Yes, quality education is essential for developing our collective awareness! Waldorf education, with its focus on educating the 'whole child,' may provide us with a blueprint.
I'm so glad to see such a in-depth discussion of Democracy for Realists. Over the past several years I've been amazed that the book didn't get more traction and dismayed that most political discussions in the press and elsewhere take for granted what Achen and Bartels have dubbed the "folk theory of democracy." Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, there is an uncritical acceptance of the idea that at the end of the day voters will more-or-less vote according to a somewhat reality-based agenda that reflects their own interests. One would hope that the 2024 political cycle could inspire some scepticism about the folk theory of democracy, but I'm not holding my breath...
Thanks Brandon. I think you should lean more into emergence here and identity the individuals as creating the corporate. Social organization is to complicated to be addressed at the level of the individual, therefore we aggregate and integrate. There are kernels of ideas exploration, but generally idea propagate within pre-existing cultural frameworks.
Most people exist within a corporate (next order body: church, party, business, cultural cluster, etc) by taking on the worldview and values of that corporate, then implementing and evolving those ideas within their narrow sphere of influence. High impact nodes consolidate and propagate knowledge, but speaking within the culture of the corporate. People need the cultural corpus to provide both context and purpose. Optimally this is a thoughtful, rich spiritual home; sometimes it's a Trump rally.
The tensions and clashes between the cultures and bodies are real and effective. We need tension between freedom and security, justice and mercy, unity and diversity etc. Sometimes a culture is destructive to a point it must be killed. I guess I see democracy as an playing field for the corporates; they will just as easily play on another field. I also would strongly suggest that "better education" is not enough. We need better culture and community; preferably revitalizing existing institutions from within.
Yes, quality education is essential for developing our collective awareness! Waldorf education, with its focus on educating the 'whole child,' may provide us with a blueprint.
I'm so glad to see such a in-depth discussion of Democracy for Realists. Over the past several years I've been amazed that the book didn't get more traction and dismayed that most political discussions in the press and elsewhere take for granted what Achen and Bartels have dubbed the "folk theory of democracy." Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, there is an uncritical acceptance of the idea that at the end of the day voters will more-or-less vote according to a somewhat reality-based agenda that reflects their own interests. One would hope that the 2024 political cycle could inspire some scepticism about the folk theory of democracy, but I'm not holding my breath...
Thanks Brandon. I think you should lean more into emergence here and identity the individuals as creating the corporate. Social organization is to complicated to be addressed at the level of the individual, therefore we aggregate and integrate. There are kernels of ideas exploration, but generally idea propagate within pre-existing cultural frameworks.
Most people exist within a corporate (next order body: church, party, business, cultural cluster, etc) by taking on the worldview and values of that corporate, then implementing and evolving those ideas within their narrow sphere of influence. High impact nodes consolidate and propagate knowledge, but speaking within the culture of the corporate. People need the cultural corpus to provide both context and purpose. Optimally this is a thoughtful, rich spiritual home; sometimes it's a Trump rally.
The tensions and clashes between the cultures and bodies are real and effective. We need tension between freedom and security, justice and mercy, unity and diversity etc. Sometimes a culture is destructive to a point it must be killed. I guess I see democracy as an playing field for the corporates; they will just as easily play on another field. I also would strongly suggest that "better education" is not enough. We need better culture and community; preferably revitalizing existing institutions from within.