Indivisible is the network organizing mass street demonstrations in the U.S. ... e.g. No Kings Day ...
Dear Indivisible ...
I celebrate your Vision for America: A real democracy -- of, by, and for the people.
I want to offer you a new strategy for how Indivisible can help achieve this vision in a 2-3 year time frame. At the Center for Wise Democracy we’ve been developing a set of social innovations by which small groups can facilitate a system of Real Democracy in America, or what we call “Wise Democracy”. This strategy is not “top-down,” i.e. we don’t need the permission of elected officials. Nor is it “bottom up,” i.e. it’s not a social movement. It’s facilitative, i.e. easier, more inclusive, cheaper and fast-acting.
The dissembling of our Constitutional Republic is rooted in problems far deeper than the current administration. Since the Founding our nation has been missing a collective thinking process, without a stepping back of “We the People” to consider “How are we doing as a society?” or to creatively address “Monster Problems” like partisan gridlock, mal-distribution of wealth, money-in-politics, etc. Instead, we have all been living within a System set on auto-pilot a long time ago. And now we find ourselves on the deck of the Titanic aiming for disaster … without any mechanism to set a new direction.
However, it is possible to facilitate all the people to come together as “We the People,” capable of solving our Monster Problems, stopping the slide to autocracy, restoring and improving our Constitutional Republic, and in the process transitioning our nation to Real Democracy. The magic sauce in facilitating this all-powerful “We the People” is a quality of thinking used throughout ancient history. We call it “choice-creating,” where diverse people face impossible-seeming, existential problems respectfully and creatively together, seeking win/win answers that everyone supports. In an opposite way, our Constitution sets up voting as a non-thinking approach to collective decisions, basically a competition of Special Interests with no voice of the Public Interest.
For a legitimate “We the People” to arise there must be periodic moments where all of us “step back” together, face the impossible-seeming Monsters in the spirit of choice-creating and reach shared understandings about the Truth, (i.e reducing the power of media silos); our Vision for the future (i.e. reorienting corporations toward higher values than just profits); and the best Strategy for how to proceed (i.e. breaking up the partisan gridlock).
Possibly the last time a large system of people experienced choice-creating was at the founding of the U.S. when all delegates, all states and all enfranchised citizens chose to embrace the newly created Constitution. That’s when the concept of “We the People” was invented, where We, “all” the citizens, co-founded a Constitutional Republic. [Caveat: Unfortunately, in those times Native Americans, slaves, women, non-property holders were not considered citizens]
Can this happen today? … Yes, it requires periodic moments of whole-system choice-creating, which Indivisible can help create. The “Wise Democracy Project” articulates 8 accessible steps. Key is to help Indivisible groups in different localities organize monthly “Resonance Councils.” And for a series of different localities to host a NATIONAL “Wise Democracy Council” each month. … First one in Santa Cruz, CA?; Next one in Asheville NC?: Next one in Port Townsend WA? etc. (Let’s talk about this.)
As I participate in street demonstrations organized through our local Indivisible group, I’m finding that most participants feel good about what they are doing but do not see how these efforts can lead to “saving Democracy” or especially to achieving the vision of Real Democracy. Normal Solutions like street demonstrations, lobbying, winning elections, pursuing court cases, and bridging dialogues can do a lot! But they do not offer the prospect of solving “Monster Problems” (i.e. impossible-seeming existential issues), because these are caused by how our System is no longer suited to our Situation.
From this email I’m hoping you will examine our website of videos, articles, examples and explanations at www.WiseDemocracy.org and hope that many of you will “get it” that the “Wise Democracy Project” can spark a democracy “of, by and for the people”.
How about a zoom call where we imagine this prospect together?
Thank you for all you do,
Jim Rough at the Center for Wise Democracy
I celebrate your Vision for America: A real democracy -- of, by, and for the people.
I want to offer you a new strategy for how Indivisible can help achieve this vision in a 2-3 year time frame. At the Center for Wise Democracy we’ve been developing a set of social innovations by which small groups can facilitate a system of Real Democracy in America, or what we call “Wise Democracy”. This strategy is not “top-down,” i.e. we don’t need the permission of elected officials. Nor is it “bottom up,” i.e. it’s not a social movement. It’s facilitative, i.e. easier, more inclusive, cheaper and fast-acting.
The dissembling of our Constitutional Republic is rooted in problems far deeper than the current administration. Since the Founding our nation has been missing a collective thinking process, without a stepping back of “We the People” to consider “How are we doing as a society?” or to creatively address “Monster Problems” like partisan gridlock, mal-distribution of wealth, money-in-politics, etc. Instead, we have all been living within a System set on auto-pilot a long time ago. And now we find ourselves on the deck of the Titanic aiming for disaster … without any mechanism to set a new direction.
However, it is possible to facilitate all the people to come together as “We the People,” capable of solving our Monster Problems, stopping the slide to autocracy, restoring and improving our Constitutional Republic, and in the process transitioning our nation to Real Democracy. The magic sauce in facilitating this all-powerful “We the People” is a quality of thinking used throughout ancient history. We call it “choice-creating,” where diverse people face impossible-seeming, existential problems respectfully and creatively together, seeking win/win answers that everyone supports. In an opposite way, our Constitution sets up voting as a non-thinking approach to collective decisions, basically a competition of Special Interests with no voice of the Public Interest.
For a legitimate “We the People” to arise there must be periodic moments where all of us “step back” together, face the impossible-seeming Monsters in the spirit of choice-creating and reach shared understandings about the Truth, (i.e reducing the power of media silos); our Vision for the future (i.e. reorienting corporations toward higher values than just profits); and the best Strategy for how to proceed (i.e. breaking up the partisan gridlock).
Possibly the last time a large system of people experienced choice-creating was at the founding of the U.S. when all delegates, all states and all enfranchised citizens chose to embrace the newly created Constitution. That’s when the concept of “We the People” was invented, where We, “all” the citizens, co-founded a Constitutional Republic. [Caveat: Unfortunately, in those times Native Americans, slaves, women, non-property holders were not considered citizens]
Can this happen today? … Yes, it requires periodic moments of whole-system choice-creating, which Indivisible can help create. The “Wise Democracy Project” articulates 8 accessible steps. Key is to help Indivisible groups in different localities organize monthly “Resonance Councils.” And for a series of different localities to host a NATIONAL “Wise Democracy Council” each month. … First one in Santa Cruz, CA?; Next one in Asheville NC?: Next one in Port Townsend WA? etc. (Let’s talk about this.)
As I participate in street demonstrations organized through our local Indivisible group, I’m finding that most participants feel good about what they are doing but do not see how these efforts can lead to “saving Democracy” or especially to achieving the vision of Real Democracy. Normal Solutions like street demonstrations, lobbying, winning elections, pursuing court cases, and bridging dialogues can do a lot! But they do not offer the prospect of solving “Monster Problems” (i.e. impossible-seeming existential issues), because these are caused by how our System is no longer suited to our Situation.
From this email I’m hoping you will examine our website of videos, articles, examples and explanations at www.WiseDemocracy.org and hope that many of you will “get it” that the “Wise Democracy Project” can spark a democracy “of, by and for the people”.
How about a zoom call where we imagine this prospect together?
Thank you for all you do,
Jim Rough at the Center for Wise Democracy