By Roger Copple

To change and save the world before it is too late, paradigm shifts in politics, science, and spirituality are needed with a big dose of ecological wisdom. Each person must develop and share his or her vision for changing the world.

Politically, in the United States I advocate using proportional representation in the election of a unicameral US Congress– the US Senate is eliminated altogether.  I would empower the 7 largest national political parties.  But even a national political party that gets only 1 percent of the vote could still have a voice, as all money is taken out of politics.  The Electoral College system for electing presidents would also be removed.

Using consensus decision-making and instant runoff voting, state governments could be built from the bottom-up, not from the top-down, from the neighborhood block club, to the precinct, township, county, and ultimately to the state legislative board, which would replace a state’s current state legislature.  A legislative district, of a particular locality and level of government, could make executive and judicial appointments in its jurisdiction.

Legislators in each district would vote among themselves to send one of their members up to the next level, for example, from the township level to the county level.  A legislative official who is sent to a higher level of government could be removed by any of the particular lower legislative bodies from which he or she emerged.  While maximizing local self-determination, a higher level of government could, when necessary, overrule the decisions of a lower level.

I am not your typical collectivist.   As a retired teacher, I do not just call for smaller classrooms and more money spent on education.  I would largely remove all federal, state, and township hierarchical regulation and control in public education.

Instead I would allow the neighbors who live within the boundaries of each elementary, middle, and high school to create their own school philosophy and curriculum using government money.  This policy will create neighborhood togetherness and community solidarity, as the residents in each school district develop common (even tribal) dreams.  Retired citizens can relearn and master the content in math, social studies, science, and language arts, at least through the 12^th grade, so that there can be a tutor for each student.

In creating a democratic and federal world government, the world map could be divided into a grid of 500 rectangular districts of equal population.  Each district would send one representative to the world congress, which could make executive and judicial appointments.  Aspiring to radical egalitarianism, no one on the planet would earn more than 3 times the hourly wage of the lowest paid worker.

Politics, Science, and Spirituality

For the paradigm shifts in science and spirituality, I recommend that readers watch the 3 short Youtube videos (each is about 10 minutes) given by Vandana Shiva at a  Sages and Scientists Symposium, sponsored by Deepak Chopra.  Part 1 is entitled “The War Against the Earth,” Part 2, “Violent Agriculture,” and Part 3, “Making Peace with the Earth”.

Vandana Shiva discusses biodiversity, sustainability, current agricultural practices, and the importance of making peace with the Earth.  Trained as a physicist, Vandana Shiva is an activist, author, eco feminist, and philosopher. She is especially interested in quantum mechanics and biotechnology.  Vandana Shiva warns that we must not fall prey to a mechanistic and monocultural framework of thinking that leads to the degradation of the planet.  She argues that “what passes today as science is not science anymore.  You can’t assume that a genetically modified organism is equal to its non-genetically modified parent.”