You’re at this party where people are dance-talking things like if we just take him out then Mike Pence’ll be … and some people mean it, they’re very upset, they want actual answers of the real kind.
And there’s this older female person who says things to us young nuthins like “I’m cray.” She knows what zaddy is and she sometimes positions as Zadet.
“Cadet. A soldier.” She got Nineties rumba. “For the Feminocracy.”
And you’re not original so much as “can we right now please ohmigod speak in an age-appropriate manner?”
So yes.
Everybody’s talking democracy, literally selling it, positioning, filtering, expecting, walkin the talk.
“You kids … ”
“Yes?”
“I heard you talking just now.”
“And you’re doing research.”
“Jeez. That’s right. How’d you.”
She’s got this clipboard in her macramé rainbow quipu shoulder bag with Tina Fey 2024 button.
So yes.
You five kids from the co-op all sit down with let’s make her actual name Levitica. There’s a recovery room where the righteous wait for dad or the ambulance.
“Diane Keaton.”
“Sure.”
“You’re like or you are Diane Keaton.”
We sort of express a saw you in “The Young Pope” but weren’t sure why you …
When pow.
The interview begins.
And.
Yes, it turns out we talk about democracy a lot and some of us have posters or Twitter accounts of that and we don’t EXACTLY know what it is.
It might be us.
Or it might be things we get.
We did NOT know it existed before Greece, is a term and sometimes idea used by dictators, means everything in failed states and nothing in Vegas, has many kinds and contexts, majorly sells.
We’ve heard of Deliberative democracy, which is when you take the time to learn and think. And Direct, which is voting at home, online, about lots of things and possibly all of it. And of course Populist, which is when you don’t take the time to learn and think and you’re worried about or afraid of those who do.
We have NOT heard of Collaborative, Consensual, Consultative or Cosmopolitan. And we don’t care what happens to people who try to come up with a new kind to save a thesis, start a business or get a date. We might be interested in what kind goes with what goodies.
doob’s all “gotta try that, man.”
Levitica’s checking little boxes and mentions maybe a follow-up meeting when people are not so obliterated. “You guys in the same program?”
Deet and Way are social. k@0$ and Bonky are political.
“So,” Wei’s this Chinese Goth, not afraid about the coronavirus, hitting personal, “are you like starting a political party for women?”
Lev says in fact there have been those and she has been that.
But this is now.
The leftovers of Elizabeth Warren, Atwood’s what-comes-after-Handmaid, the Hillary doc and the Weinstein justice. And whatever Ronan is.
Complicated.
We mainly GOAT. Greatest Of All Time.
Not sure why.
Then some Nukes. Newcastle Brown.
“What about you?” She’s got her pen and her tablet. There’s an app for talking to Generation Omega here. “Politically?”
“Ohmigod.” “I know.” “Don’t DO it.”
“Do you think we can change our democracy?”
We sort of say it’s not ours. It might be hers.
Okay we know it’s supposed to be everybody’s.
“Why?” k@0$ is pop up questions at the strategic of times.
“Why what?”
“Why change it.”
And click.
We were supposed to ask that. If we were like primo young persons.
She’s all facilitating raptor.
We finish the first level, and this is game talk, as big smiles and raised eyebrows and elevated tones of voice roll out.
Then the full reward. All the stuff we didn’t know was the problem.
Use and abuse of democracy. The word, idea, power, situation. A zillion people selling it but almost nobody buying. Call it the social media or populist or ego problem if you want.
She’s got this Barbie she calls Ivanka.
First Barbie.
Ivanka’s all say anything and call it survival and remember she was friends with Chelsea Clinton.
We didn’t remember that, but.
In short, people convince themselves. They make the God, then follow it. Call it the mindfulness of radical. Or it might not be a God. It might be a meme.
“Ohs.” “Coolish.” “Memerica.” “Urbviously.”
Or it might be a president.
Yes, we think we got that one.
So.
The problem kind of looks like this.
Meaning the current state-of-our-democracy problem and not a problem with the principle or even textbook practice.
Oceans of people are caught up in things like political parties, industries, economic sectors, religions, trends, public relationships, reputation and status, credentials … and they tend NOT to support actual deep or big change like serious change to the political system.
For instance, they, these oceans, backed away from ERA, the Equal Rights Amendment, and a Second national Constitutional Convention.
And they cover.
Say yes but then don’t.
Get elected and when it comes time, they DO NOT.
Part of the game is to roll out things they have to protect, like the Bill of Rights, and the supposed intent of the Founders that’s supposed to stick around in a position called Originalism.
And if you think freakin Science might even be real and we need to make some big changes now, like adopt bioregions to save the planet and ourselves long-term, instead of sticking to the fifty little countries that are the United States or the zillion smaller frames like counties and municipalities … we’re dealing with global or planet-scale problems like climate change and now the damn coronavirus … and we need to stay away from is Greta an alien or is Steve Miller an actual vampire …
“Dude.” “Ha.” “Memerica.” “Got one.”
If you think deep or big change is needed virtually now you’re going to be upset not by old white guys but let’s be real because it’s right-wing old white guys, a few good or nice old white guys being Bernie, Buffett, Soros, Chomsky … and if you think we need to have no parties, no private money in elections, no campaigns, no personalities, no PACs … and if your professor did a whiteboard full of the Social Progress movement or Lawrence Lessig and showed how this was moral …
She’s waiting to tick or tap a hit.
And um.
We don’t know exactly who and what. Except for Bernie. And Way heard of Chomsky from the first-year survey course guy but she thought he was an Indigenous person.
There’s an undergraduate hush.
So she’s “let’s DO principles.”
We are down.
Principles like freedom, equality and justice or right we’ve heard of.
“Dude.”
She’s “that’s a relief.”
New principles like well-being, sustainability, empowerment, inclusion and mindfulness we’re massively into … not counting details.
When ha.
Public realism.
A thing she’s trying on us.
We’re um. We might need. What is that.
Realism’s a term that sounds old-fashiony, systemy, schooly, even righty. But it’s not conservative or progressive.
It’s about things like how the world works, what will actually happen, who knows what, how much it costs, the real risks, probably timelines, what it really takes.
Maybe it doesn’t sound a lot like your professor.
Public realism’s about what will actually happen, given all the conditions. Like if you were the government, what would you probably do. And not, if you were the kids, what would you moan, demand or Emoji.
And.
We have to be honest. It’s three in the morning. We got a class at nine. The party and a little help from our friends are calling.
But no.
She does air whiteboard.
It’s got a table at the town hall with certain big things on it. Certain things that must not be moved off that table. Things like human rights and science and elections.
“We need a political system that can maintain those things, no matter what.”
Yes.
It’s three o’clock and we still agree.
She tick-taps.
The air situation gets political parties, interests that claim to be the general interest but aren’t really, junk legislation with creepy stuff going on in the background like so-called earmarks, junk elections with creepy stuff going on right in the news like so-called gerrymandering …
The question becomes how do we move to 1) many people understanding how some deep and big stuff has to change, then 2) actually getting together and changing how things work, then 3) getting the right and real stuff in place and living with what we did.
And there are steps, gaps, barriers.
And there is the general interest, whatever it is, this is one thing we need also to decide. It’s hanging over all we do not like a sword.
And maybe there’s barely a job in it for you even though you might have these giant student debts already.
And yes.
We have some ideas.
Some of which don’t air that well.
They are three o’clock ideas and they’ll take real-ing at the coffee break after Plato to NATO later in the week.
But here, lived in, they are.