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Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only. www.brucenixon.com In today’s world, genuine participatory democracy is a necessity. To bring about the necessary system change, we need to “get the whole system into the room.” Not only do we need to reform our own democracy; global democracy is needed. Government has not understood the need for processes that involve people in bringing about a great transformation. Elite gatherings like the World Economic Forum in Davos, the G8 or G20 are simply unacceptable. It cannot be democratic when small groups of rich, powerful people, out of touch with how most people live, strongly influenced by big corporations, make vital strategic decisions for the future of the world. At a recent G20 meeting, there was only one representative from the whole of Africa. Gatherings of political and business leaders, media tycoons and celebrities together in places, like the Rothschild villa in Corfu are distasteful and subvert democracy. Political leaders are too susceptible to blandishments. We cannot bring about fundamental change when governments are more influenced by corporate interests than those of people. It’s bound to lead to flawed solutions. We have only a “sort of democracy.” We are extremely lucky to live in one of the better democracies, compared with countries run by tyrants, where corruption is extreme and order has broken down. Yet it is only a relative democracy, unfit for the enormous challenges the whole world faces. Our democracy should be a beacon. But it is not, especially in the areas of genuine involvement, human rights and civil liberties. Our liberties are always under threat: e.g. plans, many now abandoned, for a massive data base monitoring e- mails, phone calls and internet use; the National Identity Card and National Identity Register storing vast amounts of personal data; plans to compromise data privacy; allowing government to alter any Act of Parliament and cancel rules of confidentiality to use information obtained for one purpose to be used for another. The media and press play a major part in obstructing change and keeping things as they are. For democracy to work, citizens need to be well-informed. Rupert Murdock’s papers can sway the outcome of elections. We need is informed analysis and positive news about good models, solutions, best practice from all over the world. Marx referred to religion as “the opiate of the people”. Today, the media fills this role. It depresses people and diverts energy from addressing the real priorities. Leaders, who should focus on long term priorities and bold strategic action, constantly respond to daily media sensationalism. That said the UK media do expose some things that business and politicians would prefer to keep from the public. They rely on sensational headlines, unbalanced opinion and gossip about leaders and celebrities in the battle to survive. The media do not give prominence to the radical ideas that would transform the situation. I intend to do that in Part Two. We collude with this system and we pay for it with poor government. We could buy better papers. Reform rarely comes from within a system. It happens on the boundary, driven by pressures from outside. We have to make it happen through relentless pressure. Reforming our democracy is agonisingly slow. Governments are reluctant to concede power. We need a far greater degree of enlightened participation and involvement. We must get proper proportional representation. The twentieth century produced perhaps a dozen or so great leaders – e.g. Mahatma Gandhi, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mikhail Gorbachev and Clement Attlee and Nye 32
Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only. www.brucenixon.com Bevan, who brought in the NHS. We need leaders like these who can inspire and enrol citizens in a great endeavour. We need political leaders with the vision, integrity and holistic education essential for national and global leadership. When bold, far-sighted vision is required, a tactical 4-5 year political mindset is too short. Prime Ministers need to tell the nation the stark truth about the severity of our situation and provide an inspiring vision and a clear well thought out strategy. So, again, why do we, 6.7 billion of us, put up with it? Why do we, allow a small number of people to impose their will? Why are most of us so quiescent? Vast numbers of people in Western countries are disengaged from party politics and increasingly turn to campaigning through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and independent research organisations. These can be extremely successful in bringing about change, especially when they collaborate in coalitions. The Jubilee 2000 Coalition brought about debt cancellation for very poor countries and the Green New Deal Coalition is making an impact. The good news: we could be on the threshold of a benign revolution. There is an alternative to the consumer society: an economy that focuses on sustainability, the wellbeing of people everywhere, economic justice and ending violence. Part of the answer must be a “steady state economy”, especially in mature developed countries. That need not lead to unemployment. On the contrary, a Green Economy can provide all kinds of new opportunities for forward thinking entrepreneurs, worthwhile employment and prosperity. A growing consensus for change In a recent Fabian-YouGov poll in UK, 70% agreed that "those at the top are failing to pay their fair share towards investment in public services" and 55% of those polled blamed reckless lending by the banks for the credit crunch. 80% believe that bonuses should “reward long-term success rather than short-term performance”. A recent Harris poll found public opinion "strikingly consistent" across Europe, Asia and the US, with large majorities protesting that the gap between rich and poor has grown too wide - 74% in the UK and 78% in the US. Clear majorities in all the countries polled said that taxes should be raised for the rich and lowered for the poor. Breakthroughs The Green New Deal Coalition put forward proposals, published by the New Economics Foundation (nef), full of exciting, radical, well thought out ideas, elaborated in Chapter 9. The phrase, Green New Deal, has entered the vocabulary all over the world. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a Green Economy Initiative. It calls for comprehensive, joined- up action by politicians throughout the world. In USA, Barack Obama signed a Green Stimulus Initiative planning to invest $15bn annually in renewable energy over the next decade, thus creating 5m new jobs – if reactionary forces will let him! The US Apollo Alliance, an alliance of business and unions which has existed for many years, offers a ten point plan. The Green for All Group in the Centre for American Progress is a coalition of the Sierra Club and United Steel Workers Union , set up to build an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. By advocating local, state and federal commitment to job creation, job training, and entrepreneurial opportunities in the emerging green economy, especially for people from disadvantaged communities, fights both poverty and pollution at the same time. The UK Local Government Association called for a Green New Deal, urging Government to spend at least 20% of their economic recovery package on green programmes - Putting people first – Creating Green Jobs. 33
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