Given the transgressive political and financial structures of the current world, we the people need to overcome paralyzing feelings of powerlessness; we need to take quintessential psychological, social and political steps toward regaining our power to take the Enlightenment ideals to the next stage: to fully manifest human rights, equality, freedom, equity for all and peace, with a focus on ecology more than at any other time. Corrupt politicians use, overuse, and abuse the term ‘people’ constantly in their speeches in order to legitimize their dominance and manipulation of politics, but they are the ones who actually declare wars, and make decisions to benefit themselves and the elites, not The People! So, how do we go about that? What is possible? What would it look like, feel like, require of us? These questions are enormous. And yet there may be some fairly straightforward steps that would gradually move us along a path toward a Second Enlightenment.

We could start with remodeling government to ensure that the best interests of people are truly the focus of what governments do. For example, a truly people-based government would support a responsive constitution to call for referenda if the constitution and the political establishment are no longer responding to the actual and generational problems. Also, it would empower a mechanism for people to call for new elections or referenda anytime things go the wrong way. These are not new ideas, but can be implemented more robustly to put more power back into the hands of people. It is no longer acceptable that people go through the motions of casting votes, and then have no choice but to leave one-man-rule and politicians essentially unattended to advance their careers and serve the interests of different parties and powerful groups. A full accountability of government vis-à-vis the public is part of an integral and pure democracy. The sign of a well-remodeled government is when elected authorities respect and fear the people’s power – not the other way around with people fearing the authorities, either giving in or feeling disempowered.

Needless to say, this is a tall order and very idealistic, considering the contrast with how most of human history has unfolded and the state of things right now. But that does not mean we should give up, or not try to work toward a vision of a better way, when there certainly must be better ways!

A critical Enlightenment follow-up topic here is the nature of democracies and capitalism, and how their interests often clash at the cost of people. Economic freedom in a free market means the opportunity for every individual to follow his or her own pursuance of happiness, and this has come to mean the freedom to earn as much money as possible. The original goal of such efforts was probably so that people could take care of themselves and their families independently, and neither the state nor the society would take any responsibility for, nor put up any obstacles against individual success. But the flip side of such freedom also eventually meant one was ‘free’ in the competitive economic world to wind up in disgraceful poverty. One of the toxic behaviors of “future-eater” capitalists is that they have tried to bring government to the level that it would serve their profiteering interests without consideration for fairness and equity, respect for nature, and healthcare for all.

New Democracies Needed

In simple terms, remodeling freedom should corroborate with the social slogans of liberté, égalité, fraternité-sororité (‘freedom, equality, fraternity-sorority’), or ‘all men and women of all races are born equal.’ A good government and a good society can only be constructed when full women rights, children rights, minority rights and equal socioeconomic rights are provided for the citizens.

Another principle for remodeling people’s power is to be free or protected from media manipulation and nationalistic propaganda. In some political systems, the media seems it is designed to keep the masses busy with banalities such as sports, celebrities, and sensational gossip in order to distract them from the serious politics of the essentials of a society such as equity, justice, healthcare, food and shelter, employment, security and wellbeing. Nationalistic distractions also serve such a purpose, ranging from the promotion of egotistical nationalistic sentiments to cherishing the flag, and pushing frivolous consumerism. As the saying goes, when a stone is thrown at a dog, the dog runs after the stone, not the thrower!  So, moving forward, the goals of the media should perhaps be re-assessed, and populations should be encouraged to stay conscious and unmanipulable. (For more, read Media: The Source of Marketing Ideas and Manipulation)

Hopefully in the Second Enlightenment, not only in Western democracies but throughout the globe, we can do away with monocracies and all versions of ‘one-man-rule’ which dilute people’s power. We could instead govern ourselves by groups of people who are psychologically and morally rational and sound. We could elect a council of wise and professional people to create a polyocracy: qualified people from different parties and a variety of layers of society who would consult about the issues, decide together and implement plans. Such a council of ten or so wise people would be elected to make up the executive branch instead of just one person. This would address the many issues and long history of just one person being in charge. (See Why Only One-Person-Leadership? Clinging to Monocracy). The council would then brainstorm to make decisions together on issues about agriculture, technology-sciences, environment, education, healthcare, housing, culture, and pass on their decisions to the cabinet members and their respective ministries to implement. Perhaps the time of the alpha-male system inherited from our ancestors has come to an end, not only in the West, but around the world.

 What actually matters is human rights, and people having a say over their own destiny. In fact, not all countries have to choose the path of the Western democracy. The political model is only the façade. Governments must always exhibit a real and manifest respect for all humans as well as for nature. Dictatorships with leaders who see countries and people only as a source of their own power are not acceptable. Dictators who call their people by dehumanizing terms such as ‘flies’ should have the global community to answer to. The time for despotism and impure democracies is up. In dictatorships, there is too much government present in people’s lives to a point of suffocation, and in liberal-capitalist systems, there is too little presence of government in people’s lives to a point of apathy to the welfare of people.

Remodeling government can take on so many new forms. Some of these ideas will be discussed in succeeding articles, but for example, in order to remodel people’s power, countries can pioneer in establishing a World Parliament, replacing the UN with a truly balanced and equitable world power.  In addition, constitutions can be made more adaptable to respond to the actual issues of the day and generation. There can be built-in periods of revision and updating that will require conferring with the people via referenda, for example every 25 years or so. (See Considering Adaptable and Responsive Constitutions?).

The first Enlightenment was about liberty, separation of church and state, democratic elections, law, and individual rights. The great advances of the 20th through 21st centuries that have arrived through the rich upheavals in the social and intellectual realms should have moved us beyond the level of 18th- and 19th-century-thinkers. The Second Enlightenment ideas encompass themes (see Why Do We Need a New Enlightenment) that should show that we are now more aware, and hopefully more apt to be able to govern ourselves more honestly. We should use what we now know to develop a more responsive and responsible style of government based on what is really best for people and the earth.