I was only nine years old when The Seekers broke up. Neither the group nor its breakup was not significant to this nine-year old. But I sure liked the tunes playing on my mother’s kitchen radio while the songs were at the top of the charts. Georgy Girl, Morningtown Ride, and The River is Wide crystalized a few of my young brain cells to instantly recall these tunes many years later. Happy times!
For some reason, I recently ran across The Seekers on Youtube. I got hooked and watched about 10 hours of videos — concerts and documentaries — of The Seekers. The first time I’ve gone beyond the nice tunes.
The Seekers were from Melbourne, Australia. Three young musicians — Athol Guy, Keith Porter, Bruce Woodley — formed and reformed bands to find their stride in music. These three men were talented in their instruments and harmonies. Looking at their earlier videos, I saw them only as one of many similar folk/pop bands in the English-speaking world. They could have made a living in music, but stardom was not in their destiny.
Not until they invited Judith Durham into their band.
Judith was a dominating singer: her voice went above the instruments and the harmonies. Listening and watching her was almost unbelievable: how do such sounds come from that small young woman? But it was just the right amount of dominance. Her voice did not overpower the rest of the band. Somehow the four voices just all fit together. Like magic.
After many hits and concerts, Judith decided to leave the group in 1968 to pursue a solo career. Bruce, Keith, and Athol continued with the band, sometimes going solo as well. But none of the four musicians had the same success as the original Seekers. Three excellent harmonizers and instrumentalists could not find the magic. One excellent lead singer could not find the magic.
In 1992, the Seekers reformed. They found their old audience and a new audience. The magic had returned.
There was a magic with The Seekers.
Tiered Democratic Governance (TDG)
My few loyal readers are probably wondering how I am going to dovetail The Seekers into my alternative democracy.
My TDG books are quite explicit that the early TDG will have to learn new skills to make this TDG work. Just using the TDG electoral structures alone will not bring about the changes we want.
In Chapter 4 of my TDG book, I teach the early TDG builders about the process of collective decision making called “consultation.”
Consultation combines the knowledge, experience, and wisdom of all the decision makers into one unified decision. We must learn how to express our initial perspectives and opinions. Then we must learn how to listen to the perspectives and opinions of others. Then we must learn how to change our minds as new information or perspectives become known to us. Then we must learn to yield to the formulating consensus instead of insisting our views are the best possible views.
I have had a few experiences where consultative decisions came to my decision making group like magic. It was almost as if the best solution was outside of all of us. And only coming together did we find it.
Just like the Seekers and their music.
The four Seekers did not get their musical success by accident. They all studied their craft. They all practiced their craft. They all experimented with different music and different musicians. They were well prepared when they found each other.
In a similar manner, the early TDG builders will be building their consultation skills by building the TDG. As this system of governance matures, there will be more and more consultative magic happening.
And that will be the magic of our TDG.
Published on Medium 2022
