My Last Project
In spring 2024, I took on a big TDG project. I created a consultation workshop.
Basically, for the TDG to work well, we need to learn how to make consultative decisions. If we keep our current culture of mostly power and democratic decision making, the TDG will not succeed. We need to make consultation a cultural trait, something we do almost by instinct.
This workshop gathers my many thoughts on consultation into one place. Because I had already written down my thoughts on consultation many years ago, this project would not be starting from scratch. I thought I only needed to move my previous work and thoughts into a PowerPoint forum. So simple, right?
To make a long story short, this project didn’t turn out that way. It took me maybe 10 times my original estimate to get it done. It became “the project from hell.” But I did finish it.
I believe the workshop is well prepared and presented. There are about 200 little anecdotes to move learners into thinking more about the consultative approach. Learners take this workshop at their own convenience. And it is free!
The result for all this work: not much traction, no reaction. I doubt anyone has taken the full workshop yet.
Disappointed, yes. Surprised, no. All my TDG projects and marketing to date have not produced tangible results.
But this result is affecting my next TDG moves.
The TDG Wiki
I would like to build a TDG wiki. In this presentation, I will describe each aspect of the TDG with its own short article. Then provide wiki links to other appropriate TDG wiki articles. In this way, the TDG learner moves through the wiki how he/she feels is necessary to learn more.
All the pieces of the TDG eventually connect with each other. I estimate that there are about 50 moving parts of the TDG. Everything is already written down, it only needs to gather them together.
But the TDG Blog is already doing much of that work. One section, TDG Mechanics, is almost working like a wiki. But TDG Mechanics is not finding readers. So will a better designed wiki find readers?
Like my consultation workshop, I suspect the TDG Wiki will take much longer than I think it should take. Another reason to postpone this idea for another day.
But I could be inspired to build that wiki if I know there will be an audience to learn from it.
The Fifth Edition
The fourth edition of Tiered Democratic Governance was finished in 2017. Since actively promoting the TDG on Medium for 6.5 years, I have garnered more insights for the TDG. I should put those insights into a fifth edition.
Even though slightly obsolete, the fourth edition is still working well for the TDG cause. A fifth edition will not bring the readers I am looking for.
BTW, the new insights are also somewhere in the TDG Blog.
The Fourth TDG Novel
I am adding to the stories of Len Pash, Thelma Delgers, and Eli Weasel. A minor character from the first three novels is the new storyteller. The Riverbend TDG has expanded — and nefarious forces want to take it over. A little more conflict than the first three novels. But the culture of the TDG, not any protagonist, defeats those forces, in a non-combative way. Not exactly a story that will find its way to a best seller list. But a great story to learn about the TDG
I wrote the first draft two years ago. I believe the plot will stay the same, but there will be some revision to make it better.
But if people are not reading the first three novels, will the fourth novel create the tipping point? I’m not convinced this is the best place to put my spare time and energy.
Dividing the First TDG Novel
I would like to divide the first TDG novel Diary of a Future Politician into two parts. The first five chapters would see Len Pash reluctantly joining the TDG, putting the effort to make the TDG work, and then realizing its potential for the USA. The end of Chapter 5 has Len losing a TDG election. He is hurt but takes the loss stoically. He misses the TDG meetings.
Chapter 6 takes Len on a different TDG journey. He becomes the TDG advisor for the Tankosin Indian Reservation.
When I was writing this novel, my writing advisor told me to show, not tell, to make an entertaining story. While going this way provides a better story, the “show” dialogue takes more words and more thought than telling. I remember thinking “Diary” is getting too long — and I did move into more “telling” than “showing” — just to get done quicker. I could revise Chapter 6 to make it longer — and a novel in its own right.
A New Ebook Retailer
My two current ebook retailers are definitely profit driven. I want to move my consumer choices away from this business model as much as I practically can.
So I would like to offer my ebook with a more socially-conscious e-book retailer: Barnes & Noble. Having my books available for socially-conscious consumers is a good direction.
It might take a day or two to set up a B&N account and move my MS-Word files into the B&N e-book software. Compared to my other projects, this is not a big project.
But everything is telling me that I won’t be rewarded for that two days of effort. This time might be better spent writing Medium articles. And there might be some issues with the software that take significantly more than two days. I have a history of underestimating the time it takes to complete a project.
Maybe B&N is the path when I finish the sixth edition of the TDG book and fourth TDG novel.
More activity on the Internet
One of my lukewarm TDG fans has been supplying me with links of “influencers of democracy” on You-Tube. I believe my fan was hinting that I need to be on these forums to promote the TDG.
The videos’ themes were saying, to some degree, that American democracy is broken. This brokenness is a good lead to introduce the TDG. So one evening, I spent 90 minutes watching six of these videos. I added an appropriate TDG comment to each of them. Only one video maker got back to me, thanking me for watching her video. She had no interest in the TDG.
As I was investigating these You-Tubers’ work, I felt they were on a professional cusp. They had many followers. The videos got many likes and comments. They just might be financially viable enough to justify the writing, producing, acting, recording, and editing.
But for the creators to interact with all their fans would mean less time to make the next video. And since the creators have found a formula that brings them some success, they are unlikely to change their direction to be more TDG-friendly.
Maybe something good can happen with my comments on these videos. But I have been on at least a dozen internet forums since 2000 — and building a new democracy is not on anyone’s radar. Not even the disastrous second Trump term can move thinkers to cast their eyes in a TDG direction. So I should not expect a different result if I piggy-back on these You-Tube videos. And my brief 90-minute experiment confirmed this.
I sent my lukewarm TDG fan this message:
Thanks for pointing out these videos for me. I spent about 90 minutes watching them. I commented, referencing the TDG. I did not get much response.
May I suggest that you prepare a stock response that goes something like this:
Thanks for putting together this great video. It shows the brokenness of our democracy.
I have been following this Dave fellow from Canada. He has some interesting ideas on a new democracy. His “TDG” calls for no political parties. It educates voters to vote on good character and capacity for governance. After the elections, the TDG representatives work with a consultative approach to decision making.
If we want to go to where we need to go, we should take Dave’s work seriously.
His website is:
https://tiereddemocraticgovernance.org/home.php
Rewrite this post to suit your own style. Pull an appropriate point from the video into the comment.
In essence, I have given my lukewarm fan permission to promote the TDG in her own way. She is already watching these videos. She would need only one minute to put the above text into a comment.
Just imagine if the TDG acquires 100 fans like this, all making one-minute comments on political multimedia they are already consuming. Can you imagine 1,000 fans?
Release of Intellectual Property
Yes, I would like TDG fans to promote the TDG on social media. And here’s how they can take a bigger step.
On my website, I make it clear that I have released most intellectual rights to the TDG to the TDG fans.
https://tiereddemocraticgovernance.org/logo_n_swag.php
The fans are free to use the TDG logo for their own TDG projects. Videos, podcasts, animations, music, coffee cups, etc. are all welcome. Translations of my work into other languages will be needed and welcome. Creative TDG people can move the world forward with their TDG work. They do not need my permission or approval. I do not expect a royalty of any kind. I am allowing them to monetize their enhancements.
I suspect 95% of these creatives will do a reasonably good job with their TDG efforts. I do not need to hold them back.
As for the 5% whose creative work is a little lacking, they probably won’t get much notice. Future TDG fans will gravitate to the works of the 95%.
And when other people are promoting the TDG, that is when the TDG will start flying.
Conclusion
For those few of you who have read this far, I believe you understand that my reward-to-effort ratio has been quite low — almost zero — ever since I started this project in 1997.
I have another long-term life challenge that I must attend to — and Tiered Democratic Governance comes in second place for my spare time and energy.
And I am now “old:” my energy and ambition are lower than they were five years ago. Writing one Medium article a week and making eight quick Mastodon posts a day is about as much as I can or want to commit. So the big projects in this article are not likely to get done (by me).
When you come to the realization that western democracy is too broken to fix, please remember this crazy guy from Canada and his alternative democracy. A kinder, wiser democracy.
You can do a search for “Tiered Democratic Governance.” The TDG should still be around somewhere.
Or search “Dave Volek.” There is a former hockey player with that name, but I come in second place. The TDG will follow my name.
Hopefully sooner than later, we — the people — will finally start to take our rightful responsibility in democracy.
Meanwhile, I need a nap!
Published on Medium 2025
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