The failures of neoliberalism and austerity and the failures of the left have contributed to a retreat into cynicism and into a curiosity towards authoritarianism.
Excellent piece, Dizzy! As someone who studied the Cultural Revolution and the role of Mao's little red books in college, you articulated the false binary some many people feel of choosing between a Chinese-style dictatorship and our current American-style unraveling. We the people have a lot of modes of governance to choose from!
Good reminders about the artful choices of restructure and the fact that many practices are in play right now!
Every creation is in fact an improvisation based on a set of agreements. All systems are experiments. If they endure itโs a testament to their desirability and the capacity of a group to sustain their agreements with time energy and money. It might be wise to look at movements that operate on few resources and how they do it. Alongside that itโs humbling to see how much struggle there is even among like minded small groups with similar values.
We have many alternatives to liberal democracy that arenโt autocracy.
Thereโs participatory democracy in which we engage in decision-making ourselves rather than delegating our power to representatives (think Occupy Wall Street);
Thereโs direct democracy in which we vote on all policies and laws directly rather than through elected officials (think worker cooperatives);
Thereโs deliberative democracy which emphasized debate and consensus-building among stakeholders (think community forums);
Thereโs community-controlled systems in which resources are redistributed and collectively owned by the people (think Black Panthers);
Thereโs anarchism which rejects centralized authority in favor of autonomous communities (think mutual aid networks);
Thereโs syndicalism where our economic and political systems are controlled by workers through unions and federations (think IWW);
And of course there are many indigenous governance systems that prioritize collective decision-making, consensus-building, and respect for nature.
These models, and the infinite more that we have yet to experience or dream up, surface out of a critique of representative democracy and dissatisfaction with elite capture of our institutions and the alienation of regular people from decision-making bodies. Itโs hard to fight to save something that doesnโt feel worth saving. We have been told we live in a democracy, but have we ever, really?
We fight hate with love and kindness. Wearing a๐ท is a simple way to protect yourself and others and fight fascism ๐๐
Excellent piece, Dizzy! As someone who studied the Cultural Revolution and the role of Mao's little red books in college, you articulated the false binary some many people feel of choosing between a Chinese-style dictatorship and our current American-style unraveling. We the people have a lot of modes of governance to choose from!
Good reminders about the artful choices of restructure and the fact that many practices are in play right now!
Every creation is in fact an improvisation based on a set of agreements. All systems are experiments. If they endure itโs a testament to their desirability and the capacity of a group to sustain their agreements with time energy and money. It might be wise to look at movements that operate on few resources and how they do it. Alongside that itโs humbling to see how much struggle there is even among like minded small groups with similar values.
We have many alternatives to liberal democracy that arenโt autocracy.
Thereโs participatory democracy in which we engage in decision-making ourselves rather than delegating our power to representatives (think Occupy Wall Street);
Thereโs direct democracy in which we vote on all policies and laws directly rather than through elected officials (think worker cooperatives);
Thereโs deliberative democracy which emphasized debate and consensus-building among stakeholders (think community forums);
Thereโs community-controlled systems in which resources are redistributed and collectively owned by the people (think Black Panthers);
Thereโs anarchism which rejects centralized authority in favor of autonomous communities (think mutual aid networks);
Thereโs syndicalism where our economic and political systems are controlled by workers through unions and federations (think IWW);
And of course there are many indigenous governance systems that prioritize collective decision-making, consensus-building, and respect for nature.
These models, and the infinite more that we have yet to experience or dream up, surface out of a critique of representative democracy and dissatisfaction with elite capture of our institutions and the alienation of regular people from decision-making bodies. Itโs hard to fight to save something that doesnโt feel worth saving. We have been told we live in a democracy, but have we ever, really?