal states, Bavaria is ahead. And in NRW there has never been a nationwide referendum," says Eichenauer.
Target group did not come up for discussion
It's just a pity that much less had come than before Corona, observed spokeswoman Michaela Sulger. At the last meeting of the association with the motto "Show attitude for a human-friendly democracy in Europe" 90 committed people were counted in the Bürgerhaus.
This time, Sulger said, it was hardly possible to interest the target group of those who were disenchanted with politics for the information event. Maybe on the coming Saturdays it will be possible to address at the information booth of "hab8cht" in front of the Kerpen ice cream parlour Scarzanella.From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., people want to talk to people as a "party-political, religiously and ideologically independent association".
Click here to visit the website of the Democracy Association with information about events and regular table www.hab8cht.de