altpolitical web
An alternative to business as usual has been an obvious necessity for decades. The business as usual syndrome enslaves people whilst trashing the planet, so we need to form an alternative political movement to spearhead the transition to a better way of life based on a sustainable economy. The best strategy: recruit all those who feel the urgency of this need into an altpolitical web, using sites like this one to connect people in various countries to better options, designs & models for them to consider, apply & refine in their own lives & communities. Many folk in various countries the past half century have done great work developing viable alternatives - these are valuable resources usually unknown to the people who need them. Linking all these up into a global network that becomes known & readily accessible is the way to go.
People lose hope if a better alternative remains unavailable in increasingly desperate times. You may consider the Greens to be such a viable alternative, inasmuch as they are functional & influential in various countries nowadays, but those of us who have devoted part of our lives to creating that movement know that playing the game of traditional politics fosters false hope. Any gains are ever minimal due to existing political systems being controlled by vested interests. Greens collectively aspire to save nature; too bad they chose strategies that render them impotent. We're providing a better way forward.
People lose hope if a better alternative remains unavailable in increasingly desperate times. You may consider the Greens to be such a viable alternative, inasmuch as they are functional & influential in various countries nowadays, but those of us who have devoted part of our lives to creating that movement know that playing the game of traditional politics fosters false hope. Any gains are ever minimal due to existing political systems being controlled by vested interests. Greens collectively aspire to save nature; too bad they chose strategies that render them impotent. We're providing a better way forward.
design elements
- people need a collaboration context unconfined by conventional beliefs & expectations
- the group dynamic needs to be functionally different to all others
- everyone must be able to see the group as a new type of organism in the social ecosystem
- it must have the potential to go viral & achieve global impact
- network & team format, with an incentive structure that rewards participation
- pan-cultural & pan-generational appeal
- the group dynamic needs to be functionally different to all others
- everyone must be able to see the group as a new type of organism in the social ecosystem
- it must have the potential to go viral & achieve global impact
- network & team format, with an incentive structure that rewards participation
- pan-cultural & pan-generational appeal
Much as innovative species evolve from prior similar organisms via rapid transitions, human beings have the innate capacity to perform rapid societal shifts. In the new science of complexity, this corresponds to the general principle of indeterminate systemic changes of state, in which systems in nature are observed suddenly switching from one stable state to another with unpredictable timing. People can work in unison accordingly, to rapidly change social conditions.
priorities
to provide a positive alternative to the status quo
to secure the future of the people of Aotearoa
to catalyse social transformation
to become a better option for bringing about social improvements than any hitherto presented
to develop a political vision based on Gaian spirituality
to emphasise key principles: symbiosis, equity, natural justice, transcendence, stewardship, ethical conduct
to represent alternative-minded folks, balancing an open-minded consideration of their views with the pragmatic recognition
that any social progress requires a fair degree of consensus
to be a collective enterprise for all lateral thinkers who seek to contribute
to provide a suitable vehicle for the political collaboration of intelligent independents
to create an organisation in which it is fun to participate
to remain a work in progress (an evolving organism within Gaia)
immediate tasks:
form a team to coordinate the movement
define the political constituency we want to represent
specify how we differ from existing political movements, acknowledging points of agreement and explaining why we disagree on other points with reference to values & beliefs we share and the elements of their belief system that we reject
to secure the future of the people of Aotearoa
to catalyse social transformation
to become a better option for bringing about social improvements than any hitherto presented
to develop a political vision based on Gaian spirituality
to emphasise key principles: symbiosis, equity, natural justice, transcendence, stewardship, ethical conduct
to represent alternative-minded folks, balancing an open-minded consideration of their views with the pragmatic recognition
that any social progress requires a fair degree of consensus
to be a collective enterprise for all lateral thinkers who seek to contribute
to provide a suitable vehicle for the political collaboration of intelligent independents
to create an organisation in which it is fun to participate
to remain a work in progress (an evolving organism within Gaia)
immediate tasks:
form a team to coordinate the movement
define the political constituency we want to represent
specify how we differ from existing political movements, acknowledging points of agreement and explaining why we disagree on other points with reference to values & beliefs we share and the elements of their belief system that we reject
collaboration
Key concepts in our new political movement are the team and the Ark. The team is the traditional model of collaborative enterprise most likely to serve as the best way for people to work together to stave off the global crisis and social collapse that will be the continual threat during the 21st century. The Ark is the traditional symbol of survival of the human race, and is therefore most likely to be the image of survival that most effectively motivates people to collaborate to survive climate change. This means creating social systems that are sustainable through an extended period of crises in the global environment.
Using the Ark as survivalist imagery is not a mere mythological ploy, nor mere exercise in semiotics. It is intended to signal a source of communal salvation, a rescue plan, a functional solution to the current political impasse. The model of a survivalist society will be designed to be globally accessible. That means being presented on the website simply and concisely, sufficing to seem comprehensive & covering all the main necessities, while remaining accessible to anyone literate in the English language. If the composite meme does actually enable others elsewhere to discern a better way forward than business as usual, it will go viral globally and help people everywhere, giving them hope & renewed confidence. That's preferable to anarchy!
The team spirit has a considerable track record in generating goodwill, trust and social cohesion. This model of group function has the best incentive structure compared to other social groups, such as committees. Team players succeed via a combination of competition and collaboration. Competition is usually the group dynamic motivating the interaction between teams, since if team players compete with others in their team it always destroys team performance! The natural dynamic interaction between players in a team is collaboration. This means working together, synchronising all individual contributions. When a team of individuals starts to function in unison, the group endeavour usually produces the desired results unless adverse circumstances prevail. Corporate culture embraced the team ethic in the late '80s for this reason.
Whereas conventional politics disempowers people via the antique principle of democratic representation, we seek to empower them by restoring their personal autonomy in the social context. We give them the opportunity to have fun in politics instead of the usual drudgery and morass of soul-destroying compromises and contradictions that they encounter in traditional politics. They can instead participate as team players in a game of social creativity that connects to a global arena of others with similar aspirations. We need not expect any particular team to present the best description of what needs to happen: local circumstance will drive the focus of local teams to considerable degree. However the emergence of a discernible common ground will drive the cutting edge of social evolution into the future.
This movement toward social reform and alternatives to business as usual extends the current paradigm shift in the sciences into applied social science, economics & politics. Operating in the usual braindead manner must be henceforth seen as a dinosaur stance, by means of which those who continue to be part of the problem rather than part of the solution signal to the rest of us that they are terminal losers. As the global situation continues to deteriorate, people will seek refuge from business as usual, so we need to provide them with a beacon of hope. An altpolitical movement & website ought therefore to function as a reliable such beacon in the global arena.
In the transitional period we have now entered, people must stop viewing politics as a machine that deadens spontaneity, and begin to view it as an arena for performance art in team contexts. We need a social ethic that celebrates volunteerism and stewardship. Once people experience being able to contribute as they see fit, they will exercise their autonomy with authenticity rather than charade – provided they obtain the right of self-expression. People have a right to voice their opinion to others, which the state must concede. Ethical behaviour results when a group exercises its constraint on idiosyncrasy, generating mutual consent for collective initiatives. People want to play to their personal strengths in the group context. When working together is seen to produce mutual benefits, increasing focus on common interests will result in a trend toward renewal of social harmony.
[A further option, once an altpolitical movement is up & running, is to design a political party that is simultaneously green, future-oriented, functionally centrist, instinctively radical yet staunchly conservative of that which matters. This provides a viable interface between the movement and the traditional political process.]
Using the Ark as survivalist imagery is not a mere mythological ploy, nor mere exercise in semiotics. It is intended to signal a source of communal salvation, a rescue plan, a functional solution to the current political impasse. The model of a survivalist society will be designed to be globally accessible. That means being presented on the website simply and concisely, sufficing to seem comprehensive & covering all the main necessities, while remaining accessible to anyone literate in the English language. If the composite meme does actually enable others elsewhere to discern a better way forward than business as usual, it will go viral globally and help people everywhere, giving them hope & renewed confidence. That's preferable to anarchy!
The team spirit has a considerable track record in generating goodwill, trust and social cohesion. This model of group function has the best incentive structure compared to other social groups, such as committees. Team players succeed via a combination of competition and collaboration. Competition is usually the group dynamic motivating the interaction between teams, since if team players compete with others in their team it always destroys team performance! The natural dynamic interaction between players in a team is collaboration. This means working together, synchronising all individual contributions. When a team of individuals starts to function in unison, the group endeavour usually produces the desired results unless adverse circumstances prevail. Corporate culture embraced the team ethic in the late '80s for this reason.
Whereas conventional politics disempowers people via the antique principle of democratic representation, we seek to empower them by restoring their personal autonomy in the social context. We give them the opportunity to have fun in politics instead of the usual drudgery and morass of soul-destroying compromises and contradictions that they encounter in traditional politics. They can instead participate as team players in a game of social creativity that connects to a global arena of others with similar aspirations. We need not expect any particular team to present the best description of what needs to happen: local circumstance will drive the focus of local teams to considerable degree. However the emergence of a discernible common ground will drive the cutting edge of social evolution into the future.
This movement toward social reform and alternatives to business as usual extends the current paradigm shift in the sciences into applied social science, economics & politics. Operating in the usual braindead manner must be henceforth seen as a dinosaur stance, by means of which those who continue to be part of the problem rather than part of the solution signal to the rest of us that they are terminal losers. As the global situation continues to deteriorate, people will seek refuge from business as usual, so we need to provide them with a beacon of hope. An altpolitical movement & website ought therefore to function as a reliable such beacon in the global arena.
In the transitional period we have now entered, people must stop viewing politics as a machine that deadens spontaneity, and begin to view it as an arena for performance art in team contexts. We need a social ethic that celebrates volunteerism and stewardship. Once people experience being able to contribute as they see fit, they will exercise their autonomy with authenticity rather than charade – provided they obtain the right of self-expression. People have a right to voice their opinion to others, which the state must concede. Ethical behaviour results when a group exercises its constraint on idiosyncrasy, generating mutual consent for collective initiatives. People want to play to their personal strengths in the group context. When working together is seen to produce mutual benefits, increasing focus on common interests will result in a trend toward renewal of social harmony.
[A further option, once an altpolitical movement is up & running, is to design a political party that is simultaneously green, future-oriented, functionally centrist, instinctively radical yet staunchly conservative of that which matters. This provides a viable interface between the movement and the traditional political process.]
recruiting
We can include in our target constituency mainstreamers who are naturally inventive, or have a track record of being able to solve problems. Existing political parties keep failing to use their talents. Partly this is due to activists feeling threatened by anybody competent. Partly it's due to the traditional mind-set: social problems are supposed to be discussed or ignored - not solved!
Everyone tacitly assumes that social problems are insoluble and this is a normal part of culture, but the status quo arises from the tradtional collusion between the political left & right and a clever 3rd alternative can destroy it anytime when the public gets in behind.
Another example of that collusion is the good cop, bad cop routine that both parties always use on the voter. The good cop slaps Joe Public around the ears from the left, and the bad cop whacks him more firmly from the right. The good cop comes on all friendly to show he's really on the side of the people. The bad cop treats them as they deserve - happy to be slaves to the system, they know they need to get whipped into line. Would the people go for a non-cop option, or are they too thick to figure it out? Past performance to the contrary, it's likely they would. Every community has opinion-leaders, people who are naturally competent and authoritative. The 3rd alternative merely needs to present as a credible option for these people to see it as feasible and they will form the vanguard for change. Transition away from the status quo occurs when people follow their opinion-leaders.
Everyone tacitly assumes that social problems are insoluble and this is a normal part of culture, but the status quo arises from the tradtional collusion between the political left & right and a clever 3rd alternative can destroy it anytime when the public gets in behind.
Another example of that collusion is the good cop, bad cop routine that both parties always use on the voter. The good cop slaps Joe Public around the ears from the left, and the bad cop whacks him more firmly from the right. The good cop comes on all friendly to show he's really on the side of the people. The bad cop treats them as they deserve - happy to be slaves to the system, they know they need to get whipped into line. Would the people go for a non-cop option, or are they too thick to figure it out? Past performance to the contrary, it's likely they would. Every community has opinion-leaders, people who are naturally competent and authoritative. The 3rd alternative merely needs to present as a credible option for these people to see it as feasible and they will form the vanguard for change. Transition away from the status quo occurs when people follow their opinion-leaders.
campaigns
We envisage single-issue lobbying via the separate petition site StandUp! (currently under development)
enterprise
The failure of business as usual to provide a secure future for people forces them to be more enterprising, yet many are unable to think outside the square. We can help by outlining a viable alternative. The Ark is intended as design & model of an alternative approach to life, presented as a template for those seeking an alternative to chaos in the event of the failure of the current economic system - users will need to apply the generic outline to their local community context (see the Ark page for elaboration).
We intend to operate as a node in a global network of like-minded others to promote & refine the Ark as a suitable model for innovative social development, securing it via appropriate relation to the biosphere. We will advocate the Ark as our design of a plan for sustainable communities that allows for communal progress & improvement on the basis of a survival economy, as a preferable alternative to the status quo. Using the ark as the appropriate image for human survival of global disaster, we must then identify the primary requirements for people to achieve a sustainable future. When our group begins to function as the Ark we signal public presentation of this way forward - so people can see it as a better option than business as usual. This strategy ensures an ever-expanding field of influence for our vision of a better future.
The Ark therefore functions as a survival symbol in the psyche, and culturally as an alternative plan, but in society it must be implemented as an action plan so as to actually provide a better survival option for all. To extend the metaphor, the Ark works from a mooring in each locality and bioregion.
We intend to operate as a node in a global network of like-minded others to promote & refine the Ark as a suitable model for innovative social development, securing it via appropriate relation to the biosphere. We will advocate the Ark as our design of a plan for sustainable communities that allows for communal progress & improvement on the basis of a survival economy, as a preferable alternative to the status quo. Using the ark as the appropriate image for human survival of global disaster, we must then identify the primary requirements for people to achieve a sustainable future. When our group begins to function as the Ark we signal public presentation of this way forward - so people can see it as a better option than business as usual. This strategy ensures an ever-expanding field of influence for our vision of a better future.
The Ark therefore functions as a survival symbol in the psyche, and culturally as an alternative plan, but in society it must be implemented as an action plan so as to actually provide a better survival option for all. To extend the metaphor, the Ark works from a mooring in each locality and bioregion.
social contract
We envisage a new social contract as the basis for a sustainable economy. People behave better if they get a fair share, and they are more optimistic in their outlook on life. The market economy fails to deliver this: Adam Smith's invisible hand must be supplemented. To produce a social climate of general goodwill, it will be necessary to incorporate design features that produce mutual benefit outcomes. There is now general agreement that win-win scenarios are necessary - the traditional expectation of zero-sum outcomes has been discredited. It remains but to get this job done...
Our 19th century form of democracy is insufficient for future needs, so we will make radical improvements to it. By choosing a form of governance and an economy that provides equity, rights & social justice we seek to enhance our quality of life and improve our future prospects. Democracy must become participatory by right: those unwilling to participate ought to retain the right to choose representatives. It must also provide community governance structured to serve via an organisational anchor in the bioregion.
We each have a natural right of equity, which must achieve expression in material form by consensus. Our stake-holder's right to an equal share of natural wealth for sustenance, health, growth & well-being must be first asserted, then it's social provision must be created. This will involve elimination of residual elements of the patriarchy, and divestiture of it's traditional parasites upon the body politic (vested interests).
We express our stake-holder roles via our sense of belonging, in various social & environmental contexts. Becoming communal invigorates community, yet we all pursue individual paths. The world currently requires us to be more communal than we have been in recent decades, so as to ensure our collective survival. We must develop rapport, and articulate our like-mindedness on issues of rights, equity, fairness and our common interests in each of our social contexts & group involvements, in relation to our environmental values and priorities.
Our 19th century form of democracy is insufficient for future needs, so we will make radical improvements to it. By choosing a form of governance and an economy that provides equity, rights & social justice we seek to enhance our quality of life and improve our future prospects. Democracy must become participatory by right: those unwilling to participate ought to retain the right to choose representatives. It must also provide community governance structured to serve via an organisational anchor in the bioregion.
We each have a natural right of equity, which must achieve expression in material form by consensus. Our stake-holder's right to an equal share of natural wealth for sustenance, health, growth & well-being must be first asserted, then it's social provision must be created. This will involve elimination of residual elements of the patriarchy, and divestiture of it's traditional parasites upon the body politic (vested interests).
We express our stake-holder roles via our sense of belonging, in various social & environmental contexts. Becoming communal invigorates community, yet we all pursue individual paths. The world currently requires us to be more communal than we have been in recent decades, so as to ensure our collective survival. We must develop rapport, and articulate our like-mindedness on issues of rights, equity, fairness and our common interests in each of our social contexts & group involvements, in relation to our environmental values and priorities.
manifesto
An alternative political movement coheres best when all have the same goals & plan. Operations are more effective when these are tacitly accepted but credibility in the eyes of others is only effected by documenting consensus. That requires articulation of a social charter, which can form the basis of a political manifesto. Few contenders are capable of the intellectual work required. Such documents will appear here only when members agree to content!
[Designer's note: A couple of decades past I did the party rules for the Greens successfully (several formal documents, including the constitution). Such output is essentially needs-driven. Ready willing & able to do it again if other contenders come to the party...]
[Designer's note: A couple of decades past I did the party rules for the Greens successfully (several formal documents, including the constitution). Such output is essentially needs-driven. Ready willing & able to do it again if other contenders come to the party...]
community
Community nowadays is non-traditional & ephemeral for most people, but a collapse of the global economy will trigger mass revival of community spirit so best to reconnect with your local matrix now. Online community development is desirable to spread like-mindedness & share solutions (see the Ark page).
We must reconnect with the natural basis for community & the economy: identify common ground and acknowledge common interests. We ought to establish equity and social justice as a foundation for collaboration and survival. This requires eliminating redundant and harmful economic and judicial systems. Comprehension of ethics remains tacit & partial, so community discussion would elucidate & help develop a consensus morality appropriate for the new century.
Regeneration of community also is facilitated via re-weaving traditional practices that retain relevance & utility, and folk wisdom into the new paradigm together with original insights, inventions and novel solutions to social problems that are essential to catalyse the requisite transformation.
We advocate reviving the steward as a positive role model because we understand that the stewardship ethic needs to be widely seen as a moral imperative. The collaborative effort required to ensure survival as we head into global warming is liable to seem impossible without volunteers who can show & teach others the arts and skills necessary for conserving and regenerating ecosystems. There's been a widespread lack of moral & ethical guidance in recent decades. Everyone agrees politicians are useless nowadays. Other traditional leaders (business, religions) perform poorly if at all. We continue to suffer the consequences - or we prioritise providing the required role model.
Guidance is a vital social function when everyone is faced with threats to their future of a global scale. Someone has to signal the way forward to provide hope to those who don't know what to do to avoid collective disaster. Better to have a group already functioning to provide such guidance on the basis of consensual comprehension of the threats and the best options for defeating or deflecting them. The Ark presents a design template for such a group.
We believe it will be necessary to further empower communities by improving their capacity for local decision-making. Governance must incorporate the principle of local autonomy, within the context of national sovereignty. People work together best when they see that collaboration can produce prompt results – enhancing local governance gains their confidence if they can verify mutually-beneficial outcomes. The steward functions as a care-taker when guidance includes the ability to secure necessary results.
We must reconnect with the natural basis for community & the economy: identify common ground and acknowledge common interests. We ought to establish equity and social justice as a foundation for collaboration and survival. This requires eliminating redundant and harmful economic and judicial systems. Comprehension of ethics remains tacit & partial, so community discussion would elucidate & help develop a consensus morality appropriate for the new century.
Regeneration of community also is facilitated via re-weaving traditional practices that retain relevance & utility, and folk wisdom into the new paradigm together with original insights, inventions and novel solutions to social problems that are essential to catalyse the requisite transformation.
We advocate reviving the steward as a positive role model because we understand that the stewardship ethic needs to be widely seen as a moral imperative. The collaborative effort required to ensure survival as we head into global warming is liable to seem impossible without volunteers who can show & teach others the arts and skills necessary for conserving and regenerating ecosystems. There's been a widespread lack of moral & ethical guidance in recent decades. Everyone agrees politicians are useless nowadays. Other traditional leaders (business, religions) perform poorly if at all. We continue to suffer the consequences - or we prioritise providing the required role model.
Guidance is a vital social function when everyone is faced with threats to their future of a global scale. Someone has to signal the way forward to provide hope to those who don't know what to do to avoid collective disaster. Better to have a group already functioning to provide such guidance on the basis of consensual comprehension of the threats and the best options for defeating or deflecting them. The Ark presents a design template for such a group.
We believe it will be necessary to further empower communities by improving their capacity for local decision-making. Governance must incorporate the principle of local autonomy, within the context of national sovereignty. People work together best when they see that collaboration can produce prompt results – enhancing local governance gains their confidence if they can verify mutually-beneficial outcomes. The steward functions as a care-taker when guidance includes the ability to secure necessary results.
paradigm
This refers to the collective world-view that underlies the mainstream consensus in society, thus forming everyone's perception of the common reality. Non-mainstreamers who have transcended this limitation need to consolidate their common ground of understanding lest idiosyncrasy handicaps them! Go to the paradigm page for in-depth considerations: the paradigm shift updated, key concepts etc.
