Can the deliberative process which led to the Uluru Statement from the Heart be replicated in the wider Australian community? An interesting discussion by Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens about deliberation and democracy.
The system is broken
Below is a piece I published on LinkedIn on 9 November 2016. My belief that things needed to change was one of the key reasons I founded i.e.
As it became clear that Trump would become President of the US I felt myself go into a state of shock. The world just didn't make sense anymore. I recall feeling this way when the planes flew into the Twin Towers, and during the London riots (I was living in East London at the time). With Trump's election, we now need to accept that the system is broken.
The global capitalist system that puts companies before people, politicians that stand for nothing but being in power, and the voracious 24 hours news cycle that must be fed on disagreement and disaster. The fact that we are knowingly destroying the environment that gives us life.
Our expectations are completely out of whack. Our priorities are misplaced. The growing disconnectedness from each other and ourselves. The system is broken from the global political structures down to the family unit.
We are feeding ourselves rubbish and wondering why so many of us are feeling so disenfranchised that an indecent man with the temperament of a spoilt five year old is now the most powerful man in the world.
So let's accept that the system is broken and start to think about how we live our lives. How we connect to our communities. How we go about our business.
I hope that Trump's election is the wake up call we need.
- Todd Beavis