Notes on the Evolution of the Nation-State (NS) – see previous entries NS – A, B, C

The ship of state can be changed without resorting to violence or revolution if we use Small Groups (SG) for Feedback (FB) to decision makers (DM) and others. This process finds and filters Useful Information (UI) creating additional feedback from outside the established power structures and is a type of Information Power.

Good FB can be independent of the type of government or style of leadership.  With a series of self-generated Questions, an SG creates organization from within and creates a Division of labor for Information Gathering (DIG).  Each SG can be 3-5 people.  Incentives or gradients can be created to engage more people.  A rapid series of SG’s define the problem and offer serious solutions.  Other SG’s will be used to judge the best ideas.

Throwing money at many social and political problems will not be sufficient.  People need organization to find and filter UI.  People avoid making tough choices.  There is a natural resistance to change, even at the grass roots.  Some may not see the need to change.  They may fear looking ignorant or losing respect, so the SG process must offer some privacy.    We can put people in situations where they can make choices without too much stress. 

Many “bad decisions” are never really explicit decisions at all, but are mistakes made by people looking to others on their left and right and, being unable to read clear signals, become afraid and then make a move based on a Story that did not fit.  This does not mean we should ignore those to the left or right but we must expect them to do better in gathering and communicating information.  Give them the tools.  SG groups can then be used to counter the mis-information by public officials or by mainstream media in a timely manner.   

The question remains: “Will grassroots citizens be willing to participate in efforts to change the course of the Nation-State?”  Not if it requires endless sacrifice.  The game-competition model is more likely to succeed.  Can we use people who have low self-confidence?  Of course!  SG team privacy helps to elicit information and ideas from anyone and provides a platform for further growth. 

Mountain climbing is a useful metaphor since most of us have instincts to gain a better position or at least hold our place and push others down.  In many ways, however, we now recognize a slope that is steeper and we are tied to other people.  We can only get to the top if we point out footholds to others and Push them UpHill (PUH).  The results can benefit the larger community.

Gradients and incentives may be needed to start the process.  Like any sport, these incentives can be positive or mildly negative.   If Target Learners (TL) are used, they are chosen by the SG, but prize money is only for SG participants, not the TL.  Yet TL’s have their own power since they will lead a team in the search to find answers to some specific question or grow in a new direction.  Winning will require good communication efforts. 

Questions addressed by any SG can be either an Issue Question or a Process Question.  Push the SG Process too and create more SG’s in other places.  SG’s can push other people to make decisions – or the SG can make decisions for them.  Whether or not those decisions are accepted, the ideas get out there and create a starting point.  

International issues such as Beyond The Border (BTB) can still be started locally with a goal of finding or creating safe zones in the other country, thereby decreasing immigration pressure.  After some initial ideas by a local SG the next questions will center around finding an individual outside the SG who will be willing and able to travel to the foreign country as an unofficial liaison. 

Starter questions can be Big Questions around some national or international issue, or smaller Local Questions such as how to improve test scores of students on some specific subject.  Grassroots people can challenge and be challenged by other grassroots people, both near and far.   The SG process allows engagement of people who may not like each other but recognize that instability of the other group will drag us all down.

Local Issues can include in Education, Catch-up Classes, Healthcare, and Addiction.  International issues for application of SG seed groups include Haiti, Israel-Palestine, Ukraine among others.  The violence in these places seem overwhelming but seeds of new solutions can start anywhere.  If one can gather a dozen people and create several SG’s to debate the homeless issue, for example, then big problems start to look not so big.  There will be discovery of new ways to approach it.