Friends, I'd like to extend my congratulations to George Sranko and all the folks in Victoria who have recently convened their second successful Wisdom Council. (George's announcement message is below). Congratulations as well to Ian Dakers and the folks who have put together an excellent website describing the event, with several video clips that show us the energy and excitement of the Council and the public meeting that followed - <http://www.WiseDemocracyVictoria.wetpaint.com>. The facilitator was DeAnne Martin, of the Center for Wise Democracy, <http://www.wisedemocracy.org/>. The convening organization was Wise Democracy Victoria, <http://www.WiseDemocracyVictoria.com>. For them this was a milestone event in their ongoing efforts to facilitate the emergence of grassroots democracy in the Victoria area. But the significance of this milestone extends beyond Victoria and British Columbia. The folks in Victoria are pioneering for the rest of us, exploring the democratic potential of the kind of dialog tools that have been developed by Jim Rough and others. Already a third Wisdom Council is being planned for the Fall, and there has been good coverage in the local press as this process has unfolded, <http://wisedemocracyvictoria.com/media/>. We should all be grateful to the fine team at Wise Democracy Victoria, who do indeed seem to be showing wisdom as they carry out this work on behalf of all of us. They are doing a very professional job, with care taken at each step, and they are doing an excellent job of documenting their work on the web. Democracy is not about a form of government, it is about the awakening of our consciousness as communities, as societies, and as a species. When people use language like, "We should take better care of our forests", we all understand what is meant by such a sentence. We have this notion in our heads that 'we', as societies, should be able to make rational decisions 'for the whole', for ourselves, for our general well being. Isn't that just common sense? Democracy is about realizing this universally shared common-sense notion of 'we' as a conscious entity. The excitement of a Wisdom Council arises from this notion being realized in microcosm, a bit like a dream coming true. For in truth, in our current societies, we are only daydreaming when we say "We should do this", or "We should do that". The fact that such language makes sense to us means we all share in that dream. It is the dream of freedom, of participation in sovereignty. That dream can also be seen as a collective memory of our aboriginal experience. There's a lot of latent psychic energy here, probably more than any of us can now imagine. I recommend having this in mind when looking at the video clips - <http://www.WiseDemocracyVictoria.wetpaint.com>. Tom Atlee has said that we are at the "Kitty Hawk stage" of learning how to govern ourselves. I believe he meant this as, "These are very early days". That is true, from the perspective of aeronautic engineering. But from the perspective of human progress, Kitty Hawk is a very late event, the dawn of aviation, only a century ago. In that sense, to say we are at the Kitty Hawk stage is very exciting indeed. If it is true, we are on the verge of the 'age of flight' of our democratic spirits. The Wright Brothers were serious engineers, and imaginative innovators, and their work can be seen as a gift to humanity. The Victoria team carry on this honorable tradition with comparable dedication, pursuing a gift of much greater potential value. From another perspective, we might say that humanity, us, is beginning to wake up, becoming aware of itself, a little at a time. The "Victoria part of us" is experiencing an "early twitch" in this shared waking up process. The propagation potential of such 'twitches' is promising, because the process of waking up is inherently contagious in a face-to-face context, as we can see in the response of the audience when the Council participants give their presentations. The well-done web presentation, with the video clips, enables anyone to share in that experience, almost as if they were part of the original face-to-face audience. By such means, the Internet has the potential to serve as a 'neuro-transmitter' of wake-up signals to humanity as a whole. Modern technologies / environments like YouTube and mySpace enable 'face-to-face, reality experiences' to be shared on a mass basis with multi-media 'presence'. We are at a fortunate historical moment in the McCluhanesque cycles of media, a moment when the democratic potential of electronic media is expressing itself in countless creative ways, and millions of people tune in daily on different interlinking (neuron-like) 'channels'. What better moment for there to emerge a liberating and contagious message worthy of sharing? As Tom says, we're still at an early stage, and what's happened around Victoria so far is not by itself going to launch a transformation of society. But I see here all the right elements coming together in a well-considered endeavor, just as at Kitty Hawk. We are perhaps now at the point where wind-tunnel trials have been successful, and the propeller design is understood. The signs are promising for a sustained flight 'soon'. In democracy terms, a 'sustained flight' happens when a whole community (eg, the people generally of Victoria City) feel involved in the awakening process. With the ongoing series of Wisdom Councils, and the attention given to media coverage, our own 'Wright Brothers' are giving the 'craft of democracy' every chance to achieve this kind of sustained flight. And our modern media environment has the potential to flash that kind of 'reality experience' around the globe, the modern equivalent of the headlines that conveyed the message of the aviation breakthrough. --- We are all in this together, and we all really want the same things, deep in our hearts. Only because we think we are alone, and that we can't have those things, do we spend our time competing for what we think we can get, a piece of the elusive pie, and two weeks a year experiencing a glimpse of freedom. The idea that we can find our common identity and opt out of this matrix game is a powerful idea. We accept the idea when we say 'we should do this or that'. Yet it would be wrong to say that this an 'idea' whose time has come. Rather, this is an 'experience' whose time has come. The technology around this experience, in terms of process and propagation, is in place. The game, my dear Watson, is on. rkm -------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:26:16 -0700 From: George Sranko <•••@••.•••> Subject: Congratulations & Debriefing Session for Convenors Now at Fernwood NRG Hi Everyone CONGRATULATIONS!! Wow, we did it once again. The Second Victoria Wisdom Council was a great success, thanks to the energy and dedication contributed by each and every one of you. In some ways it felt like a barn raising with meals and rides and a thousand and one details managed successfully... and it wouldn't happen without such a fantastic a group effort. And special thanks to DeAnna for her facilitation skills and willingness to travel to Victoria on our behalf. ...I've posted a copy of the WC2 statement on our website [see below -rkm]. Please email widely to encourage discussion. There is also a link to a customized online feedback instrument kindly provided by John Spady of the Forum Foundation (link at bottom). I really encourage you to fill out the Opinionnaire(R) because it provides us with a valuable means of gathering online feedback. John is also interested in receiving feedback on the instrument itself... please send any comments to •••@••.•••. And a big thank you to Jim & Jean Rough, Tom Atlee, and Richard Moore for your help in getting the ball rolling in November 2006 and for your support and inspiration over the course of two Wisdom Councils. All the best, George <http://www.WiseDemocracyVictoria.com> <http://www.WiseDemocracyVictoria.wetpaint.com> (see some great video clips of both Wisdom Councils - thanks to Ian Dakers) ____________________ Original source URL: http://wisedemocracyvictoria.com/statement-of-the-second-victoria-wisdom-council/ Statement of the Second Victoria Wisdom Council June 23, 2007 The future is going to be more and more challenging if we don't recognize the long-term implications of our actions today. We need to accept and embrace that society is rapidly changing because of developments in technology. We need to manage change so that we keep the positives of the past - our humanity, family and community connection - while recognizing and benefiting from the opportunities and avoiding the pitfalls this change creates. Things will change for the better if we can increase public participation in government decision-making, thus reversing the current trend of less participation and apathy. We aim to put our talk to action. We want a government that is chosen by, accountable to, and representative of the people. A government that: * is elected by the people, accountable to its promises, and transparent; * enables all to have equal opportunity to benefit from our wealth and resources; * is easy for the individual to participate in, is accessible, where everyone has an equal voice and impact. We can start to create this government locally, here in Victoria. Victoria can lead by example. * Locally: require city council to mandate more referenda to put important issues to the people; * Regionally: make the Capitol Regional District (CRD) elected, transparent, and accountable; * Nationally: direct the Prime Minister to only appoint people to the Senate who have been elected by the people thereby creating a representative Senate. A key issue for us is how to balance individual and collective rights and responsibilities. Solutions need to be implemented on many levels, reflecting a holistic approach: * Enhancing opportunities for individuals to grow and develop into fulfilled members of our community. Increase public awareness of the opportunities so they are accessible to many. * The education system should awaken people to the opportunities that do exist and encourage them to define and achieve their goals, while reducing the barriers that keep people from doing that. * Recognizing that children learn by example from their parents, remove barriers and create support for parents to be the best role models they can be. * Ensure that government action does not weaken the family, instead it enhances and supports the family. * We agree in the principle that laws that limit individual freedom should be based on a transparent and demonstrable analysis of the cost/benefit to society. Costs and benefits need to include tangibles [dollars and scientific evidence] and intangibles [liberty, justice, and compassion]. What can YOU do to make this vision possible? *** Continue the conversationŠ discuss this statement with your family, friends and neighbours. Please let us know if this statement reflects your views by going here: http://opn.forumfoundation.org/index.php?pid=30 Write a comment -- -------------------------------------------------------- Posting archives: http://cyberjournal.org/show_archives/?lists=cj Escaping the Matrix website: http://escapingthematrix.org/ cyberjournal website: http://cyberjournal.org Community Democracy Framework: http://cyberjournal.org/DemocracyFramework.html To subscribe to the cyberjournal list: Send message to: •••@••.••• with Subject: subscribe cyberjournal To subscribe to the Google mirror of cyberjournal, send a message to: •••@••.••• Moderator: •••@••.••• (comments welcome)
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