America is in trouble. "Monster Problems" are growing ...
- Increasing polarization, media silos, separate versions of "truth," lack of shared vision;
- Radicalized people, conspiracy theories gaining traction, social media info-sphere, rage without evidence, people calling for violence, lack of listening;
- The threat of dictatorship, a worsening oligarchy, threats to voting rights, weaponized DOJ, the unraveling of public institutions, fake news, etc. (See "How we can save American democracy")
- Pandemic mismanagement, government mandates, distrust of science, never-ending disease variants;
- L-shaped distribution of wealth and power, U.S. is an oligarchy, poverty, homelessness, oppressive school debt for young adults;
- Increased corruption, special interests dominating the public interest, legal bribery of politicians, evolving doors for executives;
- Poor collective thinking, partisan gridlock, avoiding the BIG issues, people afraid to look at the news, massive need for governmental reform;
- Declining trust in elections, the courts, governments and one another; losing the spirit of national community; loss of the American dream;
- Systemic racism, misogyny, caste-system prejudice, violence directed at minorities;
- Immigration policies that aren't working, generating fear;
- Destruction of the commons ... e.g. aquifers, forests, trust, spirit of community;
- Our system is destroying our people in many ways. It structures special interests to compete, where they dominate the public interest; a crisis of meaning where making money becomes the top priority for anyone who joins a corporation; a food system that undermines people's health and destroys soils; the encouragement of over-consumption, etc.
- .... and many more
More bad news ... Normal solutions don't work to solve Monsters
Normal solutions are those that happen within the existing System. They are provided by our System, like voting, street demonstrations, writing articles, lobbying "decision-makers," etc. When addressing big Monsters like systemic racism, it's hard to see how legislation is an answer to the way people feel when they are afraid.
Good news ... All Monsters have one underlying cause: Our System
Our brilliantly designed System, a Constitutional Republic, no longer fits our Situation. This System was designed in the 18th century, a time of small in-dependent farmers, craftspeople and shopkeepers. The Founders assumed that setting up a fair "rules of the game" competition will generate Win/Win results. But in today's inter-dependent nation this Win/Win design has turned Lose/Lose. Special Interests dominate while there is no viable voice of the Public Interest. Normal citizens are largely excluded. Discussions center around "Ain't it awful" one-upmanship and "We need to ..." suggestions, but there is no "We" to consider or act on these.
Many people mislabel our System as a "democracy" because its founding was amazingly democratic. This founding moment was a heroic step that was "of, by and for the people" (except of course, back then only white male property holders were considered to be "the people"). But still, this special moment invented the concept of "We the People" and the narrative that "We the People" are capable of designing, ordaining and establishing a U.S. Constitution. Later in 1789, once the Bill of Rights was passed, near unity among all citizens was achieved. It was more than just "consent of the governed" because most everyone was saying "yes, let's try this new system."
Today, the term "We the People" has been lost. It is used in willy nilly fashion, as though any big gathering of people qualifies. But that's not it. It must be all of us engaged in a collective thinking process, reaching wise shared conclusions. Even when most all of us agree, like for instance, "Let's not trash the planet," that's not a "We the People." That's just lots of individuals" saying they agree, with little prospect of making needed changes. Currently, there is no collective thinking process in our System; that is, no provision for collective intelligence.
Good news: It's possible for a few of us to convene the missing "We the People" conversation, where ALL of us are invited to face the Monster Issues. And it's possible to facilitate this new conversation to be respectful and creative where we (of today) co-create shared conclusions; and assure that this new "We the People" conversation remains in place. That is, it's possible for a few of us to facilitate into being a STRUCTURAL addition to the existing System so that we 1) start solving the Monster Problems and 2) transform our System to be a "Wise Democracy." The Wise Democracy Project is the 8-step project by which this can happen. This amazingly simple way we can get ourselves out of this mess draws upon a set of Social Innovations that aren't well known. Hopefully, your interest is piqued and you will investigate this empowering new SOLUTION. Ideally, you will respond with something like "Yippie! there is a way forward!"
Many people mislabel our System as a "democracy" because its founding was amazingly democratic. This founding moment was a heroic step that was "of, by and for the people" (except of course, back then only white male property holders were considered to be "the people"). But still, this special moment invented the concept of "We the People" and the narrative that "We the People" are capable of designing, ordaining and establishing a U.S. Constitution. Later in 1789, once the Bill of Rights was passed, near unity among all citizens was achieved. It was more than just "consent of the governed" because most everyone was saying "yes, let's try this new system."
Today, the term "We the People" has been lost. It is used in willy nilly fashion, as though any big gathering of people qualifies. But that's not it. It must be all of us engaged in a collective thinking process, reaching wise shared conclusions. Even when most all of us agree, like for instance, "Let's not trash the planet," that's not a "We the People." That's just lots of individuals" saying they agree, with little prospect of making needed changes. Currently, there is no collective thinking process in our System; that is, no provision for collective intelligence.
Good news: It's possible for a few of us to convene the missing "We the People" conversation, where ALL of us are invited to face the Monster Issues. And it's possible to facilitate this new conversation to be respectful and creative where we (of today) co-create shared conclusions; and assure that this new "We the People" conversation remains in place. That is, it's possible for a few of us to facilitate into being a STRUCTURAL addition to the existing System so that we 1) start solving the Monster Problems and 2) transform our System to be a "Wise Democracy." The Wise Democracy Project is the 8-step project by which this can happen. This amazingly simple way we can get ourselves out of this mess draws upon a set of Social Innovations that aren't well known. Hopefully, your interest is piqued and you will investigate this empowering new SOLUTION. Ideally, you will respond with something like "Yippie! there is a way forward!"
Let's look more deeply at our System and what's missing
Most people think in terms of there being only two possible Systems of governance: autocracy and "democracy." At the Center for Wise Democracy we call them the "Triangle" and the "Box" Systems. The Triangle System is autocratic with a "Dear Leader" in charge, where loyalty and obedience to the Dear Leader are required. In the 18th Century the U.S. transitioned from the Triangle to the Box by replacing the King with a Social Contract, the U.S. Constitution. Now people are loyal to this document, not to the Dear Leader. Our Social Contract basically sets up the "rules of the game" and can only work when the "rules" are fairly enforced. Then people are free to pursue their "happiness". But in our modern era, this game-like design structures an unfair competition as the basis of governance, economics and culture.
The Box System is missing the "We the People" conversation that our Founders enjoyed. Just adding this missing conversation back to what we have is the Circle System, which we call a "Wise Democracy" because it is "of, by and for the people" with the added element of "collective wisdom." As Mary Parker Follett wrote in her 1918 book, "The New State" ...
|
"We have not yet tried democracy. ...
The very essence and substance of democracy is the creating of the collective will. Without this activity the forms of democracy are useless, and the aims of democracy are always unfulfilled." |
How can we add the missing "We the People" conversation?
The Wise Democracy Project is an actionable 8-step strategy that facilitates all of us to step back periodically, face Monster Problems together respectfully, and creatively reach shared conclusions, i.e. the "collective will." As the process continues a unified "We the People" emerges capable of assuming its rightful place as ultimate authority, above the Constitution, the government, the economy and the culture. This new "We the People" conversation is ongoing and counters the current divisive political conversation. As ever more participants join this conversation, breakthrough progress on Monster issues becomes normal. And, we stop creating Monster Problems in the first place. These simple steps offer a way to rapidly overcome today's difficult moment, first by restoring and improving our Constitutional Republic, and then evolving into a "Wise Democracy."
Also note:
The Wise Democracy Project has no identifiable downside. Periodically, a few people are randomly selected; they give a speech and they go away. These continuing "Wisdom Councils" facilitate the new "We the People" conversation.
The Wise Democracy Project is accessible. As long as freedom of speech and freedom to assemble remain available to us, we don't need anyone's permission to set this in motion. A few of us can facilitate all of us to become our best selves and to come together as a legitimate "We the People."
The Wise Democracy Project yields immense benefits. It's a way to address each Monster Issue with collective intelligence. It's also way to evolve into place a new System (i.e. the Circle) by adding the missing collective thinking process. "We the People" provide responsible leadership to legislators, philanthropies, NGO's, the media, the market, the culture, etc. See more.
The Wise Democracy Project is accessible. As long as freedom of speech and freedom to assemble remain available to us, we don't need anyone's permission to set this in motion. A few of us can facilitate all of us to become our best selves and to come together as a legitimate "We the People."
The Wise Democracy Project yields immense benefits. It's a way to address each Monster Issue with collective intelligence. It's also way to evolve into place a new System (i.e. the Circle) by adding the missing collective thinking process. "We the People" provide responsible leadership to legislators, philanthropies, NGO's, the media, the market, the culture, etc. See more.
We have experience with this process 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").
Additional resources
- A new playlist of 3 talks to the organization "Fix Democracy First"
- Free Seminar (5-parts): "Essential Wisdom for Solving Society's Biggest Issues"
- Video: ... Healing Polarization in Society (4min)
- Handout ... "What can we do to save American Democracy?"
- Chart: Seven strategies to achieve the "Ideal of Democracy" in America
- Book (2002) “Society’s Breakthrough! Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People” by Jim Rough
- Article: 'A Rebirth of 'We the People', Jim Rough, The Good Society, Penn State University Press, Volume 13, Number 2, 2004 pp 44-48