Occasionally, I click on an Umair article to see if there is something new from Medium’s favorite doomposter. Usually, I do not find anything new.
But I found something interesting in this recent Umair article:
Seven Lessons We Should Have Learned From History — But Didn’t
My apologies if the above link does not work. You probably need to be a Medium member.
Just so you don’t have to read the entire article, here is the paragraph that got my interest:
Authoritarianism is defeated by offering people the lives they want to live (not by prosecutors, scandals, judges, or celebrity tweets). So. How do we defeat authoritarianism? If you understand all the above, it’s pretty simple: offer people a sense of meaning, purpose, dignity, self-worth, community, belonging, optimism again. Craft a social contract made of public goods whose goal is to endow people with all the above. Nothing else is going to work — you might “bring down” one strongman, but broken people are seeking strength, and they’ll just turn to the next one.
Pay attention to the list of adjectives that go with “sense of”: “meaning,” “purpose,” “dignity,” “self-worth,” “community,” “belonging,” and “optimism.” All leading to “social contract.”
These are such powerful words. But how do we implement them? Because Umair didn’t take the concept a little further, I can only surmise he wants us to vote for politicians who promise us they can deliver these goods.
I have a different way to effect these words into action:
Let’s build a new democracy!
After spending six years in a Canadian political party, I concluded that life inside political parties is inherently dysfunctional. What should we expect when overly ambitious people are climbing over each other for status, influence, and power? And employing all sorts of Machiavellian techniques to get wherever they want to go?
Outwardly, the parties seem fuzzy and warm enough to convince you to vote for them. But inside it is a shark tank, and the sharks are hungry. Do hungry sharks write good social contracts?
This dysfunction spreads into how governance is done. Then it spreads into society-at-large. Believe it or not, but all this dysfunction has affected your psyche — even if you have never been on the inside of a political party!
Let's Build a Kinder, Wiser Democracy
After lots of pondering why I had been spending so much volunteer time in a dysfunctional system, I somehow invented Tiered Democratic Governance (TDG) in 1992, The TDG addresses all the dysfunction I was seeing.
Umair’s list fits well with the early TDG builders. Let’s use his words:
Meaning and Purpose: Early TDG builders will have a mission to build something better than we have today. Think of the founding fathers in the late 1700s. This is a role you can take on in 2023. Would not building a new system of governance for citizens 20 years from now be a great purpose? Would this not give your life some meaning? Imagine future historians pouring through the records of the early TDG builders.
Dignity: You can bring dignity to politics. You want civil discussion while discussing issues: practice civility while building the TDG. You want the perspectives of everyone: practice listening while building the TDG. You want to see people of different races, genders, religions, and economic classes working together: practice working with these people when you build your TDG. You want collaboration on political matters: practice combining knowledge, experience, and wisdom of the other participants while building the TDG. You want respect for collective decisions: make good decisions if you are elected into the TDG. If you are not elected, then respect the TDG’s electoral structure for finding some very capable people to make those decisions. All this is dignity!
Self-Worth: Working for such a long-term project will enhance your self-worth. Would this self-worth not move into other aspects of your life? Would your self-worth not pass on to the people around you?
Community: Building the TDG starts in neighborhoods. Not all your neighbors will join you. In fact, maybe only a few. But these few neighbors will become part of your friendship ring and support network. Your new group will be a great example to the other neighbors. Would not the annual activity of a neighborhood electing its TDG neighborhood representative be a good reason to bring neighbors a little closer together?
Belonging: We’ve all heard the expression “belonging to something bigger than ourselves.” It is something most of us will find in some way to soothe our psyche. Would not building a new democracy for the benefit of humanity’s future be a positive belonging?
Optimism: My four years on Medium tell me there is not much optimism out there. The best we can hope for is the status quo, where politics is more about who is sitting in the big chairs than actually solving problems. In light of our powerlessness to change this dynamic, would not building a new democracy give us and those watching us a sense of optimism?
Social Contract: As the TDG is building itself, it will be creating its own social contract of purpose and meaning, dignity, self-worth, community, belonging, and optimism. Before the TDG assumes the authority and responsibility for governance, it will be moving this social contract forward.
I’ve used Umair’s own words . . .
. . . to get all these great attributes for yourself and a few of your neighbors. And by getting them for yourselves, you will be helping other people acquire them later.
Building a new democracy is your answer. Now. Today. Not tomorrow.
You do not need anyone else’s permission!
But waiting for someone else to give these attributes to you — even if you vote for them after they promise to give them to you — well, it will be a long wait to get them!
Published on Medium 2023
