We all live in a world that is like an old adventure story : The ruling class or political class has taken over. Countries with millions of inhabitant are ruled by hundreds of people called politicians, and everything is now a political question. Very few matters are for you to decide as all matters are political. The politician’s rule is complete and unrestricted. Problems abound, but they can not be solved until politicians have had a say.
We live an illusion – the system does not work very well.
The democratic system as it is today works in intriguing ways. We have equipped it with a bottleneck where all things must pass. All things that shall enter the bottleneck must be carefully prepared, and they are. But further consideration is always needed. So there just is not enough room for what we want to do. And afterwards they can alway go back on what they said.
There are resources plentiful to achieve marvellous things, but we can not do it because the system has not said yes you can do it, it has not passed the bottleneck.
Further we have also allowed politics to expand beyound all reasonable limits. Now everything is politics, every little bit shall be decided by politicians, the political class are the rulers of their countries, and if this trend continues the political class will be the rulers of the world one day – in the not too distant future.
In spite of this power base there is also an enormous inability to fix things that have gone wrong: budgets, health care, foreign policy….The consequences of politics are nil, politicians are like vapour and goes up in thin air after the deed.
The bottleneck is not always full because many matters are under consideration and not ready for the bottleneck. But once it is ready for the bottleneck further consideration is always needed, we must consider it again, and again….
Many groups and participants are active in the process, they often work from hidden posistions, sometimes they seem to be able to stop things, in other cases they seem to make things pass the bottleneck very easily. This often comes as a surprise to those not in the know. Special interest groups understand the system very well, and can play it to perfection. The financiers are also in there, helping decisions develop beautifully.
This is how the democratic system works, and it truly is an adventure. All that shall be done must pass through this bottleneck. At the same time and as a consequence of this you are not allowed to do things on your own. You must always wait for the political decisions. This holds even if the resources are available, there is will to do it among many people, they have the ability to do what they say, you have already cleared the obstacles and are ready to start. You can do it now or at least in the near future.
If you want to build a railway it can not be done
If you want to fix the health care system it can not be done
If you want a new school it can not be done. If you want o change the school system it can not be done.
If you want to do things otherwise it can not be done.
If you want a balanced budget you can not have it.
If you want equality you can not have it, you ca not get rid of poverty
If you want – whatever – you can not have it – others have the right of authority so you must wait
The politicians – that we have elected – always have the final word on all matters big and small. They also mysteriously create all the jobs in a country. They tax us heavily so we have little money left. The government have the money so they can do things. The financiers also have money.
And then there are the laws and regulations. They keep pouring out, engulfing us, making us sit quite still. Your ability to get things done is severely and increasingly limited. You must have approvals for every little bit, or maybe you are taken and punished…. Often the laws are sloppy with indeterminate consequences.
But it has gone too far as we can no longer abide by all of the rules, but that does not matter, enforcement is long beyond the power we have put in place. Increasingly the question of power to do comes up – are politicians really authorized to do all they do?
But often there are no rules and regulations so the participants mysteriously can do whatever they want.
Politicians also meddle all the time, creating confusion, stopping people doing things. The word we get is that you have to wait, we are working on it.
The sum of all this is a modern democracy which is a society with a bottleneck where all things must pass. The bottleneck society, and that is where you live. The bottleneck is not getting smaller, no it stays the same, but what has to go through it steadily increases.
Remember that force is the essence of government, and why do we need somebody to use force? Why not consensus, voluntarism, freedom? The scale of government is too grand. It is time to think anew.
Frustration is everywhere – among us all. So where do we go from here?
We surely need changes. Not fewer politicians, but more: Everybody should become a politician, his own politician and decide by himself what to do. Get things you need doing done by yourself – it is easy really.
The consequences will be small. The politicians of today are so engulfed in their own devices that they will not notice.
The key principle is to let more people be able to do what they want. All we need for that is an unwritten be careful rule so you don’t harm anybody. Adam Smith called it moral sentiments, and he even wrote a book about that. Live by simple good morals and ethics and start doing what you want. And you know what – your country will become more democratic as you go along.
So let us do this awhile and we should think hard about what we are doing, then do more and more of the same, and gradually let it be the way things are done in our democracy. We would then have found the way forward! This is about dismantling restrictions, empowering individuals – and creating a new adventure story. Let freedom come.
So now is it – start doing what you want to do. It will be massive when people realize it is possible.