Changing the game?

Before some of you go apoplectic and smell the air of revolution in the air, let me reassure you that I'm not saying everything we have and believe is crap. Far from it. Even though I have made a big deal of, say, Germany's recent election, to me this is just an example of a much larger issue. Even though Germany has a pluralistic democracy, what comes out in the end, is really not as pluralistic as it first appears. Just like the Americans, for example, who decided (in true Enlightenment fashion) for a first-past-the-post democratic republic which encourages ignoring the others, in most pluralistic democratic republics, the tendency has been to simply ignore the rest anyway by just looking at what is, never even thinking about what-is-not.

But, it's not that easy anymore. The what-is-not has means at its disposal to remind everyone that there are other ways of looking at things. This was, and remains, the most noticeable (and admirable) aspect of the Occupy movement. They may not be an organized political force, we may not hear a lot from them these days, but they are still in our minds and we still know that they are around. Groups, movements, and the like that can make themselves known are much harder to ignore. And that's what has changed. In those days when news traveled slowly, it was perfectly acceptable to act upon the knowledge one had because it was easy enough to convince others that there was nothing else to be known. By the time the other views reached the center (or capital), it was often simply too late. Things aren't like that anymore. We have instantaneous communication, ever more people are coming online (either through computers or cellphones), and those who are in power at any given time have to deal with the fact that just about anything they do is subject to scrutiny. Simple or contrived majorities or landslide victories are soon revealed for what they are: fictions. You can say you represent the will of the people, but it is getting more and more difficult to ignore the people. The powers-that-be (TPTB) still try, but it is getting harder.

Whenever TPTB are challenged, the reactions are harsh. The more they are challenged, the harsher the reactions. It's not right, grant you, but I do understand the psychology and logic involved. They are in the spotlight, they have to change, and they don't know how. They've become, in essence, economic and political "flat-earthers". For those of them that can read and for those of them who have been willing to read a little history know that their days are numbered and they are going to go the way of the dinosaurs and dodos, which is what they, in the end, actually are.

Fortunately, there are a lot of folks who have washed their hands of the "way things are" and just do them differently. This is where employee-owned businesses, cooperatives, regional currencies, local environmental activists, and more come in. They are not playing the old game, they are redefining how the game is played. They realize that there are lots of ways around the system ... at least those parts of it that just don't work anymore. Anyone who is concerned about their future, or the future of their children or grandchildren, need to start taking these alternatives seriously.

What these alternatives demonstrate, on a daily basis, is that many of our perceptions are simply wrong. There doesn't have to be one strong leader or nothing works. There doesn't have to be particularized vested interests to make things happen. There is no reason why money should be the domain of just a few or why it should play such a dominant role in our lives. In simplest terms, they are showing that there simply are viable, workable, and adaptable alternatives. They haven't reached a tipping point yet, but they will sooner or later. We'll all be much better off if we take the time to reflect on our own perceptions and consider what the alternatives have to offer.