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Bottoms Uprising
Nothing grows naturally
or resiliently,
and certainly not perfectly,
from the top down
or from the outside in
Including pyramids
and sustainable nutrition economies
and healthy
organic
democratic co-passion systems.
Some win/lose things
that do grow virally
from outside in
and/or over-powering
top down:
autocracy
cancer
kleptocracy
pyramid schemes
negative pathology
eco-political colonies
capital expansionism
invasive species
StraightMale privilege
anthrosupremacy
toxicity
pollution
trauma.
I once spoke at a condominium meeting
about cooperative democratic values
for win/win self-governance
Advocating for transparent
and inclusive choicemaking
And grassroots community maintenance
And social
and skill-sharing events
Sweat-equity
and time/talent exchange
cooperative economies.
The condominium's attorney,
whom the large majority of members
were about to terminate
along with the autocratic landlord
investor board chair
who hired him
to come to this annual meeting
and explain,
rationally
and legally,
why the residents could not do
what we needed to do,
which was first to get rid
of him
and his organized trauma
straight-white-male Patriarchal view,
This smug condominium attorney
stood up
when I had finished
to lecture members
and correct me
about we actually do not live
together in a co-invested democracy;
we live in a from-above Republic.
He not so slyly speaks
at both local condo level
and national corporate
capitalized Republic level
Because, he continued,
unit owners have elected leaders
given exclusive authority to vote on
governance issues
that the uninformed
and unelected laity
lack responsibility
(and possibly
StraightWhiteMale capacity)
to decide.
He misjudged his audience.
This republican authority from above
and from outside
power-over totalitarian
business,
rather than democratic power-within
co-governance,
was precisely the problem
this meeting had been organized
to resolve,
by democratic recall.
The attorney had his power analysis
backward.
If we are,
in our core
root residential membership
a healthy EarthTribe
and actively cooperative
win/win intentional
health-is-social-wealth
democracy FIRST
FOREMOST
FOUNDATIONALLY
The grass roots of our self-governance
are more likely to elect empowering
and enlightened republican leaders
with a resonant
and health resilient
empowering within view
valuing transparency
and multicultural inclusion
For sustainable local
and global choice-making
from our cooperatively held
integral
happy
synergetic
robust win/win top
The celebrated envy
of all our benign
and collaboratively empowering
neighbors
Noticing with multicultural wonder
and polycultural awe
that nothing grows naturally
or resiliently,
and certainly not perfectly
or sacredly
or democratically,
from the top down
or from the outside in.
Copyright ©
Gerald Dillenbeck
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