The Next Paradigm of Government
Here is the common progressive wisdom on why our governmental system sucks:
- It sucks because we need real leaders and there are none to be found.
- It sucks because people are apathetic and don’t vote.
- It sucks because the system is corrupt (money buys power).
What I see is that at some point we will have a paradigm shift in government. The apathy of voters is an important indicator of the core problem.
Our entire paradigm of government is based on a “Government as Parent” model. We protect people from themselves, punish people who are bad, take care of the weak, etc.
One problem is that it’s a bad parenting model. Good parenting is about setting boundaries, but functional ones. Having consequences, but ones that help the kid grow and learn, not be randomly punished.
But a more fundamental problem is that adults don’t need parenting. What we really have is a failure of our culture and society as a whole to support people to develop into mature adults. Government is part of this problem, but not the whole of it. All of our institutional systems encourage and enable dependency, most notably to me, our education system. We are not encouraged and supported to grow and develop into autonomous beings capable of critical thinking and self-government.
Now don’t start thinking I’m a Libertarian. I think there are many solutions, but kicking people to the curb isn’t one of them.
I don’t believe that the government can solve this problem, or any other institution. They come out of a paradigm that is flawed. The #1 flawed assumption is that people are unable to govern themselves. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you treat people as incapable, many of them will start to believe it and act it out.
I also don’t think a single Savior-type leader is the solution. We don’t need a leader, we all need to become leaders - our own leaders. No government or forced education system is going to get us there, because growth and development is by definition a self-directed process. The good news is that it is a natural and organic process, so it’s just a matter of learning how to allow and support it for everyone.
This isn’t something that makes sense in the context of a political process as we know it because our current political and governmental processes are fundamentally dis-empowering. There is a reason nobody votes, and the answer is not more voter drives. It’s a problem that can’t be solved at the level of development that created our government. It has to be solved by the next level of evolution. that next level will envision “government as facilitator of the creative human endeavor”, not “government as parent punishing errant children, run by other children who aren’t mature enough for the job anyway”.
I agree somewhat with the idea of “The system is broken and it’s not worth fixing”. I do think at some point we will have a critical mass of folks who are operating from the next paradigm and we can start using the infrastructure of the government and industrial complex to facilitate creative self-empowerment and social evolution. There are a lot of resources there which would be dumb to ignore. But until that point, I think it makes more sense to focus energy on developing our understanding of how to evolve and liberate ourselves and support others to do the same, until that critical mass is reached.
We can all be vibrantly alive and happy. Here I discuss the ideas and tools that will get us there.
Emma! A- *men*, sister. I am thoroughly enjoying catching up on your blogs, and this one especially had me dancing around in front of the lappy. I’m so tickled to read your thoughts about these matters, I guess because it lends weight to my hopeful fantasy that there are growing numbers of people out there, especially young people, who cherish these ideas and that they will eventually reach critical mass, resulting in wonderful things.
As one of my favorite authors, Daniel Quinn, writes, really good ideas can’t help but spread because they just *work better* for people. (uh oh, I am not meaning to add to your book guilt by suggesting another author you “should” read! ;P )
I’m enjoying a recharge in my energy for contributing to the evolution you speak of here. I like to think every little bit counts. Viva la evolution!
OMG I am SO glad it had you dancing! This was one of those posts I didn’t feel as confident about. Namely because I know kinda zip about the current paradigm of government. I am oblivious to the news and anything politics-related. That old voice “What do I know?” came up.
But, yes! Viva la evolution! Couldn’t have said it better!
I am quasi-familiar with Daniel Quinn. And I totally agree with the “really good ideas can’t help but spread” idea. I really rest my faith in that a lot of the time when people are complaining about Bush, etc. I see our current stage of government and culture as adolescent. It’s developmental. We’ll grow up. Growth happens.
And everyone always adds “if we don’t destroy ourselves first”. But you know, I hate adding that. It feels like an obligatory concession to cynicism. But I don’t believe it. I don’t think we’ll destroy ourselves. It’s just a feeling I have. A sense of the depth and breadth and beauty of what’s possible. How incredibly good the really good ideas are - how transformative. And that transformation and growth and healing are completely *natural* processes.
Thanks for another insightful and life-affirming post Emma. You rock! I really enjoyed your clarity.
As Holly said, it is a great thing to read stuff like this. I do want to believe that there are people thinking positive affirming and future-constructive thoughts.
We as a species have so much potential to build great things and lives. If we choose to.
This also goes to show how the observations and insights of a relative outsider (in this case someone who professes to know zip about current governmental systems) can be extremely valuable and thought provoking.
If you did know all the ins and outs of government, would you have thought about things so clearly outside of the box?
You have a great gift here Emma. Trust in yourself and keep these thoughts coming!!!
[…] For a refreshing and optimistic take on how we could evolve the concept of government, read Emma McCreary’s post The Next Paradigm of Government. […]
@Zern - Thanks so much for the affirmation. =)
Yes, that is indeed one reason I avoid getting enmeshed in politics. If I’m going to have any vision at all, I’ve got to stay embedded in what is possible, not what we’ve got now.
I grew up in a house where NPR was on all day - I got my lifetime dosage of “the system”. I do know some about the systems themselves, I just don’t know much about the current players. I don’t follow the news at all anymore.
I have this theory about how the news impacts our government. Everyone in Washington watches it all the time - it’s like they are brainwashing themselves with a paradigm of fear and a closed system of thought. It’s self-perpetuating. Few truly new ideas are actually shown on the news, from my perspective any way. I wonder what might happen if there was a news blackout for two weeks in Washington. Maybe some humanity would re-emerge? Maybe some original thought?
Emma, I found you through my friend, Zern. How lucky!
Some of the work I do and the things I talk about, particularly with large government organisations, is about constituent empowerment - government simply as a facilitator between a need and the fulfilment of that need.
“Treat the public *and your employees* like grown-ups… Stop delivering services as stick rather than carrot… Understand that sometimes, the greatest expertise is elsewhere than government… Learn to become the conduit when it’s the better option…”
I’m definitely sharing this post on Twitter and del.icio.us and it’s going into the lit of resources for my talk at GOVIS in May 2009.
Thanks!
@Stephen
Wow! It’s awesome to hear that you are out there doing that kind of work! I had no idea that people were doing that. I am so inspired to hear that.
But of course - change is going on everywhere!
I have this theory that all this change - real, transformational change - is going on all these levels, but it’s still not a critical mass enough so that everyone *assumes* it’s going on. So I had this static view of the government, that it wouldn’t have anything to do with these ideas - and yet, that work is going on! Awesome!
OK, that’s a lot of exclamation points, but I’m pretty excited to hear this. =)
@Emma
Good point about the self perpetuating system. Government reacts to public opinion and generates media to modify that. The media then feeds back fear, rhetoric, and opinions to the government, which then generates more stuff in reaction to the reactions… and so forth.
Self magnifying. Self deluding. Esp given the media’s propensity to filter out and report the more “exciting” bits.
Scary. I have not thought about it this way before.
@Stephen - Hello!
@Zern. I know! It’s totally scary.
Interesting post emma.
I think especially in the US, but also in my home country of Australia, the influence of corporate money and lobbying for political influence has distorted the political playing field. This in part has contributed to the government -> media self perpetuating system. As the government has become less responsive to the wishes of the populance, the public has become more apathetic about government. If that trend continues then something is going to have to snap.
As you said, people are used to thinking of the government as a parental figure. In the US especially, I think there is a tendency to hold the ideas of the founding fathers as the be all and end all of democracy.
@Mark
Good point, we are obsessed with our “founding fathers”. Our whole legal system is based on the sanctity of “precedent” as well. But our constitution and bill of rights and the whole system, while very important and revolutionary at the time, was made in response to imperialism and people wanting to establish their independence from England, the authoritarian parent. Something every kid needs to do…but eventually kids also need to grow up and gain an understanding of *interdependence* and responsibility.
Emma - Got to your website by googling for “simple websites”, and I’m so glad your’s popped up. I so agree with your comment about adults not needing parenting. I had 2 great teachers (not my parents) who helped me grow up. Self-discipline is at the core of it, especially of my thoughts. Thanks for sharing your views.
A new video of Eugene Gendlin talking about this topic was just posted on Youtube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvGyLHs9Cys