We get caught up in the world of dualities so easily.  Is it something natural within us humans to think in terms of “either/or” rather than the more realistic spectrum?  Even the spectrum articulates a false duality by stating that any idea must fit between point one or point two.  In the United States, we have a set place for the Republican Party and a set place for the Democratic Party.  You are supposed to find your place on this spectrum.

No matter how hard you try, you’ll never find your place.  Even if you agree with the Democrats on social issues, you may agree with the Republicans on spending.  You may think there are important issues that neither party is addressing (If you don’t, try reading some material on subjects that our government never seems to address).  You may be on the fringe with some subjects and a complete centrist on others.

No two people will share exact thoughts on how our world should be governed.  It should take at least five parties to make it feel like we are being truly represented.  The more choices we are given, the better chance we have of being represented.   We must stray away from the thoughts that place things in black and white.

The most important symptom of this duality complex that I have come across revolves around the Cold War and the years that have followed.  The Cold War left of with the largest governing duality we have ever encountered as a species: Capitalism or Communism.  Almost every country on the planet took sides in this fight.  Even though Capitalism won out, the fight for idealism is still ongoing.

Is this a false duality?  With Capitalism, le se faire economic is supposed to reign.  The idea is that if the government keeps its hands off, the market will regulate itself.  With Communism, the bureaucracy commands the market.  The idea is that if the government is in control for the market, they can make sure the needs of the people are met.

Both Capitalism and Communism have failed.  Capitalism procured the Great Depression and handed an absurd amount of wealth over to the 1% before the government realized they had to step in.  Communism procured the Soviet Union and one of the largest economic collapses on the back of a defunct bureaucracy.  Neither met the needs of the people.

What went wrong?  Capitalism promised to take care of the people.  It failed.  It took care of the 1% and gave them control.  Communism promised to take care of the people.  It failed.  It took care of those in the bureaucracy it created.  The post-1989 world has found a medium between these two—with Socialism becoming a norm.

In 2008, we realized this was not a happy medium.  Those in Wall Street ran away with untold billions as the world economy collapsed—leaving millions unemployed and without a portfolio to retire.  No one was even arrested for collapse.  Now, as we walk away from the disaster, I fear that we have learned little.  We know not how to fix our terribly broken system.  We fought, sure, but nothing was decided.  Now we carry on as if everything is okay.  Must we wait for a bigger collapse to fix what is already terribly broken?

The modern duality is false.  The spectrum we rely on is broken.  We continually try to find our place between Capitalism and Communism.  We are not finding the happy medium because there is no happy medium.  There is a third way.  There is probably even a fourth and a fifth way, but we have to start somewhere.  We must not hold tight to what we have.

But where to start?  You must start with an unachievable goal.  This is a goal that you strive towards, but understand that you will never truly get there because utopia is impossible.  In America we strive for our freedoms for almost 200 years.  In the fifty years that we’ve declared ourselves the “freest country in the world,” we have watched our freedoms deteriorate.  If a people understand that their goal is one to aim at, but never to fully achieve, they will never be satisfied with what is.

What is the goal?  When I look at the world around me, I see constant advances in social issues.  It is an issue that will continue to be pushed by all of us.  However, it is a sideline distraction to the main show—to change the purpose of the world economy.  Currently, our state of International Socialism serves the 1% and the people who run the governments of the world.  We understand that this is wrong.  But this is where we stall.  How to shift the power from them to the people?

Goal: To develop a True Democracy.
Meaning: Take the Republic we have and stripe away all forms of representation.  All votes will belong to the people.

The True Democracy should change the current state of the government and the economy—giving control over to the voice of the people.  The Republic we have has shown its ugly face with insatiable corruption.  Representatives only limit our personal freedom.  The more control we hand over to the people, the more freedom they will have.

We tried to let the market regulate the economy.  It failed.  We tried to let the government regulate the economy.  It failed.  We must let the people regulate the economy.  In the world that is forming, this is now possible.  A majority of people in the Western World are now connected in one way or another.  Imagine a True Democracy where the bureaucracy’s main job is compiling petitions submitted by common people and preparing for weekly votes.

Just Imagine.  You’ll be used to the idea that every Tuesday, you sit down at home, do a secure logon into a voting website, and cast your vote.   This week you have to vote of five measures.  Three Local.  One Statewide.  One Nationwide.  Two of the local ones are about annexing small amounts of land.  You’ve been reading about it this week in the paper.  The other local issue is about allocating $500,000 from the general fund to the local school.  Statewide, you are voting on what needs to be cut from the budget in order to balance it.  Nationwide, you are voting on whether or not to condemn North Korea for their attack against Japan.

We have the technology.  We have the need.  We know what we want to change.  Now we must affect the spirit of change into the hearts of the general population.  The change is significant.  It will be fought.  Is it possible to overcome?  Yes.  But only if we start with the heart of the people.

2 January 2012