Have you ever noticed that political movements, parties, and national governments seem to have less permanency than the villages and cities that are often older than even our major religions? This so because, while political parties temporarily fulfil a psychological need for meaning and purpose, villages and cities supply more of what people need for survival: human warmth, shelter, food, clothing, genetic variety, and numerous other necessities--including the psychological needs for a personal attachment to the Earth, shared identity, stability, and progress.
A Multigenerational CampaignThe struggle to reclaim democracy for human beings rather than for special interests and the large corporate entities--sometimes aptly referred to as "private tyrannies"--that now dominate modern "democratic" states could be a very long journey that we'll have to take together. |
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During long, multigenerational campaigns, authentically democratic organizations will need to reproduce and evolve their means of subsistence as well as their values, beliefs, and goals. Syntropic Villages seek to provide such comprehensive, "whole-system" means of self-support and growth while also furthering mutually supportive relations with other organizations whose values overlap with ours.
Not only democratic forces but the whole human species will likely face severe tests in the middle decades of the 21st century. The present crises in West Africa, the Horn of Africa, parts of the Middle East, and such South American countries as Columbia will spread unless authentically democratic and ecologically sound systems replace the political and ecological terror that now exists. Unfortunately, in the path of increasing shortages, pollution, and political violence the rest of the world stands armed with nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons--and with material wealth--in our hands but little understanding of substance in our heads. Unless we can organize our minds and our own societies to create authentic democracies that in turn create a universally shared sense of justice, meaning, and purpose in life, we shall probably drift toward more death and perhaps even species self-destruction.