The first edition of my TDG (Tiered Democratic Governance) book did not go far. After that failure, I thought maybe I should take an academic approach to explaining this new way. So I found about 50 inspiring works that somehow related to my new way of governance.
One of them was Recreating the World, written in 2001 by Michael & Judy Bopp.
Michael & Judy call themselves “community development workers.” Their expertise is advising communities that want to make change on how to make that change. This process is more than wishful thinking. There must be a plan: a plan based on previous good examples of community development. Here is my understanding of their plan:
1. Any change has to start inside the community. No outsider can bring that change.
2. Change usually starts with a small minority, a core group. These people may or may not have status in the community.
3. The community development worker can teach the core group how to unify itself. This process requires time and patience.
4. Then the development worker teaches the core group how to present their vision to the rest of the community. “Kitchen visits” is often a tool. Turning a sympathetic community member to join the core group and its activities also requires patience.
5. New members to the core group trickle in. Community leaders are slowly influenced.
6. Eventually, a critical mass forms, and the community moves to a better situation than it had before.
In essence, the community development worker is a guide to what worked well in other communities, analyzing what is happening in the target community, and offering constructive suggestions to the core group.
Recreating the World goes into much more detail of the process than what this review can provide. I recommend this book to get a better understanding of the community development process.
ISBN: 0–9688233–0–0
The TDG in 2004
My intro alluded to a second edition of my TDG book. I used a few quotes from Recreating the World to make my case for the TDG. However, my citations were rather weak — as this book and many other books I referenced really did not talk about any alternative democracy.
The authors talk about how the aboriginal thinking uses the four points of the compass in their philosophy. One compass shows how the individual, the family, community, and the nation are connected. “Everything is connected to everything else.”
Recreating the World gives a lot of emphasis to the community. It gives some emphasis to the individual and family. It gives none to the nation. While I would have liked the Bopps’ perspective on the nation, their book was about the community. In essence, I was using a “community” book to explain a new kind of “nation.”
Recreating the World gave me the insight into how a nation could transform from western democracy to the TDG. In essence, a core group would be formed and it would take time to reach critical mass.
While the second edition was addressing this challenge, the pieces of the TDG were not quite fitting together.
The TDG in 2008
When I moved from the second edition (2004) to the third edition (2008), I discarded nearly all of the research I had done. But I kept the above graphic, which became an important part of Chapter 9. Here is my blog article around that diagram.
I did not reread Recreating the World at this time. Yet the idea of a core group and time became an integral part of Chapter 6. In essence, I had transferred the Bopps’ lessons on community building to nation building. And this nation building needs strong individuals, families, and communities.
The Three TDG Novels
In 2019, I got the inspiration to write fiction about the early TDG builders. This story would be a different way to teach the world about the TDG.
The central character of Diary of Future Politician is Len Pash, a resident of Riverbend, USA. Frustrated by today’s politics, two of Len’s neighbors read the TDG book and become inspired to build their local TDG. Len starts as a reluctant volunteer. But as time passes, he starts believing this new way is the way for the USA to follow.
My TDG book becomes the “community development worker” that guides these two neighbors. Later Len becomes an advisor to the youth from the Tankosin Indian Reservation. They want to start their own local TDG. Len is coaching, giving his understanding of the TDG book and his Riverbend experience to the Tankosin youth. But he stays on the sidelines, allowing the youth to develop their own TDG. In essence, Len becomes the community development worker for the Tankosin.
Two more TDG novels followed this story. And a fourth novel is in the works.
Recreating the World in 2024
Between 2004 and 2024, I had three moves and some downsizing. I culled 80% of my library. When Recreating the World reached my decision point, I thought, “I need to re-read this book some day.” So it stayed on my shelf.
I finally got to this re-read. It’s been 20 years since my first read.
The plotlines for the three TDG novels are based on “the plan” I have outlined in this review.
I am not a community development worker. Nor do I have any intention of being one. I have not had much experience in a community development process, especially with professional community development workers. I have not read books from other practitioners. Yet Recreating the World put ideas into me that allowed me to write these TDG stories.
This book had a great influence on the development of the TDG!
Published in Medium in 2024
