All Hands on Deck
The approach of the storm that some have warned about, some have closed their eyes to and denied, and many have only recently looked into the sky to see, looms closer every day. The pace of events is accelerating, and we are past the point where taking to the streets to demonstrate and protest is on its own an adequate first step. We may need to make our disquiet known, even our anger in some circumstances, but we need as urgently to develop our voices for many positive purposes, and to cooperate with others in the grand business of envisaging a happier future and planning the steps to get there.
Like many, I still believe in the vision, determination and ingenuity of humans to get us out of this immediate mess, provided that we are not already past a major tipping point we have failed to recognize. I have little faith in capitalism and its processes, which are the dominant ways of our dealing with the resources of this world, nor do I believe much in our current political leaders, nor in our systems of informing the general public, nor the giants of social media that bind the communities of interest together, nor the frail international and transnational structures that at present are the only counterbalance to the forces of greed, narrow parochialism and atavistic darkness.
As an albatross worn around my neck, this disillusionment is often quite powerful and comprehensive enough to stifle me. However, I do believe in the human capacity for optimism against the odds, and in the irrational hope I seem to specialize in, which strikes when things are heading towards the worst. In my “Little Book” I suggest a collective planning mechanism, a flexible system of constantly refreshed ideas and group decision-making that would produce a rapidly forward-moving agenda. This suggestion would constitute one step towards a genuine “participatory democracy”, where the line between electors and representatives disappears, the one making the other irrelevant.
I am still little hazy on the details, especially when it comes to completely secure and reliable electronic communications, but the idea is simple: the citizenry listens to and weighs up arguments before voting on government measures for the common good. Every voter participates from home or some other convenient place. You could vote on your phone. While there remains an executive and civil service, the legislature becomes essentially virtual, a true mass assembly. This kind of immediate or “participatory” democracy has never before been possible in societies larger than small tribal groups, but it is within our reach now.
Participatory democracy is therefore possible in the near future, but we do not have it yet. And when to comes to action, to “All hands on deck”, the present is what we have, and at present we are stuck with the ramshackle collection of nations, institutions, companies, organizations and mechanisms we have now, in 2021.
Movements which begin outside the normal tracks are commonly called “grassroots.”Any movement that starts anywhere else is an overweening bid for power. We are grass first, and our roots are where anything good should begin. I am proposing a forum called “All Hands on Deck”, specifically aimed at the young as well as adults in general, for any humans to have a voice in the promulgation of ideas and reports on action at all levels in response to the crisis upon us. I shall go into this more in my next commentary.
