Better than elections
I had a thought last night about what might be better than Democracy.
As kids, we were taught the USA is a Democracy, vote every 4 years, be a good citizen, and it sounds nice and logical.
Every 2 years, we go out and Vote.
We try to ignore all the noise and the personalities and just try to make a good choice, hoping that Government will protect us and help us.
In history, we have gone from slavery in ancient times, to serfdom in the Middle Ages, to democracy and capitalism since the start of the Industrial age.
We wonder- is this all?
Are we at the end of DEVELOPMENT?
In the USA today, people are going to the Courts to fight for their right to vote, to be on the ballot, to try to stop governments from telling us (in some states)--Hey, we're a democracy, but we need some ID. Prove to us that you aren't a refugee or foreigner, even though we have seen you in this city for the last 10 or 20 years, adn the government gave you a social security number probably just after you were born.
Can you believe it?
The government is glad to take your sales tax and take your Federal income tax, but before they'll let you go into a voting booth, you have to prove your identity? Seems like your identity is good enough for you to pay sales tax, have taxes withheld from your paycheck, and they'll certainly expect you to file a 1040 each year, no ID needed.
So here's what I'm thinking of.
We want to progress past this 18th to 21st century idea of democracy and capitalism into something bigger!
Call it--plenty for everyone, prosperity for all, health care is available, we are taking humanity higher up on the scale of development.
The mass of people may believe in the old hard values, but you can be an impartial observer and say, OK, why do we have 1.25 BILLION people on earth that live on $1 a day or less? Why do so many millions of people live in oppressive dicytatorships? Why does humanity suffer in so many places across the world? Can we rely on pur stock answer, Oh, democracy will march faster. Maybe it will be another 50 years before humanity gets to working 15 hours a week, as predicted by John Maynard Keynes in 1930.
I want to look ahead a little bit.
All we need to do is add one more letter.
"S"
We can move from elections (every 2 years, seems like a slow place, more made for the longevity of politicians than for the prompt "getting results" that the people want) to selections.
Jeff Bezos of Amazon uses this word and says "Earth's greatest selection" for his company Amazon.
If we decide that humanity's next evolution is selection, remember it is not the natural selection that Darwin talks about.
Selection means: Oh government is a little bit slow on this, and Microsoft and Google aren't doing this. Why don't we set up a group or committee of 2 or 3 people and "select it" !
Select is not so subtle code for "Choose."
So if you "Choose" or "Select" something, does that mean you will wait 2 years until the next election and hope the election gets it done? Does it mean, wait until a big corporation picks it up?
No. It means you "select" it now. Maybe one or two people will agree with you and say, Let's do something about this!
Maybe you will be the only one who "selects" it.
And you'll say to yourself, Shucks! I think $1,000 a day wages is appealing, and our customers of the product would love spending money on it, too. You selected something that excites you enough to start it up!
Remember, John Maynard Keynes, the great British economist who predicted the 15 hour work week back in 1930. The fact that most people don't work only 15 hours a week doesn't mean his idea is wrong. It just means that only a few people "selected" his idea and made it a reality in their lives.
A vision-
If you and 3 friends had "elections" every week and you chose yourself to be leaders in your adventure, and you all were quite excited about your project, then EVERYTHING would be achievable for you! (15 hour work week, $1000 a day pay, some project that could clean up the environment or create 1,000 jobs, or get rid of poverty and unemployment-- there are no limits to what you "select".... )
I daresay, I think "selection" would move a lot FASTER than would "elections", (every day instead of 2 years) if we really thought of selection as the art of unity and getting things done prosperously and quickly. When someone asks you what you do for a living, you can simply say, "selection" and when they ask you where it is, you can humorously say, "Oh, it's everywhere and growing very fast!"
As we further evolve in our democracy, remember, you can wake up every morning and "select" what is good, beautiful and true!
Dream big!
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