Thank you for this. My main message to everyone is that what the world needs more than anything else is for people to collectively focus on building an alternative to the right wing. We need to orient ourselves toward a constructive mindset and then act on it.
I had to agree with most of your essay. People will have to get off their butt and put some effort into the future. Nothing is guaranteed, but lessons will be learned.
I have not been doing your suggested building for a long time. Health issues and raising a family consume a lot of time and energy. I generally do not do well if I have too many appointments and obligations. What spare time and energy I have goes to my mission to improve democracy.
To change the world, I spent six years as an active member of a Canadian political party. Many, many hours spent on this engagement. I came to the conclusion the system is quite dysfunctional--and I had been wasting my time. I quit and never returned to politics.
Governance by political parties is the disease. We need a system of more independent thinkers, just like the founding fathers of the American Constitution had envisioned.
Anyway, I have outlined how a party-less system should work. We will need to learn some new things.
I too call on "builders" to step up. Actually I call them "TDG builders." They will face similar challenges stated in your essay.
The tasks for TDG builders are more concrete than the tasks for the builders of your essay. Maybe this will be something easier for people to get the heads around. The TDG only asks for 10 hours a month----and it does not put them in the culture of conflict, contention, and contention we have today. The TDG builders will be developing more collaborative approaches to solving problems.
Anyways, you have a good essay that is quite honest of why and how to move forward. So many political writers believe they have the magical solution.
Dave thank you for this thorough and insightful response. I’ll check out your essay- looking forward to it actually. I think more than physical energy, what’s needed is mental energy. The mentality of building. Everyone has busy lives and politics is complex and energy intensive just as a spectator sport. My hope is to inspire people to get into the “builder mindset” if not outright building. Anyway- thank you for reading and engaging, have a great day!
They are also available for Kindle and Kobo. I will understand if you don't want to donate to these corporate entities.
When I was younger, I had time for business, politics, and outings with friends. Not so much energy these days. I get to promote the TDG on my own time, which makes this activity easier than others.
Another wonderful article, Chevan - although I confess I feel ill equipped. I am trying to keep it very small...just in my small complex, to help each other and protect our freedom and peace.
Hi Joonbug, thanks for the read and the comment. Honestly, I believe being a builder in your mind is the right start. Not everyone can get out and take action, but having the mentality of a builder orients and aligns us in what we think is acceptable and not acceptable. Be a builder!
There is a lot here I agree with. I try myself to be a builder, of free and open source software systems. I believe that FOSS is the most obvious place to start building. But just building in the digital world will not be enough. I am interested in your article, because I dont really see a clear way forward.
To me building is a mentality first: an activity second. You clearly have the mentality- it’s obvious by the way you engaged with this post. My writing in 2025 primarily centered around economic mythology… sharing what I learned. I recommend starting with “Economics is Not a Science”. Part of building is ensuring you have a strong foundation… part of what makes our current politics seem so hopless is it all seems to be a zero-sum-game: it’s not. We’ve been engineered to think that because of economic mythology. We have more options. Read some of those essays- there’s been good engagement on many of them in the comment section and there is a lot to learn there. But if the skepticism and disbelief washes over you feel free to drop your own comment in and I’m happy to provide my 2 cents or clarify a point. Have a great day, thank you for reading and engaging.
I agree with most of what you say. I have followed a similar path. Maybe one place where I would disagree is the following. By now we have even abandoned what was good in economic science. For example, while Hayek argued that freedom is functional (because knowledge is local), the new paradigm emphasizes that competition is for losers, that monopolies are efficient (economies of scale), and that freedom is a maladaption (as Hanson argued the other day). Similarly, economists used to argue that capitalism works because it is not a zero-sum game and everybody wins in the long run. Now, we need to centralize AI because it is weapon-grade technology and China is our enemy. Etc, etc, ...
When economists used to argue that- it was when the bulk of a nations economy was contained within the borders: production and labor. International trade is fine, displacing labor is terrible.. the U.S. has completely hollowed out the consumer class and enabled the worst kind of capital class disparity. That being said, I think it can be addressed -IF- people want to understand the resources and assets of our system and demand we use them. I don't think it's just a "long-shot", I think it's our only hope.
Thank you for this. My main message to everyone is that what the world needs more than anything else is for people to collectively focus on building an alternative to the right wing. We need to orient ourselves toward a constructive mindset and then act on it.
Hello Chevan
I had to agree with most of your essay. People will have to get off their butt and put some effort into the future. Nothing is guaranteed, but lessons will be learned.
I have not been doing your suggested building for a long time. Health issues and raising a family consume a lot of time and energy. I generally do not do well if I have too many appointments and obligations. What spare time and energy I have goes to my mission to improve democracy.
To change the world, I spent six years as an active member of a Canadian political party. Many, many hours spent on this engagement. I came to the conclusion the system is quite dysfunctional--and I had been wasting my time. I quit and never returned to politics.
Governance by political parties is the disease. We need a system of more independent thinkers, just like the founding fathers of the American Constitution had envisioned.
Anyway, I have outlined how a party-less system should work. We will need to learn some new things.
I too call on "builders" to step up. Actually I call them "TDG builders." They will face similar challenges stated in your essay.
The tasks for TDG builders are more concrete than the tasks for the builders of your essay. Maybe this will be something easier for people to get the heads around. The TDG only asks for 10 hours a month----and it does not put them in the culture of conflict, contention, and contention we have today. The TDG builders will be developing more collaborative approaches to solving problems.
Anyways, you have a good essay that is quite honest of why and how to move forward. So many political writers believe they have the magical solution.
Dave thank you for this thorough and insightful response. I’ll check out your essay- looking forward to it actually. I think more than physical energy, what’s needed is mental energy. The mentality of building. Everyone has busy lives and politics is complex and energy intensive just as a spectator sport. My hope is to inspire people to get into the “builder mindset” if not outright building. Anyway- thank you for reading and engaging, have a great day!
Hello Chevan
My four books are available for a free read from my website:
https://tiereddemocraticgovernance.org/tdg_blog.php
Click "Books"
They are also available for Kindle and Kobo. I will understand if you don't want to donate to these corporate entities.
When I was younger, I had time for business, politics, and outings with friends. Not so much energy these days. I get to promote the TDG on my own time, which makes this activity easier than others.
Dave
Damn! So beautifully written with concise explanations! I felt hopeful and educated. Thanks! I shared this on my FB page :)
-A new fan of yours now!
Thank you! Let’s build together.
Another wonderful article, Chevan - although I confess I feel ill equipped. I am trying to keep it very small...just in my small complex, to help each other and protect our freedom and peace.
Hi Joonbug, thanks for the read and the comment. Honestly, I believe being a builder in your mind is the right start. Not everyone can get out and take action, but having the mentality of a builder orients and aligns us in what we think is acceptable and not acceptable. Be a builder!
There is a lot here I agree with. I try myself to be a builder, of free and open source software systems. I believe that FOSS is the most obvious place to start building. But just building in the digital world will not be enough. I am interested in your article, because I dont really see a clear way forward.
To me building is a mentality first: an activity second. You clearly have the mentality- it’s obvious by the way you engaged with this post. My writing in 2025 primarily centered around economic mythology… sharing what I learned. I recommend starting with “Economics is Not a Science”. Part of building is ensuring you have a strong foundation… part of what makes our current politics seem so hopless is it all seems to be a zero-sum-game: it’s not. We’ve been engineered to think that because of economic mythology. We have more options. Read some of those essays- there’s been good engagement on many of them in the comment section and there is a lot to learn there. But if the skepticism and disbelief washes over you feel free to drop your own comment in and I’m happy to provide my 2 cents or clarify a point. Have a great day, thank you for reading and engaging.
I agree with most of what you say. I have followed a similar path. Maybe one place where I would disagree is the following. By now we have even abandoned what was good in economic science. For example, while Hayek argued that freedom is functional (because knowledge is local), the new paradigm emphasizes that competition is for losers, that monopolies are efficient (economies of scale), and that freedom is a maladaption (as Hanson argued the other day). Similarly, economists used to argue that capitalism works because it is not a zero-sum game and everybody wins in the long run. Now, we need to centralize AI because it is weapon-grade technology and China is our enemy. Etc, etc, ...
When economists used to argue that- it was when the bulk of a nations economy was contained within the borders: production and labor. International trade is fine, displacing labor is terrible.. the U.S. has completely hollowed out the consumer class and enabled the worst kind of capital class disparity. That being said, I think it can be addressed -IF- people want to understand the resources and assets of our system and demand we use them. I don't think it's just a "long-shot", I think it's our only hope.