The Unholy Majority – Die unheilige Mehrheit

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The Unholy Majo­ri­ty – Die unhei­li­ge Mehrheit
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In the red light of sunset, — few people see
that — In our majo­ri­ta­ri­an system — the majo­ri­ty don’t rule.

In the falling dusk, — we need to obser­ve more closely
and keep peeling away the layers
of this thing we call demo­cra­cy — to see inside.

On the first layer of “majo­ri­ty rules”
we find that — whoe­ver controls the majority
(at any given time, on any given issue) — rules.
Success in that game involves
stra­tegy, mani­pu­la­ti­on, attack, mobi­liza­ti­on, noise…

Mean­while, there is a deeper layer,
where there is far less noise — and less light.
At that level,
Those who control the “majo­ri­ty rule” game — rule.
They culti­va­te majo­ri­ties and mino­ri­ties for their own ends
and reap a boun­ti­ful harve­st, — whoe­ver wins the wars.

Deeper yet we find — the “majo­ri­ty rule” game, itself,
shapes what is possi­ble and what is not, — for everyone.
At this level,— even those who control the game — are trapped.

This is where things are stuck.
This is where change will make a difference.
The “majo­ri­ty rule” game, itself,
shapes what is possi­ble and what is not.

Getting unstuck means chan­ging the game.
Chan­ging the game means under­stan­ding the game
from the outside in.

A friend showed me a key:
Of all the inte­rests batt­ling in the “majo­ri­ty rule” game,
the least well served is the gene­ral inte­rest, the common good,
We the People, — the whole US.
In fact, lost in vast deep sadness,
We the People is nothing but a ghost.
And I don’t mean We the Common People.
I mean We the Ever­yo­ne, the Whole.

But Why? I said.

Becau­se the majo­ri­ta­ri­an system is intrin­si­cal­ly adversarial,
divi­si­ve, corro­si­ve of the Whole.

In the compe­ti­ti­on to control or become a majority,
each view­point and voice can only be heard as a special interest.
And any gene­ral interest
– health, prudence, compas­si­on, clean air –
must become a warrior
and strive noisi­ly for victo­ry against The Dark Side, the Other –
or be rende­red invi­si­ble, — unhe­ard, — unreal, — a dream…

The system demands — that the whole become parts,
and that the parts masquer­a­de as the whole –
that each special inte­rest acts like it is The Gene­ral Interest.
And the system demands, as well,
that when a part wins, when it is a majority,
we acknow­ledge it as the Whole, as US.
It is all fantasm, — all a lie, I tell you –
The Emperor’s New Clothes –
a loudly proclai­med virtu­al nothing
that drains into part-isanship
all the ener­gies and gifts we could use
to co-disco­ver our wisdom together
as whole communities,
as a healed and healt­hy world.

So the majo­ri­ta­ri­an system consu­mes and digests
the righ­teous passi­ons of our well-divi­ded interests,
moti­vat­ing and shape-shif­ting and battling
in its search for majo­ri­ty support
and thus victory
and thus the domi­nan­ce and resources
of concen­tra­ted power control­led by the victor,
forcing other inte­rests into loser status
of “mino­ri­ty”
so they will fight to win back the reins.

And thus the battle rages back and forth.

Or at least seems to.

Mean­while those who own and bene­fit from the game itself
(who support both sides to main­tain access to
the public treasu­ry, — the natu­ral wealth of The Commons,
and the game-shaping acti­vi­ty — of deci­ding public policy)
conti­nue to design the game to be losable
only by the play­ers, — not the owners,
and in the process lose their own access to heaven
for the eye of the needle is far too small
to admit their heavi­ly laden camels.

Mean­while the gene­ral inte­rest, the common good,
not only loses
but is not even part of the game, part of the conversation,
except inso­far as all sides claim it as theirs.

With “God on our side”
the parti­san parts abscond with the holy whole.

God only knows,
this won’t change
until the play­ers stop play­ing the game
and change it.

And if the Whole could speak, it might well say
that chan­ging the game is not confi­ned to
chan­ging the rules of majo­ri­ta­ria­nism — so that
the Rule of the Biggest Part — is more legi­ti­m­ate­ly seen as
the Rule of The Whole.
No.

Chan­ging the game is about enab­ling the Rule of the Whole.

Chan­ging the game may requi­re helping majoritarianism
work fairly for real majo­ri­ties, yes,
but only as a step­ping stone –
becau­se it IS only a step­ping stone.

Ulti­m­ate­ly, chan­ging the game is not about the majority.
It is about the real Whole,
about the wisdom that arises from turning
towards each other
instead of against each other — or away.
It is about stri­ving — towards the rule of, by and for The Whole,
a whole which includes Them — and Us
Together.

The Rule of the Whole
is a hori­zon, an invi­ta­ti­on, an adventure.
We will never reach it, it is not a place to stop.
It is so deep, so wide,
so ever-chan­ging into newness
that we can only live it as a journey
or a conversation.
When we seek it, when we travel it,
when we accept that we are pioneers of life’s emer­gent wisdom,
we meet each Other — and we hear — and are heard
and new things become possible
that were never possi­ble before.
Becau­se when our diffe­ren­ces are heard
our diver­se parts disco­ver their kinship
and their power to dance crea­tively together.

Then the Whole can find its voice — and its will.

And it will –
if it is given a form to mani­fest in,
if it is given a wiser demo­cra­tic system,
one that brings us together
and taps the font of our buried co-creativity.
The system that holds us in thrall
is built on not hearing each other
so that we will remain a
part.
The system that frees us
will be built on hearing each other
so that we can expand
through each other’s eyes and lives
to see more and become
ever more truly whole — together.

So the sacred secret stra­tegy is this:
The game of the whole — cannot be won by any part
but only by the Whole. — That is the only game
that We the People — can win.

Truly, as sure as the sun is setting:
That is the only game — that We the People
can win.

On that path, — control and rightness
cease to claim our passion.
Instead, — our hearts, minds and spirits
dedi­ca­te them­sel­ves toge­ther to create
not just a world that works for all,
but the means by which the world can create
a world that works for all, — over and over again,
born from the gifts of all,
evol­ving fore­ver from the lives of all
toward the dreams of all,
knowing that — It is All that Matters.

For the sake of the sunri­se — we are called:

We are All.
In this.
Together.
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