2) Solving NATIONAL issues

The U.S. has "Monster Problems"

Monster problems are big societal problems that seem impossible-to-solve but which must be solved. We are saying that this "solution strategy", "Society's Breakthrough", is what we call a "holution" because it will achieve breakthrough progress on each of the Monster Problems. Some of the national Monster Problems are:

Increasing polarization, lack of listening, information silos, separate versions of "truth";
Radicalized people, conspiracy theories, rage without evidence, calling for violence;
Pandemic, objection to government mandates, distrust of science, evermore new Covid variants;
L-curve distribution of wealth and power, U.S. as oligarchy;
Increasing corruption, special interests dominate the public interest;
Unraveling of public institutions —threatened loss of democracy, fake news, foreign manipulation of elections, breakdown of the rule of law, threats to voting rights, captured agencies/revolving doors for executives, etc.
Lawmakers stuck in partisan gridlock, incapable of agreeing even on the idea of democracy, avoiding difficult issues;
Declining trust throughout society ... e.g. in government, the courts, science, one another;
Systemic racism, mysogyny, prejudice, violence;
Destruction of the commons ... e.g. aquifers, forests, trust in government, spirit of community;
Our system is destroying our people ... e.g. limits our thinking, the food system builds unhealthy bodies and destroys soils, promoting over-consumption;
.... and more

All of these issues are symptoms of a deeper issue: That our national System no longer fits our situation. It is based on special interest competition in a time when collaboration among all is needed. Competition-based politics and economics can not work in the Public Interest when the people and organizations are inter-dependent. They have only worked thus far because people were largely in-dependent—farmers, craftspeople and fishers on a seemingly infinite continent. But as we grow in number we become increasingly inter-dependent. And "Special Interests" dominate the "Public Interest". In fact in our System, there is no way to discern or promote the Public Interest.

Please make a WISH: How might we solve just one of these "Monster Problems" ... or ALL at once?

Make your wish as big as you possibly can.

I wish ...........................................................................................................................

Below is what we call the "Monster Wish" because ... This Wish encompasses the wishes that most people express for solving our national "Monster Problems". In addition, it provides for transforming the existing System to a higher level of functioning, where we all work together, so we don't create these problems in the first place.

The "Monster Wish"

That we (just us) can convene a new national conversation where all the people get involved; where we face each monster issue collaboratively and creatively and achieve breakthroughs; where the people co-create a shared perspective on what is happening, what we want and how to proceed; where this new ongoing “We the People” conversation provides the structural change needed for our System to become a "Wise Democracy"; where "We the People" provide wise leadership to elected officials, corporations and the culture; and where all individuals gain increased awareness, understanding, freedom, empowerment and consciousness.

If this Monster Wish could be achieved ... then most all these Monster Problems just start going away. And we all live in a new system that facilitates us to live in a spirit of meaningful collaboration and mutual support. ... This Monster Wish—and more— is achievable!

A national Wisdom Council Process can facilitate this "Monster Wish" ... and even more

The Monster Wish can be established by only a few people, or networks of nonprofit organizations, with adequate resources and media support. We don't need everyone to "get it", how this can work, ahead of time. We just need to use the Wisdom Council Process, applied nationally, to facilitate the new "We the People" conversation. People join the new conversation voluntarily because finally, we are starting to talk about what matters in a way that supports people to come together, and which makes real change possible. Yes, it's a new paradigm approach that is difficult for most people to understand. But it is understandable and proven to work.

Note this is simple. Basically, we will be convening the new, special kind of national conversation described in the Monster Wish. Although this process promises to transform the System, we are just adding a new conversation to what we already have. In this new conversation "we" face Monster Problems one at a time, achieve breakthrough answers and experience the empowerment to make them happen. Plus because this new conversation is ongoing, this represents a structural change to our System of governance and economics .. to where our System no longer generates the Monster Problems we currently face.

Below is a short 9 min video briefly describing the actions needed to set up the national Wisdom Council Process. This talk was given on 1/25/17 to the Democrats of Spokane WA, just after the installation of Donald J. Trump as President of the U.S. Because this strategy is "trans-partisan", this talk could just as easily have been given to the Republicans after the Biden victory in 2020.

To understand how the Wisdom Council Process can achieve the Monster Wish please see the 5-part video series "Essential Wisdom for solving society's biggest problems".

Achieving the Monster Wish "solves" the Monster Problems

Let's check back on the Monster Problems listed earlier ...

Increasing polarization, lack of listening, information silos, separate versions of "truth" ... So many people think in terms of strategies like "civic education", teaching critical thinking, National Wisdom Council Process facilitates a new kind of public conversation where people naturally listen to one another and co-determine "what is truth", "what we want", "how to get there" ... Here's a way to overcome the information silos.
Radicalized people, distrust of science, conspiracy theories, rage without evidence, calling for violence ... Choice-creating, is a healing process where people listen to diverse voices and co-create a shared version of "truth". In addition to choice-creating people reawaken critical thinking, systems thinking and creative thinking so that the radicalization process is muted.
Pandemic, objection to government mandates, distrust of science, evermore new Covid variants ... Our System focuses on individual freedoms and choices with little regard for the collective need. Here's a way to maintain and enhance individual freedoms while sill addressing the collective needs. It's "We the People" talking things over creatively and collaboratively, co-creating a shared strategy for addressing both collective and individual issues and then providing responsible leadership to government for going forward. This is all of us figuring out together what's best and overseeing the implementation of our strategy.
L-curve distribution of wealth and power, U.S. as oligarchy ... Our current System is like the game of Monopoly: One player wins everything and everyone else loses. What's missing is the spirit of national collaboration and community that makes the current mal-distribution of wealth deeply embarrassing. One aspect of addressing this issue is that it changes our game-like mentality, where we are trying to win, to a problem-solving mentality, where we all need to work together.
Increasing corruption, special interests dominate the public interest ... There is no accepted view of the Public Interest. A national Wisdom Council Process creates the missing voice of "We the People" and a clear expression of the Public Interest. Adding a clear and accepted expression of the "public interest" to the existing battle of "special interests" changes everything.
Unraveling of public institutions, fake news, rage radio, foreign manipulation of elections, breakdown of the rule of law, threats to voting rights, etc. ... This strategy establishes a new collective thinking capability and a new public institution, "We the People", which is capable of establishing trustworthy public institutions and reshaping our social contract.
Lawmakers in gridlock, incapable of agreeing on the idea of democracy, avoiding difficult issues ... Quality leadership cannot come from the partisan battle. A way to transcend the partisan battle is to enlist the participation of all people in the creative endeavor to solve real problems. This is a higher form of democracy, what we call "Wise Democracy."
Declining trust in one another and institutions ... e.g. government, the courts, science ... When the people face difficult problems and come together on what's needed, this builds trust.
Systemic racism, mysogeny, violence directed at minorities ... Our current System is rooted in "decision-making", which literally means "cutting away" ...ie. the minority. On the other hand an ongoing national choice-creating conversation sets up a system of valuing diversity and minorities. In choice-creating minority voices are necessary to achieve creative shifts and breakthroughs.
Impending destruction of the commons ... e.g. aquifers, forests, trust in government, spirit of community ... The Tragedy of the Commons happens because we are self-interested parties with essentially no collective thinking capability. All we need to do is engage the whole-system in a collaborative creative thinking process. This allows us to responsibly manage the commons.
Our system is destroying our people ... e.g. limits our thinking, the food system builds unhealthy bodies and destroys soils, promotes over-consumption, etc. ... Together we are all riding in an airplane on auto-pilot, heading toward a mountain. Obviously, "we" need to check back in on our 18th century system. Here's a way to do that assessment and a way to step back into the pilot's seat so we can steer responsibly.

Plus, additional benefits are immense

We can use the Wisdom Council Process to achieve an "ongoing whole-system choice-creating conversation". Achieving this kind of conversation is even more beneficial than achieving the Monster Wish. Here are some of the additional positive benefits:

We shift our thinking ... from a basis in judgment (decision-making) to a basis in creativity (i.e. choice-creating), from an emphasis on self-aggrandizement to service.
We shift from a "constitutional republic" to being a "Wise Democracy" ... where "We the People" are ultimately in charge.
We heal deep divisions and trauma ... Choice-creating is a trauma-healing conversation. (See the archived video "Healing Trauma and Dynamic Facilitation" (2009)
We start aligning our actions with our values ... e.g. to reshape our budget priorities
People's work lives will change ... Currently many people have jobs with little real meaning, focused on profits vs. serving the public interest. Finally, through this process comes new meaning in work.
We shift our economics from capitalism to "ToBe-ism". This doesn't replace capitalism but evolves it forward, given that we are all pursuing a shared vision and collaborating to achieve that aim.
etc.

This process already works at large scale

This short (5 min) video (in English) describes one national Wisdom Council experiment in Germany. Note: German-speaking governments refer to the Wisdom Council as "Bürgerat" (i.e."Civic Council"). In Nov 2021 there is a national experiment in Austria on the issue of "climate change".

Civic Council Project 2016 - German Ministry for the Environment - BMUB from Martin Rausch on Vimeo.

The Citizens Amendment ... the history of this idea

During the years 1993 to 2002, we thought a U.S. Constitutional Amendment was needed to establish a legitimate "We the People" for the nation. This "Citizens Amendment" was the focus of the 2002 book by Jim Rough: "Society's Breakthrough! Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People". ... But after 20+ years of experiments and adoptions of the Wisdom Council Process, especially by governments in Europe, we now know that the "magic sauce" for establishing a legitimate "We the People" lies in our ability to reliably facilitate "choice-creating" at large scale. Ideally, the Constitutional Amendment will still happen. But it should emerge naturally as "step 8", not be proposed as "step 1".

Note: It is difficult to find any risk to this strategy. Basically, we just gather a small number of random people and dynamically facilitate them over a couple days to come to unity. They give a speech and they go away. Then in a few months a new random group is gathered and the process is repeated. Where is the risk in that? ... But obviously since this process transforms the System, just hearing about the idea can feel risky and threatening even when no specific concern can be identified. The real risk is to assume that our current system is viable into the future, that we can continue without "collective intelligence", trusting in the design of the Founders. Bottom line: There is no collective thinking process in the System that our Founders left to us. The missing "We the People" conversation must be added to what we have.

Additional resources

Video Seminar (5-parts): "Essential Wisdom for Solving Society's Biggest Essential Wisdom Issues
Video: ... Healing Polarization in Society (4min)
Handout ... "How to Fix America ... And Become a Real Democracy"
Chart: Seven strategies to achieve the "Ideal of Democracy" in America
Short video on “How to reform democracy”
The book (2002) “Society’s Breakthrough! Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People”