American Democracy is threatened with dictatorship. What can be done? ... Normal "solution approaches" like demonstrating in the streets, calling elected officials, civic education, raising consciousness, caring for less fortunate neighbors, etc. can help but don't directly address the problem. Yes, there is power in numbers but and affect change within the existing System but when the System itself is threatened. . The Wise Democracy Project described below is a holistic answer, what we call a "Holution" rather than a "Solution" because it promises to transform the underlying System and affect all issues and all people. (See "Solving National Issues in America.")
In this Project the Wisdom Council Process is applied to the United States. It's 8 accessible steps. A few people (i.e. Just Us) with adequate resources can use this to facilitate ALL the People to come together as a wise, responsible and powerful "We the People."Together these steps promise immense benefits including the necessary System transformation to Wise Democracy. However by themselves, each of the eight steps is a benefit to society and can help restore our Constitutional Republic.
In this Project the Wisdom Council Process is applied to the United States. It's 8 accessible steps. A few people (i.e. Just Us) with adequate resources can use this to facilitate ALL the People to come together as a wise, responsible and powerful "We the People."Together these steps promise immense benefits including the necessary System transformation to Wise Democracy. However by themselves, each of the eight steps is a benefit to society and can help restore our Constitutional Republic.
Step 1 ... Gather "Just Us" (national version) and adequate resources "Just Us" is a small group of people who are deeply concerned about our national situation, especially the loss of American Democracy. They have examined the Wise Democracy approach and excitedly recognize "This must happen!" Key in this is to appreciate how our System not longer fits our Situation and is causing our nation's biggest impossible-seeming Monster Problems. Of course, we all appreciate the value of "normal" within-system solutions like street demonstrations, lobbying, modeling the new paradigm, elevating personal consciousness, civic education, electing new leaders, implementing rank order voting, etc. But these normal solution-approaches are blocked from being effective because, without a legitimate "We the People" they can only address symptoms. They recognize that to really address Monster Issues, like the slide to autocracy, our System must be transformed. .... Step #1 is a benefit because this small group brings forward a new facilitative model of change, not top-down or bottom-up. It's a way that all of us can work creatively together.
Step 2 ... Identify one Monster Problem to address firstThere are many urgent impossible-seeming national problems that are worsening, e.g. the bitter partisan battle, the mal-distribution of wealth, minority control over the majority, over consumption, meaningless jobs, etc. In this step we draw attention to one of these issues at a time. The issue doesn't need to be well-defined, just some "impossible-seeming mess" that most everyone cares about. A poll can pick the issue. Or elected officials can identify it. Or donors to this process can select their favorite. It almost doesn't matter because the Wisdom Council itself will reshape it into something they all care about.... Step #2 is a benefit because it focuses national attention on one vital issue and orients people toward cooperating to solve it.
Step 3 ... Randomly select 10 to 16 peopleHere we identify 10 to 16 random people from the national population and bring them together as the first national Wisdom Council. Of course, achieving an accurate random selection is difficult, but we do the best we can. We ask a respected polling organization to provide us with, as much as possible, a legitimate random sample of people.. ... Step #3 is a benefit because it creates a living symbol of all-the-people where, like the first picture of earth from space, we can begin to appreciate who We are.
Step 4 ... Use Dynamic Facilitation to reliably evoke the spirit of "choice-creating" in each Wisdom CouncilEach random group or "Wisdom Council" is gathered to meet for just a few days with someone skilled in Dynamic Facilitation. This is the magic sauce. It evokes a thinking process in the group that is choice-creating more than decision-making or problem-solving. This small diverse group achieves unity through shifts and breakthroughs and co-creates a shared story about how they achieved unity. It's a symbol of "We the People," just ordinary people, facing an impossible-seeming existential issue and co-determining a new clarity about the "real problem", the "truth" of what's going on, a vision of what we want, and a wise strategy we all can support. ... Step #4 is a benefit because it introduces and sets in motion the beginnings of a new kind of national conversation, a choice-creating conversation added to what already exists.
Step 5 ... Convene a live "national community" meeting where the Wisdom Council presents the story of its journey & its unified conclusions to the peopleAfter the Wisdom Council reaches its conclusions the members walk onstage and present their story to a large live face to face audience, to the media, and to video cameras for later viewing. The members tell a little about themselves, their conclusions and how they reached their unified conclusions. They are not presenting a "recommendation" or "proposal", which is what ordinarily happens in this kind of mini-public gathering. Instead, this is a reflective sharing from the people to the people aimed at involving all of us in thinking together deeply. Generally, the audience recognizes these conclusions as commonsensical and the process as valuable. After the Wisdom Council members finish, "audience members" talk with one another. And in most experiments we've found they essentially say "Yes, I think so too! And they continue talking in a spirit similar to choice-creating." So here's a way to achieve "We the People" unity throughout the entire national community in quick fashion. Yes, there will be people who think differently but this process orients them toward building on the ideas rather than agreeing or disagreeing. This is the conversation required for a real democracy to exist. We the People need to take times out to talk and think together about the Big issues, reach conclusions and provide wise leadership to government, the economy and the culture. ... Step #5 is a benefit because it helps people come together around a particular story of who we are, what is going on, what we want, and what is needed to solve the chosen Monster problem.
Step 6 ... Structure Wisdom Councils to be ongoing every month or soThe Wisdom Council Process convenes ONE ONGOING WHOLE-SYSTEM CHOICE-CREATING CONVERSATION about the most important issues the community faces. This generates a new level of "collective intelligence." And since the process is ongoing, where new randomly selected Wisdom Councils are gathered to address Monster issues each month or so, this process by itself restructures the System. It provides for real democracy to come into existence by assuring that each person can become involved and empowered in the ultimate "decision-making" conversation; a new ultimate authority, "We the People," will come into existence; and a way that We, all of us, can restructure our 18th century Constitution to make sense in the modern world. .... Step #6 is a benefit because it establishes a "We the People" conversation where individuals and society achieves new levels of intelligence and consciousness.
Step 7 ... Provide for the new "We the People" conversation to be ever more inclusiveThe national Wisdom Council Process starts at scale. It doesn't need to "scale up" like a social movement. It just needs to "fill in" with ever more people joining in the conversation. And since it's the most meaningful conversation, like "finally there is a meaningful conversation about these issues in which my comments will be heard and incorporated." So the "filling in" process should happen exponentially as individuals, experts, leaders, media, celebrities, etc. increasingly participate in addressing the Monster Problems and co-creating ultimate conclusions. Especially when there is a crisis like a pandemic or the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a horrible new climate event, or the looming threat of a autocracy, people will want the ability to do something meaningful about it. This new whole-nation conversation generates effective collaborative actions among individuals, organizations, the market and government. Plus, people build a shared understanding of the truth of what's going on beyond the bubble of their mis-information. Everyone is invited. And everything is voluntary. ...Step #7 is a benefit because it provides a way for each person to share ownership of the problem and work with others to solve it
Step 8 ... Provide ways for people to learn more about this holistic model of change, especially the social innovations choice-creating, Dynamic Facilitation, and the Wisdom Council Process.The benefits projected for The Wise Democracy Project can seem over-the-top, almost magical. Fortunately, we don't need to sell these benefits to many people ahead of time. With adequate resources we (just us) can convene the Project in a way that they will choose to join the conversation and experience the process and benefits for themselves. Then later, we can help people understand why this is working and how this added conversation achieves miraculous-seeming results. For instance, people may want to learn the distinction between "decision-making" and "choice-creating." And between different kinds of democratic process. Or to understand the difference between Citizens Assemblies and the Wisdom Council Process. ... Step #8 is a benefit because it can help people feel a new level of empowerment in their lives, even in the face of seemingly impossible societal crises
Arising from the 8-steps will be a legitimate "We the People," a new actor that is likely to implement a 9th step.
Step 9 ... Amend the U.S. Constitution to assure official continuance of the national Wisdom Council Process.Often when Wisdom Councils report their conclusions, they will emphatically state "this process needs to keep happening." So it is likely that national Wisdom Councils will speak in this way and direct the implementation of something like this: Wise-Democracy Amendment.
|
Immense Benefits will arise in different ways
People often ask "How does action happen?" Or, "So, the Wisdom Council speaks, what then?" ... Quick answer: The process is way bigger than that! Check it out.
What if I don't "get it" how this Project will achieve these benefits?
The benefits of the "Wise Democracy Project" are so over-the-top and the risks so low that the whole idea can seem utopian or unachievable. But this is real. And it's worth it. So before dismiss this whole approach consider these two points. Check out our two phase approach to "getting it."
What questions do you have? ... Q & A
See answers to common questions like "how could this involve all citizens?" ... "how could this small group process transform the American Constitutional System?"... etc.