Personal Democracy Forum 2008
Note by David GalielDavid_Galiel:
Hanna arendt - the capacity for every person to begin new
Walt Whitman "great internet poet" never better time to begin than now
The future we create will largely be a result of the things we choose to value
- industrial viewpoint/language vs democracy viewpoint/language
-industrial - mass, efficiency, cleverness of extracting resources
we tend right now to use the language of the industrial mode
- look at brilliance of indiv. inventors
- tapping resources
democratic mode - distributing power
- citizenship not volunteering
organization not mobilization
using what architecture we can to being power back to individuals and small groups of people
build architectures where people actually have power and the capacity to begin
historic model of American associations - our innovation
in recent past: 5% of Americans were presidents of an association, had the means to effect change
we have lost the political understanding and local infrastructure to handle crises like foreclosure, bas prices
now, we he the internet, it's even more possible, easier than 60 years ago. So, where are today's associations?
The measure it not how many people have contributed, but how many people around you know how to organize, know how to make change
We have to choose between the industrial and democratic models
- is an individual a citizen or a useful volunteer
- mobilize or empower
Walt Whitman "great internet poet" never better time to begin than now
The future we create will largely be a result of the things we choose to value
- industrial viewpoint/language vs democracy viewpoint/language
-industrial - mass, efficiency, cleverness of extracting resources
we tend right now to use the language of the industrial mode
- look at brilliance of indiv. inventors
- tapping resources
democratic mode - distributing power
- citizenship not volunteering
organization not mobilization
using what architecture we can to being power back to individuals and small groups of people
build architectures where people actually have power and the capacity to begin
historic model of American associations - our innovation
in recent past: 5% of Americans were presidents of an association, had the means to effect change
we have lost the political understanding and local infrastructure to handle crises like foreclosure, bas prices
now, we he the internet, it's even more possible, easier than 60 years ago. So, where are today's associations?
The measure it not how many people have contributed, but how many people around you know how to organize, know how to make change
We have to choose between the industrial and democratic models
- is an individual a citizen or a useful volunteer
- mobilize or empower
