We all know things are going wrong. We all feel it.
Like you, everyone has their own list: cost of living, inequality, immigration, the march to war, the climate, the water, the trains, even potholes…
Whatever we care about, effective action is so rarely taken.
And we're left feeling disillusioned, angry, afraid and powerless above all.
The old way of entrusting politicians isn't working
It's not clear if any politicians put our interests first – or even if they could, given the swamp of bureaucracy, finance and pressures of the global system with which they contend.
The promise of elections tells us that if things are going wrong, we can elect someone different, someone better. Yet how often have we voted with high hopes, only to be let down?
No wonder trust in politicians is the lowest it's ever been.
And more and more people are losing faith in the system itself.
Our real danger
Plenty of people think this is just an efficiency problem.
If politicians delivered, and things worked better, then everything would go back to normal.
But something deeper and far more dangerous stands in the way.
We are becoming tribal
A perfect storm of social alienation, economic pressure, social and partisan media, is driving us deeply apart.
Politicians don't help. Most pitch to one tribe or other in their quest for power.
Our current system of democracy is not designed for this.
Our elections rely on the losers accepting defeat.
But in a tribal society, it is highly unlikely that one side will consent to the rule of the other.
This kind of division has ushered in dictatorships or even led to civil war in other places, at other times.
But We The People still believe in democracy
We believe we can rediscover our ability to talk, listen and compromise no matter how difficult it seems right now.
It will not happen through politicians, political parties or elections.
We need something new.
That is what this project is all about.
Our Real Hope →