OWN YOUR GOVERNMENT, LLC WAS FOUNDED BECAUSE
Humanity must develop a new democratic medium in order to confront problems that are beyond the capacity of existing national and international institutions.
HUMAN DECISIONS THREATEN HUMAN SURVIVAL
COORDINATED ACTION NETWORKS (CAN)
A TECHNOLOGY FOR DEMOCRACY
CAN changes people from objects of institutional action into organized agents
THAT ARE CAPABLE OF AUTHORIZING COLLECTIVE POWER
YOU SHOW UP
YOU SET THE AGENDA
YOU MAKE IT STICK
These images are from an early (2019) wireframe diagram for CAN (Community Profile Screen)
A resident using CAN can identify a community problem, bring neighbors into a conversation, examine information and differences, propose solutions, and participate in establishing verifiable community agreement.
Together, residents can authorize a course of action, organize their resources, coordinate with public institutions, and maintain a durable record of their decisions and results.
OUR COMPLICITY IN COLLECTIVE POWER
When we want to make something happen, the sounds we make are different
Democracy is a human technology. The medium through which people communicate determines feasible forms of community organization and democracy
SOME PRINCIPLES
RELIABLE INFORMATION
UNIFY COLLECTIVE POWER
UNITY IN DIVERSITY
ABLE TO NEGOTIATE PRIORITIES
EQUAL ACCESS TO RESOURCES
DURABLE RECORDS
ENCRYPTED PERSONAL INFORMATION
ACCOUNTABILITY TO COMMUNITY
IF YOU WERE A MACHINE
An algorithm might ping you to check your performance
IF YOU ARE HUMAN
DEMOCRACY
ALLOWS YOU TO GOVERN THE USE OF COLLECTIVE POWER
UNLESS YOU ARE THE KING
The power humans now exercise has consequences far beyond the individuals and institutions exercising it.
We can alter the climate, destroy entire populations, transform ecosystems, create artificial intelligence, and determine the circumstances in which future generations will live.
Our capacity to exercise power has developed far more rapidly than our collective capacity to govern its use.
Democracy is not merely an attractive political ideal.
MEDIA SUGGESTS THAT YOUR VOTING CONTROLS
THE WEALTH AND POWER
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
U.S. household wealth: +/- $185.66 trillion (2026)
Democracy is a necessary capacity for people who have acquired the means to determine one another’s future.
YOUR POWER IN DEMOCRACY
DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU KNOW
MEDIA SHAPES YOUR REALITY
PLATO CONCLUDED
WE ARE NOT CAPABLE OF SELF-GOVERNMENT
WE WRITE LAWS TO DEFINE THE LIMITS OF AGENCY
THERE IS NO FREEDOM UNDER LAW WITHOUT VOLUNTARY OBSERVANCE
WE ARE COMPROMISED BY OUR RELATIONSHIPS
WE ARE EMOTIONAL, OBSESSIVE, COMPULSIVE AND EASILY MISLED
SHARING RESOURCES REQUIRES TRUST
TRUST REQUIRES A COMMON UNDERSTANDING
WE ARE INDIVIDUAL IN OUR CONSCIOUS PERCEPTIONS
OUR GODS ARE UNPREDICTABLE
Democracy made no sense to Plato in 348 BC
Very few could read, write or vote
TECHNOLOGY EVOLVED FROM CLAY TABLETS
TO CANDY CRUSH, TIKTOK, X, TRUTH SOCIAL
TAYLOR SWIFT
MEDIA CONTINUOUSLY INFORMS YOUR DESIRES
A MEDIUM PERSONALIZES YOUR CONTENT STREAM
TO MAKE YOU FEEL COOL, UPSET OR ANXIOUS
MEDIA CAN COMPEL YOU TO ACTION
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
CAN PROMOTE A SENSE OF PERSONAL AGENCY
YOU HAVE RIGHTS UNDER LAW AND GOVERNMENT
WE’RE ALL GOD’S CHILDREN
(GODS ARE STILL UNPREDICTABLE)
“THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE”
(Marshall McLuhan predicted that electronic media would shrink the world into a single interconnected “global village,” allowing instant communication across vast distance.
What has not followed automatically is cultural understanding and responsible cooperation.
META, X, TIKTOK, GOOGLE, ETC.
COLLECT INFORMATION ABOUT YOU TO GET YOUR ATTENTION
AN ALGORITHM
COLLECTS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
TO SERVE YOU ADDICTIVE NARRATIVES
TO HOLD YOUR ATTENTION
MEDIA INFORMS YOUR FEARS
STARVING FAMILIES-PORN-DROUGHT-CELEBRITY-FAMINE-FASHION-GENOCIDE-VIOLENCE-HURRICANES-PANDEMIC–EARTHQUAKE-TORNADO-INFLATION-CORRUPTION-POLITICAL INCOMPETENCE-FLOODS-FREAKS-CARS-AIRPLANES
MEDIA NORMALIZES
NEED FOR GLOBAL COOPERATION
Our lives are interdependent.
Cultural diversity enriches human civilization
Cooperation requires shared commitments and relationships
Autonomous communities can act responsibly toward one another.
OUR VIRTUAL SURROGATE PEERS
COMMUNITIES ARE NOT ISOLATED
EVERYONE IS AFFECTED BY EVERYONE
THERE ARE GLOBAL CULTURAL COMMITMENTS
Democracy is itself a human technology. Digital communications can now enable communities to practice democracy continuously, at scales and across boundaries that were previously impracticable.
IN THIS CENTURY
IT’S DIFFERENT – YOU ARE RELATED
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
AN INSTITUTIONALLY PROMOTED REALITY
IS PURSUING A GHOSTLY PAST
A PRESIDENT’S SOCIAL MEDIA POST
ENCODES YOUR EXPECTATIONS
NORMALIZING THE IMPOSSIBLE
Political will is a code name for public authorization of collective power…
Algorithms can effectively produce a statistical proof for practically anything…
BUT HOW DO YOU DEFINE YOURSELF TODAY?
YOU ARE NOT ONLY AN AMERICAN
You are one of +/- 1,062,000,000 HUMANS
In North America, Central America, Caribbean, and South America
And you are one of +/- 8,314,913,500 HUMAN LIVES
In 2.5 TO 4.3 MILLION GEOGRAPHIC COMMUNITIES
YOU SPEAK ONE OF 7,200 KNOWN LANGUAGES
YOU LIVE IN ONE OF 193 U.N. MEMBER STATES
ON A PLANET IN A GALAXY CALLED, “THE MILKY WAY”
Printing, broadcasting, and digital communications change what we know and coordinate.
But commercial media were not designed to enable people to authorize collective power.
ALL MEDIA IS POLITICAL TECHNOLOGY
MARK ZUCKERBERG, META
GLOBAL PLATFORMS
ARE CENTRALLY CONTROLLED
BY ALGORITHMS
NO MORAL CODE
NO ETHICAL STANDARDS
NO COMPASSION
NO PROBLEM
MEDIA SUGGESTS CHOICES
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
NO PUBLIC TRANSIT IN MOST US CITIES
HIGH ENERGY LIFESTYLES
DEPENDENCE ON FOSSIL FUELS
WE PAY FOR CLIMATE AFFECTS
SYMBOLIC PROTESTS
SING ALONGS AT COACHELLA
DANCE IN FASHIONABLE EDINBURGH
CITIZENS HAVE AUTHORIZED NOTHING
WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CONSEQUENCES
OF PROMOTING MISINFORMATION
AND CALLING THIS, DEMOCRACY
The public has become an observer – not the author
POLITICIANS DO NOT ASK WHAT YOU WANT
IT’S NOT THEIR JOB TO INFORM YOU
AND WOULD INTERFERE WITH FUNDRAISING
THIS IS THE SYSTEM, WORKING NORMALLY
WAR — CLIMATE — FAMINE — PUBLIC DEBT
DECISIONS HAVE
CONSEQUENCESWE ARE NOT CONSULTED
ABOUT ANYTHING WE AUTHORIZE
STREAMING MOVIES
TREAT WARS AS NORMAL
WE HAVE NO HEALTHCARE
HOME COSTS HALF OUR EARNINGS
EDUCATION IS OBSOLETE
WHY ARE WE PAYING FOR A GENOCIDE?
Democracy is the human technology of collective self-government.
Digital technology offers new capabilities for implementing that human technology.
CAN is a new medium through which communities can exercise those capabilities.
POLITICS IS LOCAL
LOCAL DECISIONS
CAUSE GLOBAL PROBLEMS
Local infrastructure and institutional priorities have consequences.
COMMERCIAL TECHNOLOGY MAKES US OBSERVERS
THE MESSAGE BEHIND THIS IS
WE CAN’T CHANGE OUR CIRCUMSTANCES
A CHANGE IN THE TECHNOLOGY
PUBLIC AUTHORIZATION
DEMOCRACY: TECHNOLOGY FOR PUBLIC AUTHORIZATION OF COLLECTIVE POWER
COORDINATED ACTION NETWORKS
DESIGNED FOR DEMOCRACY
CAN REPLACES THE DATA COLLECTION REVENUE MODEL FOR SOCIAL MEDIA
AUTONOMOUS CLOUD NETWORKS FOR COMMUNITIES
The ability of communities to govern themselves
COLLECTIVE VOICES MATTER
INTENTIONAL DESIGN
POLITICAL MEDIUM RESPONSIBLE TO THE PEOPLE
Not merely more and better content in the advertising model
CAN
Personal agency and responsibility make peace possible.
CAN IS OPTIMIZED FOR COMMUNITIES
The power of community is in collective authorization.
CAN REVEALS THE TALENT AND RESOURCES OF THE COMMUNITY
LIFE-SAVING COORDINATION IN EMERGENCIES
CAN helps
coordinate volunteers share vital resources
and facilitate government efforts
COLLECTIVE CAPACITY IS MORE USEFUL THAN CHARITY
THE PARADIGM OF HELP ASSERTS DISABILITY
Historically, philanthropy follows a familiar structure:
Funders identify a problem.
Organizations design an intervention.
Institutions allocate resources.
People receive services.
Success is measured in beneficiaries reached.
Relieving suffering does not change who holds the power to make consequential decisions
CAN is not an intervention delivered to underserved people.
CAN is infrastructure through which people cease to occupy the institutional category of “underserved beneficiaries.”
CAN participants define the problem, establish what is true, determine priorities, make consequential choices, coordinate resources, and hold institutions accountable.
PLAYAS DE TIJUANA
DEVELOPERS WANT TO BUILD 9 HIGHRISE TOWERS WITH 1600 UPSCALE APARTMENTS, AND A HOTEL AND SHOPPING MALL
IN A CONSERVATION AREA
Water & energy outages are already frequent
Traffic is already intolerable
RESIDENTS ARE OBJECTING
THE COMMUNITY ISN’T ORGANIZED
The community remains inside the process the development system already knows how to defeat: hearings, objections, petitions, scattered evidence, procedural delay and exhaustion.
When we have a say in development decisions
Development is sustainable
When communities can economically sustain themselves
GLOBAL COOLING IS INDEPENDENTLY ACTIONABLE
COLONIAL RELATIONSHIPS DON’T BEGIN WITH MALICIOUS INTENTION
“BANALITY OF EVIL” – HANNAH ARENDT
Food, housing, healthcare, education and emergency assistance are essential.
Charity reflects kind intention but is not self-government
A community should not have to be powerless to qualify for help.
CAN makes collective agency itself the infrastructure
Communities must be actors, not waiting for handouts.
Actions that produce or reverse global warming are local
Community consensus can drive action
Homes can be affordable
Communities can be livable
Childcare can support parents
Parks can be preserved
Local economies can thrive
What people agree on—right now, moving the world
CAN’s architecture does not assume that today’s human institutions, today’s internet, or today’s electromagnetic communications represent the final form of intelligent relationship.
THE MEDIUM IS EVOLVING
CAN is not designed around any particular communications technology. CAN is an architecture through which autonomous communities can understand themselves, build consensus, create wealth, carry out plans, create shared identity and document provenance, negotiate relationships and boundaries, establish consent, coordinate consequential action and preserve autonomy.
COORDINATED ACTION NETWORKS
TECHNOLOGY FOR A DEMOCRATIC CIVIC MEDIUM
Communications infrastructure through which people in communities can cooperate, establish legitimate relationships, and coordinate consequential action without surrendering individual autonomy
CAN is beginning with geographically-bounded human communities–not as a limit, but as a way to understand how a medium empowers responsibility