here my idea.. i am imagining for city areas but also works for rural places.
village councils, or residents groups, is the highest level of decision making. each local group (max. 50-100 people..) makes decisions about the running of their local area, size of a few urban blocks or small rural village. e.g. sweeping leaves on street, tree care, new buildings, businesses, village school, local composting, waste management, electricity generation, water storage etc. core discussion group might be 10 or 15 people, one person from each family.
for larger area issues, the village council sends one or two delegates to a suburb council.. to discuss municipal parks, libraries, suburb schools, main streets, suburb festivals, caring for fields, local forest areas, harvests, managing trade surplus and ensuring supply of anything people want, etc.
for larger still, the suburb council sends one or two delegates to the watershed council.. to discuss watershed issues, runoff, treatment, sewage, as well as festivals, celebrations of culture, welcoming visitors and immigrants, assistance for pioneers of new settlements in dry areas, etc.
then the watershed council sends delegates to the regional council, and on to the continental and global councils to talk about bigger issues of planetary development.
the inspiration model is indo-european village Veche.. the vedic name for village councils that existed before the kings, emperors, religions and armies.. all the way from Japan to Portugal.. where every voice has the chance to speak, and there is no center of power.. each individual arrives and speaks around the circle.
at every point, issues, difficulties, successes and concerns are all shared to best allocate resources and learn from each others' experience.. every person has a voice at the first stage of deliberation, resolving issues at the very beginning of the process. food, water, medical assistance, construction teams, gardeners, or relevant information can easily be sent to where it is needed...
Once decisions are made, of course, the relevant council then engages willing workers or administrators to implement the decision, e.g. planting a new tree might be happily done by the children in the neighbourhood. repaving a road might be done by the local men of the area in exchange for some sacks of grain, or maybe just for free for the fun of it. sending a plane full of supplies to a struggling region overseas would be done for the joy of visiting another place, and could be coincided with an international council gathering...
the point is that delegates are chosen by their groups. they are trusted at every step of the way feel the collective interest of their group... and the purpose of the whole social affair is to make our earth perfect. (not to advance personal careers, etc.)
part of my traveling is being a scout and researcher for australia.. i do my best to identify the prevailing social movements and what seems likely to prosper in the future.. to predict global development and place Australia favouralby.. so we remain an excellent country, and become a respected, honourable member of international community...
to the best what i can see, this system i have described will be used in the future.
particularly interesting the growing networks of new earth villages mostly in Russia and a little in the CIS.. old soviet states and moving west in estonia, latvia, lithuan, finland, bulgari, romani, etc. they are currently operating with village councils that send delegates to regional and national gatherings.. and have formed a political party called the "Family Party".
they have support. regional governments have started building roads and services for their villages and allocating land to new residents. Putin announced a federal program of land allotments to support and expand the number of villagers.. that is, one hectare of land for permanent ownership and natural development, which cannot be sold and can be passed on to one's children, given for free by the national government to its national people.
they have something like a rallying ideology, too, in a book series.. called the Ringing Cedars of Russia by Vladimir Megre, you can find online. it is full of practical advice on gardening, nutrition, child-raising and historical info from lesser known civilisations.. like Vedruss, Cetlic etc. the ones which our current thrust of civilisation defeated at war... the main character is called Anastasia. it talks in religious terms sometimes.. Russia is mostly orthodox and speaks that cultural language... also to neutralise the controlling aspects of religion by introducing a simple new thought.. that every person can access to all the information of the universe. nobody needs to grovel or kneel before anybody else.
the series explains many other things besides.. one big moment for me was to realise that there is actually not going to be a global catastrophe... the predicted environmental apocalypse is actually not happening.. no big depopulation, no flood, no armageddon..... so.... i guess we can get about making our living conditions better now, hey!
The books introduce ideas like the Family party, one hectare allotments, and new villages which have all now become reality. they also utterly emphasise that each person needs to learn how to think for themselves. the books are like seeds.. the inspiration for us to grow them how we like ... and people are doing it, discovering new building techniques, methods of social organisation etc.
It's interesting to me because their political party is the best candidate i've seen to become an international, all-earth global political party. based on what we all have in common: every one has a mother and a father.. a family. it will dissolve democratic division... the universal aim is to restore the rites and rituals that can grow love between sweethearts, and preserve love in families forever.. practical things like folk dances where the partners change every few bars..to feel each match for a quick moment.. and regional fetes to display local produce and crafts.. as well as harvest days or suburb-wide working bees, where everyone can dress nicely and get to know each other while doing something useful outside in the sun. and the traditional way of marriage that unites a couple with each other and also with the garden on their plot of family land.. a way to be happy, cheerful, radiant and self-sufficient.
we can still use money, technology, the internet, etc. to make these things easier. but eventually i think people will realise that the primary joys in life are one's sweetheart, children, family and home piece of garden land, and the neighbourhood community.. the highest quality life is from nature... the tastiest food, the sweetest water, the most fragrant air, and the most beautiful women.! (and men) ... fresh, local, organic, free-range, seasonal, biodynamic, wildcrafted fruit, berries, herbs, vegetables, warm sunlight, mushrooms, forests and woods, colourful flowers... a way of living permanently on the earth.. permanent culture.. (permaculture). the purpose i suppose is to perfect our habitat here on earth, thereby perfecting ourselves.. and when this planet is perfect, full of foresty gardens and cheerful people, by that time we'll know how to settle another one with something even better. probably not by combustion.. probably more biological type psycho-teleportation thing of the future..
this is pretty much the best i can see what is happening on the whole earth at the moment... and of course i am very excited because what you're saying about a new and more equal system of political organisation is very much part of the aspiration... current system can be improved a lot. i noticed you were the only one to put forward any type of vision for the future... good one. discussing our plans for the future is a really, really good idea... we create it for ourselves, after all.. and we all on this planet together.
i'm flying to Lithuania next week to attend some european gatherings, and then to Russia to attend one of their Veche conference festivals.. they say it is a a place to learn about their organisation, to learn practical skills like blacksmithing, log-cabin building, weaving, etc, to meet your soul mate, to meet like-minded neighbours, and to learn how to set up our own village like this... i will definitely enjoy summer with woods and sparkling streams, berries, mushrooms, vegetables and herbs... yum! from our convserations so far, the people who will be hosting me are the loveliest, friendliest, happiest folks... !
then every piece of info is pointing me towards settling and creating our own home and village somewhere.. with cheerful folks who'd like to create and share a new way of living that encapsulates all aspects of sustainability, self-sufficiency and best practices in gardening, social organisation, schooling, etc. as soon as i find the forever home...
let's think about a new way to do these things so we can make australia great! i love it. driving out west, we could use a bit more greenery and a few more happy people, too...