IN A DEMOCRACY
EVERYONE
HAS A SAY
ABOUT WHAT WE DO TOGETHER
IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
NO ONE HAS A SAY
ABOUT ANYTHING ANYWHERE
EVERYONE GETS TO VOTE
FOR CANDIDATES PICKED BY PARTIES
INFLUENCED BY CLASS ACTION ATTORNEYS
TECHNOLOGY AND WALL STREET BILLIONAIRES
AND ENDORSED BY GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
IS A DART BOARD FOR LAWYERS
The Constitution establishes the framework of government.
Democracy requires people to participate in governing.
WE ARE PAYING FOR DESTRUCTION
U.S. GOVERNMENT DECISIONS THREATEN HUMAN SURVIVAL
DEMOCRACY IS A REQUIREMENT FOR SURVIVAL
GOVERNANCE MUST INCLUDE ALL INTERESTS
GOVERNANCE REQUIRES UNIVERSAL EDUCATION
DEMOCRATIC TECHNOLOGY FOR SURVIVAL
MUST SERVE 9 BILLION PEOPLE
IN 200+ NATIONS
SPEAKING 7000 LANGUAGES
COORDINATED ACTION NETWORKS (CAN)
CAN IS A TECHNOLOGY FOR DEMOCRACY
CAN ENABLES COMMUNITIES
TO CONNECT
DEMOCRATIC ACTION
WITH INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY
COORDINATED ACTION NETWORKS
WHEREVER YOU ARE, YOU SHOW UP
YOU LISTEN
YOU SET THE AGENDA
YOU MAKE IT STICK
SLIDES are from an early (2019) wireframe diagram for CAN (Community Profile Screen)
HOW DEMOCRATIC TECHNOLOGY WORKS
IT’S DONE IN COMMUNITIES
Any resident may propose an action or a project
Neighbors weigh in
People sort out differences
Verifiable consensus reflects community agreement
CAN helps communities oR
rganize and fund action
CAN makes a durable record of decisions and results
CAN CONNECTS COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE SIMILAR AGENDAS
IF YOU WERE A MACHINE
Algorithms might ping you to check your performance
YOU ARE HUMAN
DEMOCRACY IS YOUR MAGIC POWER
ORGANIZATION IS YOUR ACCESS TO YOUR COLLECTIVE POWER
THE POWER HUMANS POSSESS TODAY
HAS CONSEQUENCES BEYOND OUR POLITICAL CONTROL
In pursuit of wealth and power, we have changed the climate, destroyed civilizations, damaged ocean and watershed ecosystems, wiped out species, and built machines that are reshaping our world.
Our capacity to exercise power has developed more than our collective ability to control it
Humanity’s problem is not simply that we have created powers we cannot control. It is that we exercise enormous power through institutions and routines without adequately questioning what we are doing, why, and to whom.
The challenge is not controlling technology.
We can control technology
Our challenge is learning to govern ourselves
OUR GREAT POWER AS HUMANS IS ORGANIZATION
This begins with knowing who we are politically
OUR POWER IS INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY
FOR MANY THOUSANDS OF YEARS
SELF-GOVERNMENT
OCCURRED IN VERY SMALL ISOLATED PLACES
MOREOVER, OUR GODS ARE UNPREDICTABLE
For aeons, very few could read laws, write petitions and so on…
OUR MEDIA TECHNOLOGY EVOLVED FROM CLAY TABLETS
TO CANDY CRUSH, TIKTOK, X, TRUTH SOCIAL
AND NOW
TAYLOR SWIFT
MEDIA NOW CONTINUOUSLY INFORMS OUR DESIRES
A MEDIUM PERSONALIZES OUR CONTENT STREAMS
MAKES YOU FEEL COOL, UPSET OR ANXIOUS
AND COMPELS YOU TO ACT
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
MAINSTREAM MEDIA IS MOSTLY INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONING
WE’RE ALL GOD’S CHILDREN
(THEY 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.
META, X, TIKTOK, GOOGLE, ETC.
COLLECT INFORMATION ABOUT YOU FOR PROFIT
(NOT CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING AND COOPERATION)
THE ALGORITHM
THAT COLLECTS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
DOES IT TO SERVE YOU ADDICTIVE NARRATIVES
THAT HOLD YOUR ATTENTION
AND INFORM YOUR FEARS
MEDIA NORMALIZES
CLIMATE CHANGE HAS TAUGHT US
OUR LIVES ARE ACTUALLY INTERDEPENDENT
Our diversity enriches civilization
Cooperation requires shared commitments and relationships
Autonomous communities can act responsibly toward each other
MEDIA IS A POLITICAL TECHNOLOGY
WE PRETEND IT’S MERELY INFORMATION
OUR SURROGATE MEDIA PEERS
CREATE DISTINCTIONS ABOUT US
THAT DISTANCE US FROM EACH OTHER
OUR COMMUNITIES ARE ISOLATED
EVERYONE IS AFFECTED BY EVERYONE
CULTURAL IDEALS OF PEACE ARE UNIVERSAL
WE LACK A PRACTICAL STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINING PEACE
Democracy is that strategy but has never been globally organized
WE ARE GLOBALLY AWARE
WE ARE GLOBALLY INTERDEPENDENT
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
IS AN INSTITUTIONALLY PROMOTED REALITY
A PRESIDENT’S SOCIAL MEDIA POST
ENCODES YOUR BELIEFS
YOU ARE AMERICAN…
Your authorization of collective power is delegated…
Algorithms produce a statistical proof of your complicity…
HOW DO WE DEFINE OURSELVES?
COMMERCIAL MEDIA DEFAULTS TO GOVERNMENT POWER
FOR ECONOMIC REASONS
(THE BANALITY OF EVIL – HANNAH ARENDT
MARK ZUCKERBERG, META
GLOBAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
ARE CENTRALLY CONTROLLED
BY ALGORITHMS
WITH NO MORAL CODE
NOR ETHICAL STANDARDS
MACHINES ARE NOT COMPASSIONATE
NO PROBLEM
WE SAY WE LIVE IN DEMOCRACIES
ALTHOUGH, WE HAVE NO SAY ABOUT ANYTHING
WE VOTE ON WHO DOES HAVE A SAY
BUT WE CAN’T TELL THEM WHAT WE WANT
WE KNOW WE LIVE IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY
BUT WE ARE A DEMOCRACY
WHERE CITIZENS HAVE NO INPUT TO POLICY
WE ARE OBSERVERS
WE HAVE NOT AUTHORIZED ANYTHING
WE PROTEST
POLITICIANS DO NOT ASK US WHAT WE WANT
IT’S NOT IN THEIR JOB DESCRIPTION TO INFORM US
AND INTERFERES WITH FUNDRAISING
THIS IS THE SYSTEM,
RED, BLUE, GREEN OR WHATEVER,
WORKING NORMALLY
WAR — CLIMATE — FAMINE — PUBLIC DEBT
DECISIONS HAVE
CONSEQUENCESBUT WE ARE NOT CONSULTED
ABOUT ANYTHING WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR AUTHORIZING
IF WE LIVE IN DEMOCRACIES
IN WHICH CITIZENS AUTHORIZE NOTHING
SO WHAT?
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?
IN A DEMOCRACY
EVERYONE
HAS A SAY
IN WHAT WE DO TOGETHER
LOCAL DECISIONS
CAUSE GLOBAL PROBLEMS
Local infrastructure and institutional priorities have consequences.
COMMERCIAL MEDIA MAKES US OBSERVERS
THE MESSAGE IS
WE HAVE NO POWER TO CHANGE ANYTHING
A CHANGE IN MEDIA TECHNOLOGY
PUBLIC AUTHORIZATION
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