Standing on The Shoulders of Giants
It’s time to start the (hard) journey
Fixing democracy and politics isn’t a destination — it’s a journey (insert corny joke about wanderlust politicians). Politics has gone through so many phases and forms, each one incrementally becoming more democratic than the last. We’ve experienced everything from Kingdoms, Pharaohs, Feudalism, Roman Republics, Greek Colonies, Socialism, Republican Democracies, Direct Democracies, and so many more.
The amazing part is that with each one of these chapters in politics and democracy, they were brought about by some new “technological” change — either directly in politics or in society. But more importantly, they each built on something from the previous chapter of politics and society.
It’s time we start figuring out what our chapter is going to be.
The Hard Thing about Hard Things
The hard thing about hard things, is that they’re hard (just ask Ben Horowitz). They’re hard because there are no easy choices — no easy decision or clear path to start us on our journey.
We need to start looking past how “hard” it is, and start the journey. We’ve become complacent about trying to create a more equitable democracy. We now spend more time arguing about politics than we do about democracy, dealing in absolutes rather than frameworks.
If you ask political operatives, they’ll say partisan politics is healthy and good for the country. Partisan politics ensures we have a worthwhile debate on policies before they’re enacted. I’d agree for the most part, but once partisan politics turns into absolutes with no actual progress, then we’re no longer having discussions that advance the collective intelligence, rather just a tit for tat debate we see currently playing out in our government.
If we continue down this road — we are destined to stay stuck in the pendulum swing.
DePo DAO -> Your notification to update democracy
This is your notification saying the system is out of date. We need to hit the restart button and download the update. We’ve clicked the “Remind me Tomorrow” option too many times.
We need to shake up the tree of politics and democracy. Our systems are outdated processes based on a society from the early 1900’s that has since been hijacked by partisanship and fueled by technology.
We need to start thinking further than just the politics we see on the news. We need to start exploring new ideas that challenge our collective intelligence, that stretch our imaginations of what was previously possible. This includes both experimentation and funding(as Bill writes here).
This is why we (Govrn + Peeps Democracy) teamed up to build DePo DAO. We built this as a place for us to come together and start creating the collective intelligence to update our political and democratic structures. DePo DAO is the notification popping up on your computer, your phone, your mind — reminding you that it’s finally time for that painful and long-awaited update. At DePo DAO, we’re having the conversations, funding the experiments, and putting in the work needed to understand what the better path is. This is where you come in. DePo DAO is about people first.
It’s time to join the hands of Giants
Whether you want to believe it or not — we are all participants in fixing politics and improving our democracy. Each day we wake up and do our best to be the best (or worst) citizen we can be. We contribute to society, directly and/or indirectly, but regardless we contribute to and consume from society. And at the end of each day, someone looks at what was done and tries to use that information to improve our democracy, just a little bit more. Each day we’re standing on the shoulders of those that came before us.
Thinking of the ultimate fix to politics or what is the purest form of democracy, can and will make your brain hurt. How can we possibly know the best form of democracy for tomorrow, next year, or in 100 years? This is the wrong way to look at how to improve the system.
All we can do is work and build the best version of politics for today, building on top of the work of giants like Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr, Susan B Anthony, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Lawrence Sessig, Jeff Clements, and so many other great scholars.
All we can do is build the best version for today, and let the leaders of tomorrow stand atop our shoulders and build the next version.
It’s time - it’s time not just to build, but it’s time to lead. If you’re ready to lead to the next chapter, if you’re ready to make the hard decisions and have the tough discussion, then come join us.
To join — you can support the work we’re doing (and join the our the group) here: https://gitcoin.co/grants/484/depo-dao-decentralized-politics-dao
