We burn witches in politics. We sell out democracy and ignore accountability- we’ve forsaken a better future.
In the last post, I made the point that we do the equivalent of burning witches in medicine and elsewhere. By “burning witches” I mean we labor under falsehoods and make dire decisions.
We always need people with different points of view. And, we need to listen to them more closely for truth. Especially when it seems well thought out.
We Burn Witches in Politics
Did you know that there are people who are completely convinced that it’s impossible to fix our political system?
Consider that the internet was completely unthinkable a few decades ago. A few decades before that, TV was unthinkable. Radio was invented in 1895- and at the time, no one imagined that in a few decades most people would own one. Believing that things are impossible is unnecessary and increasingly wrong.
Our political system is controlled by no natural laws. It’s completely controlled by customs, beliefs, rules and laws. All of them we can change.
Plus we can apply the very sophisticated art of marketing to politics. Of the near-thousand people I’ve talked to about PeopleCount, most came around to wanting to try it. Most of those people, when I talked to them later, had gone back to thinking it was impossible. I talk to a few of those people regularly. Over the years, I’ve disabused them of the impossibility of PeopleCount’s vision. And now, they have a different opinion.
Some people it’s possible, for about $1 million
Instead of thinking that fixing politics is impossible, they think it could be done with a marketing budget of a half million or so. (Note: $1m is about 1/7 of 1% of the money donated to congressional elections this year…)
So people who have spent time thinking deeply about it thinks we could completely transform politics with about a million dollars.
With nowhere near that amount of money, they think I’ll fail. But that’s okay. If I can make a bit of noise and show people that it’s possible, either I can get funding after, or someone with money will come along and build on the idea. (I just hope they don’t have a partisan bent because a) that won’t work. And b) it could cause a fair bit of disaster…)
But my point is, between the malleability of people and culture, the sophistication of marketing these days, and the huge untapped potential of the internet, fixing politics is possible. It’s doable.
Those who think it’s not have sold out democracy and forsaken a better future.
The only things stopping us are:
1) The myth that it’s impossible.
2) Lack of courage by people with money.
3) My lack of progress and help.
I’ll get back to it. Please ensure your email address is on our mailing list. And you’re welcome to be especially courageous and make a donation on the same page.