Democracy From Below

I have been an activist and student of social change for about 35 years. I'm curious about everything and love to create music, art, food, furniture, landscapes, ideas and solutions. I find inspiration in the ways that people come together to support each other and work to make the world better. My wife and I have four grown kids and currently teach and produce music and other arts from our home studio. We hope to help build and support our community through music and art with local events and on our website: 

https://neptunesmusic.net

Systemic oppression, pandemics, climate change, nuclear or biological hazards, genetic experimentation, and artificial intelligence are all global problems which can only be solved by humanity working cooperatively. Political systems often divide rather than unite us, yet communities everywhere are organizing themselves to meet basic human needs with little or no support from government. 

This project aims to empower grassroots organizations through a worldwide network to influence decision making on a global scale. We'll create a democratic, community based web-platform providing services which people around the world currently obtain from profit driven websites. To avoid the anti-social behaviours due to anonymity and fake accounts on social media, membership will require involvement in local community organizations. 

In this way we will simultaneously create a digital community centre, and a democratic system of governance for the world allowing for the first time equal participation in decision making for our collective future.

Humanity faces several existential threats with no functional way to solve problems on a global scale. States are in competition with each other which limits trust and cooperation. International initiatives and treaties are essentially unenforceable. The United Nations can only achieve what the five permanent security council members agree upon (which is rare) and has no power otherwise. Democracy is flawed because it was not designed to include everyone, being based on a model created hundreds of years ago for property owners to manage their collective interests. Despite the introduction of universal suffrage, politics remains dominated by powerful economic interests. Politicians with the most funding tend to be the ones elected. Many people don't vote viewing the system as corrupt. American politics has descended into partisan dysfunction unable to respond to this pandemic much less any ability to solve global problems. The internet has de-stabilized the political climate with people moving further into information bubbles and populism rising around the world. More than ever, humanity needs a truly democratic system in which all people can participate on an equal basis. Hoping for unity will not make that happen. We need a mechanism to bring it about.

With a democratically controlled, non-profit web-platform providing services which people currently obtain from profit driven websites, we will organize grassroots communities together into a worldwide network. 

A digital community centre for the world. 

Individual membership will require involvement in a local community organization thus avoiding anti-social behaviours which are rampant on the internet due to anonymity and fake accounts. We are all members of some community: our workplace; school; religious, cultural or political group; social or sports club; neighbourhood and many other options. As individuals join this platform we will be linking our communities together. 

Each community will elect representatives to a local decision making body. This network will provide the basis for democracy from below. Each local democratic group will send representatives to a higher decision making body. This process will continue until we reach national levels and an international decision making body for the world. Union federations already function democratically this way. 

The internet is a useful tool to organize ourselves but isn't dependable because it can go down periodically, be hijacked or destroyed. But we can use it to begin building a democratic system in the real world for everyone to cooperate on an equal basis.

Poor and oppressed people suffer all around the world under a political system which allows the wealthy to control decision making, both locally and globally. Choices are made by those with financial power in their own interests while those without usually pay the highest price for the consequences. This project will give all humans an equal voice in deciding our collective future.

Humans tell stories. We use them to teach skills, remember the past, plan for the future and explain how the world works to each other. Stories told by powerful people have more influence than others. The printing press, followed by other forms of centralized media, allowed greater control of ideas and concentration of power. The internet has removed financial obstacles so creative thinkers can now spread their ideas for free, benefitting from the control of people’s attention and data. But the majority of those traditionally left behind still don't benefit.

With a truly democratic system humanity will be able to make decisions which benefit all equally.

Humans are social animals with a nature of empathy and cooperation and lived in small egalitarian groups before the discovery of agriculture. That wealth of food led to social divisions and control of property by a small group which has been the human condition for 10,000 years. 

While power and decision making remain in the hands of a small number of people, the interests of the majority will not be met. This project will elevate those who are traditionally left behind to that of equals in deciding humanity's future.

I've been developing this project for almost thirty years, but it was while reading Roger McNamee’s book: Zucked - Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe that the missing piece suddenly occurred to me. A democratically run social media platform could provide an alternative to facebook and all of the profit based platforms currently existing. With my background in social and community activism I began to see that by merging platform cooperativism with local democracy we could actually build a mechanism for all to participate equally in decision making.

To watch the news, how can anyone not be horrified. This year marked the fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day on April 22nd. Humanity should have been focused on stopping the climate catastrophe we're heading for, but we were all preoccupied with the pandemic. Then we had several brutal reminders of the systemic racism our world is filled with. All of these are preventable consequences of a system which allows a small minority of powerful people to make the rules we all live by. I am so deeply disturbed by the injustice, senseless suffering and irreversible harm to the entire biosphere that I have to do whatever I can. I believe the majority of humanity wants a more just and equal world but currently have no way to organize ourselves to achieve it. I'm also convinced that this project can change the world because it is based on a simple mechanism which doesn't require the majority of people's ideas to change first. We can't wait for that.

I've always been curious about everything and driven to find solutions to even the smallest of problems. This one happens to be the biggest. I can't deliver this project on my own and have no desire to remain in a position of leadership, but rather look forward to being one part of a team brainstorming ideas to bring it to life. I believe that collective leadership is always better than an individual leader. Humans share ideas and can always create more and better in groups. I've been an activist and organizer since the 1980s involved with many different social justice issues. I think I have a lot to bring to the table and hope to meet many others at that table.

I believe that challenges and failure are how we learn to improve ourselves and our ideas. With each attempt to convince people of the possibilities this project offers, I believe that I've learned to communicate my ideas better. We each have a unique perspective and understand the world and ideas through that lens. If I fail to convince someone, then I see it as my challenge to find a better way to explain my idea. 

I've been working towards this project all of my adult life and have been continuously trying to improve the logic of the idea with the goal of convincing everyone of it's possibilities.

I worked in the 1990s in a group home for children from dysfunctional families. While the mission statement of the organization was excellent, the reality of underfunding and mis-management was making those children's lives worse in my opinion. I helped organize a union drive for the frontline workers of the organization and I believe the conditions are much better for all involved now.

My wife and I are self-employed with our home studio: Neptunes Music Workshops. We teach, record and produce for our income and organize events which are not for income but encourage the celebration of music and art in local communities. 

example: http://ottawagrassrootsfestiva...

This project: Democracy From Below is something I've been working on in my spare time and is not-for-profit.

By bringing true democracy to decision making in society, this project goes to the root of the system and will open up possibilities for many other projects to benefit humanity which may not have been chosen otherwise if they aren't in the interests of powerful decision makers. One world community deciding and working together can bring desperately needed changes, hopefully before it's too late.

Humans are social animals with a nature of empathy and cooperation, sharing ideas and living in small egalitarian communities until the discovery of agriculture. That surplus of food led to population growth and social divisions allowing a small minority to take control. We have been divided in most societies ever since, with a powerful minority deciding our collective future in their economic interests. Powerful leaders have always promoted ideas which rationalize this inequality, whether the divine rights of kings, or racism to justify the African slave trade and European imperialism's theft of land around the world. The ideas of powerful people tend to have greater influence over society. Most people accept that that there will always be inequality and injustice, pointing to 'human nature' as the cause. That's not true though, or humans would never have been able to cooperate. For the majority of people's ideas to change though, we will first have to change the power dynamic which allows some people's ideas to dominate.

Building the Democracy From Below platform is the first step. Then we'll have to convince people to join and use it. Activists and organizations working for social change will be the easiest to convince, so creating tools for such work on the platform will help with this. Next we'll need translators to make the platform accessible to all. 

Humans have lived in competitive societies governed from above for so long that it will take time for us to learn how to use democracy together. Our democratic network will have influence in parts of the world before others, but useful ideas spread quickly. Gradually the current political systems (democratic or not) will become less and less relevant. Partisan political divisions will be less important as individuals debate ideas in their communities rather than simply cheer for 'their side'. The reason a small minority has controlled the world for so long has been by dividing and conquering the majority. The people united will never be defeated. We can then learn together what humanity's potential really is.

As this project is at the theoretical stage it can't serve any one until it reaches a tipping point. The designing of the web platform will take several months I believe, but within a year should be serving several hundred communities and and tens of thousands of individuals. These will all be english speaking communities until translations can be made for the platform. Within five years I believe we can unite the world in a democratic forum and serve all of humanity.

Building the platform.

Convincing people to join and use it.

Organizing communities into democratic networks.

Growing the democratic network globally.

1  The first barrier is my lack of programming skills. 

2  Once the platform is up we'll need to convince people to join and use it.

3  Then we'll need translations for accessibility around the world.

4  As the platform grows we will need to raise funds for and build network infrastructure.

1  With programming support we can build the platform. 

2  Reaching out to and partnering with community groups and activists will bring membership and begin to build the network.

3  Translation: if volunteers aren't available translators may need to be paid which will require fundraising.

4  Seek out partners for fundraising.

The value that this project provides is a better world for all. The platform itself will provide a safe space on the internet to avoid the abuse which some people suffer on many social media platforms. The democratic organizing of communities around the world will allow humanity as a whole to begin choosing investments in people's need rather than the needs of corporations to make profit. 

Everything the prize offers will help make this project a reality. Financial support would allow me to work full time on it. Access to mentorship, coaching and experts in programming and platform design specifically are the most useful. I am not a programmer and so am unable to build the platform that I envision, but I know that it would need to be flexible and open to change so that as more people join, it would be able to adapt. But I'm sure that you could say the same of any website that wants to grow. 

Once the platform is created we will need to convince people to join and use it. Access to professional development services, and connections to a powerful network of influencers, industry leaders, and subject-matter experts will be very helpful.

I know that once this project gets established and gains some momentum it will grow and change the world. Class division began for humans ten thousand years ago when the discovery of agriculture provided an abundance of wealth. We've been divided over control of the earth's resources ever since. We have a opportunity to live in a world without divisions for the first time in millennia. Thanks for your consideration.

The goal of this project is to unite all organizations in the world, so I would like to partner with every one because each represents a community. That said, here is a list of organizations and individuals I would reach out to first:

For design and programming support: 

Platform Cooperative Consortium, Loomio.org, Democracy.earth, Wikimedia Foundation, Team Human, Tristan Harris, Trebor Scholz

For organizing communities:

(Re) Humans, Civic Hall.org, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), Black Lives Matter, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, Extinction Rebellion, Vandana Shiva, bell hooks, Desmond Tutu, Cornell West, Greta Thunberg, David Suzuki, Noam Chomsky

For fundraising:

The Rise Fund, Climate Emergency Fund

For infrastructure design and construction:

The U.S. Green Building Council, Canada Green Building council, Sys.eco (for full disclosure - my brother is involved with this organization)