Systems of Government

Last time, we began talking about the evolution of government and ended up discussing the transformation of humanity. Most assigned little faith to current western systems and had even less for the American version. Corruption and money influence, the banes of benign rule resurface time and again to undermine the best designs. With selfishness and misplaced priorities our citizens have always bought into the system and have reinforced what basically is an oligarchy. Economics is intertwined with the power structures and it is likewise guided by selfishness of men.

We looked at governance on the local level and discussed the best practices of community development. The examples set by Canada, the Cubans and even Tito were cited as what can be good, or at least necessary compacts among individuals, society and the powers that be. But whether by racial/ethnic strife or some other trouble, the cultural cloth usually frays, disorder ensues and altruistic ideals give way to dominator realities.

So we pondered how a "government by the people" can function when the people are so human? One thought that any system could work if corruption were neutralized, another suggested that anarchy - a society wherein all of us make the decisions - could happen if people would make a leap of personal development and "get off their butts!".

The term techno-peasant was put forward to describe the citizen who is educated and proficient in the ways of modern culture yet remains socially and politically inept. We went back and forth with a chicken and egg debate about the reasons. Do our schools create "worker bees" when they should be cultivating free-thinkers... or should they be abolished altogether? Does the welfare state lead to lazy dependence? Do our leaders and their institutions guide us or, in the end, do we truly get the government we deserve? Join us June 4th, 3 PM at the City Café as we consider the human origins of our common culture and the circular continuum of society, people and the person.