1/1/2001, Marguerite M Hampton wrote to FixGov:
> are we trying to design 'government' using a top down
approach also? Are we trying to 'FixGov' in a manner that
we choose without considering what it is the majority of the
people want? Are we trying to say "well, this is the way it
should be."
Dear Marguerite,
A very important question indeed. I applaud your
appropriate use of the New Year moment: introspection and
self-examination.
The fact is that we on FixGov (or renaissance-network) do
not represent a cross-section of Western society, and even
less global society. We seem to be mostly middle class,
left-leaning, Caucasion, and from a particular group which
Paul Ray calls the 'Cultural Creatives'. Naturally, we tend
to think that this group is the most enlightened, and the best
able to point the right direction for society. But guess
what?... all the other groups have that same belief about
themselves!
I'm really glad you brought this up, Marguerite. You've
sparked my thinking and I'd like to toss out a couple
brainstorming suggestions for group consideration - new ways
of looking at our role in the development of an effective
transformational movement.
First: Let's pretend society is a Parliament, and we are the
'Cultural-Creative Caucus'. The Parliament is currently
considering a certain piece of legislation - a
"Transformation Bill". As a Caucus, our job is to put
forward a Draft Bill that we hope will be adopted by the
whole Parliament. Now consider: Is the rest of the
Parliament likely to adopt a proposal which is narrowly
focused on our own particular values and beliefs? I don't
think so. If we want to succeed, we need to put things in
our proposal that appeal to all segments. That doesn't mean
we give up our own values. It does mean we need to take
into account the values and beliefs of others - we need to
think from a wider perspective.
Second: We might want to find ways to expand our dialog to
include more segments of society, and more voices from other
continents and cultures. Not necessarily by getting lots of
people to subscribe to this list, but perhaps by certain
kinds of creative cross-posting. We could send out 'scouts'
to get involved in online discussions with other
constituencies, or we could invite representatives of other
constituencies to join our list(s).
best regards,
rkm
http://cyberjournal.org/cj/guide/
