Cliff Notes For Democracy The Pillars of Dysfunction That Doom Us To Repeat History.

“You gotta love knowing your history, and hate having to repeat it.” - Michael Wm. Arlen ? Dec 1, 2016

Chapter 1: Know Your History

To avoid repeating history, we need to recognize how certain patterns of interaction (mostly emotional reactions) repeat themselves; and so, our history has repeated itself. It hasn’t been taught in general education at schools in the United States for quite some time (40+ years), so most U.S. Citizens don’t know that before Hitler came to power in Germany, he was thrown in jail after participating in a failed coup!

Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, (a book Ivana Trump claimed her ex-husband kept on his nightstand), while he was in prison for his involvement in the failed coup. And, when he finally got out of prison, he rose-up on the shoulders of those who felt that they were mistreated or weren’t being represented well by their government’s political parties, to become the Führer of the Third Reich.

"To stop bullying, one needs to change hearts, not the hands of who cracks the whip!" - Michael Wm. Arlen ? Jan 5, 2017

Chapter 2: Learn To Defuse Social Dynamics:

As unfortunate it is that this history isn’t taught to everyone anymore. It palls in comparison, to how the means to break the patterns of social dynamics and defuse the historically “inevitable” is only taught to a very few graduate students, mostly those majoring in dispute resolution, and family therapy!

Our government leaders are clueless to recognize how very important it is to not victimize the wrong-doers so that they don’t become a cohesive opposition group! Instead of retaliation and seeking to teach them a lesson by shaming them or taking away their freedoms, we need gently coach them into recognizing the errors of their ways in a kind enough manner so they feel grateful for our grace so that they do not coalesce into a cohesive opposition group that hopes to seek revenge when the opportunity arises.

We need to be gracious and kind..& not be out for blood. But, we do want them to know what they did was illegal (an act of domestic terrorism)... but more importantly, we want them to want to join us, not fight us.

“Greed is the enemy. It has corrupted our values and provided a belief system which empowers us to put profits over people and the thoughtful stewardship of our planet.” -Michael Wm. Arlen ? Aug. 7, 2020

Chapter 3: Recognize & Remove Corrupting Influences To Retain Integrity

An inconvenient truth is that our Political Parties, retain control, and make more money when we’re divided and fighting each other. That’s because they receive more contributions when there’s a need for them to rally against a foe.

Another inconvenient truth is while we look to our Parties and Representatives to represent us, they get more money, more easily, by agreeing to do the bidding of moneyed interests. The low hanging fruit in our country isn’t the voters, it’s corporate interests that see greater profits in paying for legislation to be drafted in their favor. Accordingly, we’re no longer the Democratic Republic. We’re an Oligarchy. But don’t take my word for it. History books for school-age kids in Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and most of the industrial nations around the world have categorized us as an Oligarchy decades before Bernie Sanders started saying so.

We could learn a lot from some northern European countries who successfully removed moneyed interests from their elections and how their citizens make informed decisions based on policies expressed instead of propaganda purchased by special interests.

We could restore the integrity of our Democracy by eliminating campaign ads, and assigning a set amount of speeches and debates, based on the position sought. All debates and speeches would be online, on-demand, thereby lowering the cost of elections, eliminating the possibility of one not being able to see or hear what each candidate has to say. And, best of all, relieving our Representatives from the burden of constantly needing to raise money for expensive ad campaigns, they could focus more of their time on representing us!

It's time for us to insist that our Political Parties honestly build consensus, and not become bought and paid for agents against our Democracy!

“It’s only through sharing ideas, that we can break down silos and build consensus.” - Michael Wm. Arlen ? Nov 2015

Chapter 4: Reset The Stage Of Political Theater, With Rules That Promote Critical Thinking, Thoughtful Reflection, & Reassessment

It was after listening to this evening’s broadcast of the US House of Representative's allotment for each representative to spend 45 seconds each to express their opinion, before taking a critical vote on last Wednesday’s failed Coup that prompted this article. Much like a tennis match, it was an emotional volley between 2 sides. Neither side truly listening to the other. The paired down presentations, prepared in advance, with hardly time to even deliver them, let alone allow for anything to reflect upon. And, there certainly wasn’t any time to reflect. The whole affair was just a staged show. Nothing was learned or considered by either “team.”

We need more thoughtful discussion, perhaps education from non-affiliated scholars to educate and allow our “Representatives” to think… not merely blurt out Party-wide talking points.

We need to build consensus. We need our Representatives to think deeply about how to respond thoughtfully, not merely react based on what team we hail from and how we’ve been victimized.

Remember above? It’s the harboring of victimization that leads to the social dynamics to continue and our history to repeat.

Our Representatives need to re-think their positions… and that won’t happen in the present-day structure for thoughts to be shared. Last night’s “show” was a disaster. The votes will most likely be cast based on party-line…and not an American line.

Those familiar with their History might recognize that what we’re experiencing today, are the unhealed wounds of our Civil War fought over 150 years ago. That war started 6 months after Lincoln was inaugurated as President. How we comport ourselves this week and in the following months, will decide whether History will repeat itself. We are dangerously close to making emotional decisions, which will keep the Us vs. Them dynamics rolling forward. This article is a clarion call to stop, reconsider, and do what’s best in healing a divide and teaching the meaning and value of Democracy, even if “your team” didn’t win.

“It's time to present flowers to our ‘opponents’. You can't fight Hate with Hate. (They've been doing that in the Middle East for thousands of years). One can only overcome Hate with Love & Affection.  Compassion is taught and learned. So is hate and indifference. Teach your children well.”  - Michael Wm. Arlen ?? 2012