Eli Weasel lives on the Tankosin Indian Reservation. He is approaching 30 years old. He is married. His wife has a small garden business. He manages "The Store" on the Reservation.
Four years ago, Eli discovered that a new kind of democracy was starting in two communities close to the Reservation. He was interested, so he called a few friends (including his future wife) to help him build this "Tiered Democratic Governance" (TDG).
The writing of their first constitution was very creative and inspiring. But after this work was done, their organization sputtered. While a few new members trickled in, few of them wanted to attend meetings or vote, none wanted to serve. Eli’s group upheld their meetings as required by their TDG constitution. But the meetings were sparsely attended. They were more of a chore than a sign of progress.
After four years, a catalyst came to Tankosin’s TDG. All of the sudden, the TDG was called into action. Eli’s group was ready for the challenge to come. In two years, they took their group from obscurity to advising the Tankosin Tribal Council.
Eli Weasel is the main character in my third TDG novel Circles of a Future Politician. He played a minor role in Diary of a Future Politician and a very small role in Confessions of a Future Politician.
So, for using his spare time to build this new democracy, is Eli a hero? Or is he a fool?
TDG naysayers would say "fool." They would say there is no possibility of something like the TDG ever coming to fruition. The current holders of power would never relinquish that power. The TDG requires new social skills to work well — and humanity is just too stupid to learn those skills. Only fools would start a project that has zero chance of success.
In 1688, England had a civil war. The political outcome was a partial democracy superseding the monarchy and aristocracy. Naysayers back then said it would not work.
In 1789, the USA wrote its constitution. This document bound the 13 states into one national government. Naysayers back then said it would not work.
The naysayers were ignored back in those times. We can ignore them again.
Published in Medium 2023
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