In the long term, the desire is that there is one society in which everyone interacts peaceably and harmoniously, and individuals are fully responsible for creation of their own reality. In such a case there is no need for government to restrict or enforce anything. However, the ideal world may take awhile to bring about. In the meantime, it is useful for government to take care of a few of the overall needs of society.
The Keeper of the Peace
The primary role for government in the early part of the transition to the Aquarian Age is as the keeper of the peace. Peace is one of the critical factors necessary for the Aquarian Age to come forth at all. Keeping peace requires focusing on just that, keeping peace. One does not keep peace through arms and hostile aggression, that only encourages or sanctions such aggression as a solution. Peace abides in a different domain, one where harmony and understanding are key features. The government has many political and economic means at its disposal for getting its objectives accomplished. We're already seeing this in some of the trade negotiations. In the next few years, these will turn out to be more powerful than anything else. So long as the world revolves around money, economic power will mean something. At some point however, there will be a major transition in which economies are forced to bow to spirit. The ecological movement is only the start of this trend.
Of course, we also need to help ensure that the world's nations disarm as quickly as is reasonable and safe. Nuclear weapons are of the greatest concern because of their vast potential for destruction. It could take awhile to convince world leaders that they can indeed trust each other enough to start doing this to a greater degree. Unfortunately, there is little basis for trust established between nations. Individual countries act much like individual beings, focused primarily on self-interest. Occasionally, we see groups of countries band together to achieve a strengthened resolve on an issue such as the Gulf War or a unification of power in some area such as an economic alliance.
The United Nations is set up to be a worldwide society of nations. If the members truly embraced the concept of one world, reality could change in a heartbeat. However, there are major difference among developed and developing nations that need to be resolved before any real progress will be made. The truth "created equal", in particular, is one that will have to be addressed and resolved because the economic conditions of different nations are so vastly different. At some point, the issue of fairness and balance rears its head -- and it becomes obvious that the developed nations consume far more than their fair share when compared to other nations.
There must and will be a true society of nations as an immediate predecessor to a united world of no nations. In the not too distant future, we will be negotiating with other worlds. By some accounts, various governments have already entered into treaties and negotiations with aliens from other worlds. This is only allowed to a limited degree. Worlds that are truly civilized are ONE. They have resolved any differences they had on their own planets prior to being allowed to develop the technology to leave. The same spiritual laws operate throughout the cosmos. We will have to unite our planet before our space program can truly blossom. After all, we can't be putting our garbage into the space environment like we've done everywhere else. We need to learn the lesson from nature that all other creatures learn:
- when you get out of balance with your environment, nature takes the necessary steps to bring things back into balance -- whatever they might be.
When we have solved some of our problems and unified our planet, it will be time to boldly go beyond and meet with some of the emissaries from other worlds who are watching us as we go through this critical evolutionary step in the growth of our world, the Earth. It is because this transition is such a rare step that consciousnesses from other parts of our universe are here to watch and in some cases assist. It is not such a large deal to keep Peace with other worlds, for there is already an Alliance of Worlds that our world will be able to join once we make it ONE.
But, this is still a ways off. Let's deal for awhile with more practical issues of what government needs to be in the next few years and what changes need to start happening now.
Why Government?
Government is needed because the people within society need an infrastructure that will take care of some common needs that they can't take care of by themselves on an individual basis.
Currently these needs involve things such as:
- national defense
- health
- welfare
- education (K-12), also consider college and university
- laws and their enforcement
- administration of public lands and facilities
- regulation of industry.
From an efficiency perspective, this is very wasteful of resources. It wouldn't be required if companies were trustworthy enough to take whatever steps were necessary to ensure that whatever product or service they were creating was safe. Competition is the key culprit, however, since the economics of the marketplace forces them to compete on a price basis as well, and this they can't do if it costs too much to make the product in the first place.
Environmental protection regulation is another key area. In most industries, pollution control is a cost of doing business only because the government requires it. On their own, businesses would not have considered damage to the environment in their profit calculations hence would not have judged any pollution controls to be worth the cost.
So long as we have a capitalistic economy that is driven by profit and competition, businesses can't be trusted. They are motivated to build whatever products they can sell and make a profit on; regardless of any assessment of true value, worth, or need for the product. Further, there is a large problem of lobbyists with heavy financial backing being paid to influence the legislators on matters related to particular industries or areas of business.
Government by and for the People
Government should be by and for the people. It's not clear that this is the case at present. Because there is no real contract in the society, government does those functions that are defined in the Constitution and the laws of the land. Most of the legislators are lawyers -- clearly not a reasonable representation of the people. Most legislators and high level politicians are wealthy -- again, not a reasonable representation of the people. Further, the legal language of proposed laws is very difficult for the layman to understand, making it tough to decide how to vote on many issues.
It is not clear how it is decided what the people need. Having an initiative process that allows any initiative get to the ballot and then voting on it to see if the people want it seems to be a very out of date way of doing things.
One major way to improve things would be to start defining an agenda for change. This would require examining what the major problems are and taking a holistic approach toward defining changes needed to address these problems as a group. In some instances, problems might be isolated; but, my overall feeling is that most of these problems are related:
- Schools - Poor education results.
- Crime - People don't feel safe.
- Health Care - Many don't have it + costs too much.
- Welfare/Homeless - Too costly/Too many homeless.
- Jobs/Unemployed - Pay too low/Too few jobs.
- Economy - Serves owners, not workers hence not SOCIETY.
If we started to address issues like this, we could truly get people involved. Further, if the vote were done via an electronically connected public, the masses would truly be able to speak. The legislators would then have a directive from the people for massive change.
For most of the problems, the best approach is to find the best and the brightest people with interest in the problem to work it.
However, the group must include innovative thinkers that can bring in new ideas for massive change. The key factor in each of these problems is that massive change has resulted in systems that are unable to meet the new needs in a balanced way. There have to be answers that don't require a massive influx of money.
The greatest resource any country has is its people. We must care for these great resources, every one of them. Each is unique, and we can't afford to waste the potential fruits of a lifetime of output from anyone. Maybe the pendulum has swung too far toward individual liberty. We've become so lax spiritually that we have no moral basis to society. Perhaps our forefathers were wrong about the separation of church and state. That may have been OK when nearly everyone had a strong religious life as well. In this day and age that is not the case, however.
It seems that right functioning of society requires a spiritual component. If the religious community cannot provide this effectively, then maybe it's time for the state to step in. The bottom line is that society cannot function effectively without a strong moral basis. If this is not being taught in the home or in any religious setting that children are exposed to, then there is something critical missing in the very foundation of peoples beliefs about how they live among others. This must be remedied before problems can be addressed effectively.
Actually, what I'm talking about here is the re-creation of a society, not a government. Our problems are really society problems; and, it is not clear that the government is empowered to address or to fix these problems. Our founding fathers left a provision for this in our constitution. Maybe the time has come for a new constitutional convention, one that is empowered to create a new form of government for a society different in many ways from that of our forefathers. It's been over two centuries since they met. Perhaps it's time to once again arrange a meeting of some of the best minds in the country.
As before, they too should come with a firm metaphysical background, perhaps from some of the same mystery schools but from others as well. In any event, they should have strong intuitions and right brain skills and should definitely include women. The answers will not come from a collection of lawyers. Rather, it should come from an assortment of individuals of various economic stations and various jobs. After all, reading is not such a rare skill these days -- even though it may be rarely practiced. Access to the proper materials is not confined to the wealthy, but stretches to any who have the dedication and interest to search. Many good metaphysical books have appeared in the last 30 years. The increasingly rapid rate of change has only really manifest in the last 50 years with the greatest part of that in the last 20 years. The key people needed to make this work successfully will have focused much of their energies over the past 20-30 years toward knowing their self and will have begun to apply their knowledge for the betterment of society, either in physical terms or in terms of visions of what society could be in the future.
Yes, it is time for such a convention. However, it is not clear that people are convinced that massive social change is the only solution to the major problems we face; nor is it likely that they would give a group such as this the responsibility for determining the course of such change. Further, we are talking about change at a level where no current organization has responsibility. What we are attempting to create is a social constitution, not a governmental one. Though such a social constitution will define a much clearer agenda for the government as well. Fixing key problems, however, will involve an economic agenda as well -- and this will require enlisting the cooperation of those who control the companies in many areas as well as those individuals who control the world's wealth. Then again, perhaps it is the way they've made decisions and exercised their power that helped to get us into these problems in the first place; so, it may be time to relieve these individuals of their power and give it back to officials selected and empowered by the people. Because the government serves the people, regulatory legislation may be sufficient to encourage cooperation. Where this doesn't work, it may be necessary to use market pressure as well. We'll deal with the economy in a later chapter, however.
Challenges of Government in the New Age
The challenges of government in the new age are no different than the challenges of any group of organization that is faced with dealing with massive change on a variety of levels. However, government is seeing the brunt of this change first, forcing it to lead the way. In the following, we'll address some of the key challenges and suggest ways of overcoming them.
Lack of an Equal Enemy, What Do We Do Now?
With the former Soviet Union crumbled, we no longer have an enemy that is equal to us. The Cold War is over; it should no longer guide our behavior and decisions. For nearly 50 years one of the key factors driving our priorities for funding was the issue of national security. While this is still important, it is nowhere near as important as it had been for so long. Military power is no longer a major consideration. Yes, there are still nuclear arms to consider. These should come under treaty agreements quickly, and where possible these weapons should be eliminated to get rid of the threat they impose. Policies from the top down should be reexamined and modified as required to conform with the present state of the world. Every major defense system should be reexamined to determine if it is truly needed. Military forces should be scaled back to essential minimums. Similarly government bureaucracies should undergo the same scrutiny. Those that oversee defense work or that were involved in all the intelligence aspects related to evaluating enemy capabilities should be scaled back as well.
Economic Wars Replace Conventional War
This is a tougher area to deal with. In general, we have a laissez faire attitude toward business in this country. Free enterprise and the American Dream are idealized and nearly worshiped. We are not really prepared to treat business as war as the Japanese and some of our other competitors. However, we do have one powerful weapon -- our market for goods and services.
With a population of over 250 million highly affluent consumers, we are in a position to make or break economies of other nations.
Conventional wars may break out here or there, but increasingly these will not be necessary as a way for settling arguments or disagreements. At some point, the people of the world need to realize that aggression towards others is unacceptable behavior that will not be tolerated by the United Nations. Initially, force may be needed to teach this lesson; but, that is not the most effective way in the long run. People need to see the positive benefits of cooperation and belonging to a new world order. This requires that they be treated fairly and respected as well.
It is not clear that we want to engage in economic wars either. Prior to entering free trade agreements that allow us to compete in other markets, we should probably take a hard look at the costs, benefits, and consequences of such activities. We need to decide what place economics has in our society and whether we truly want to open our market to the world. At some point, we need to realize that an economy must reach some sort of balance in order to prevent various types of problems. We need to make sure that whatever strategy we adopt allows for a state of balance. This is an issue for the United Nations as well. Somehow, a world economy needs to be achieved that is fair to the member nations. This will definitely require some payment or compensation for past sins, so to speak. Developed nations have taken advantage of developing nations for a long time. Such behavior can no longer be tolerated. Interactions must be conducted fairly and equitably. This requires more than just getting both parties to agree to the terms of a contract.
Another consideration is that we may not truly be in a position to compete, not because our workers are not good enough, but because they are not hungry enough and do not realize the true will and motivation of our competition. Also, we need to examine whether such competition is really good for society. There is some value to competition, but there is also a cost. It is not yet clear under what circumstances the benefits exceed the cost.
Moving Towards a New World Order
Because the population has grown to a level where planetary limits have been reached, nations are no longer isolated from one another. In many areas, such as ecology, what one nation does impacts its neighbors at the very least, and in some cases may impact the entire world. It is becoming increasingly important for the United Nations to step up as a new united world order. One of the key roles for government in the next few years is to decide and get agreement on what role we as a country are to play in this new order. It is important that we cooperate and work in good faith, doing as much as we can to ensure that all nations get a fair deal in whatever negotiations and agreements take place. To prepare for this, we need to set ourself up as a prototype for the new world -- adjusting our government in a manner that aligns us with the principles to be established in the new age.
Our forefathers set us on a course for setting the foundation for a New Order of the Ages. We have not completed that foundation yet, or we would not have all of the problems we currently face. It is time we get our best and brightest together to decide what kind of an order is needed and what it will take to bring it about. If a transition plan is already in the works, it should be made known. If it does not exist, then it should be the highest priority task for the government. Actually, it should be the highest priority task for the society, and it should not be assumed that those in the government at the present time are the right people for the task. In fact, it may be that key individuals from other countries should be invited to participate. This country is to create the prototype for a world order as part of our destiny, but this is a prototype for a world order -- so, the best and brightest social thinkers on the planet should be convened.
Keeping a High Wage Society Employed
This gets back to the economy issue again. Unfortunately, one of the assumptions of our present economy is that consumers must pay full price for services and goods and the price is set by whatever the market will bear. We have no concepts about fair prices or a real worth of goods or services. An hour worth of time is worth $4 to $1,000,000 plus depending on what is done. In other countries, this can be far less. On average, the wage is about $10-15 per hour. The bulk of the spectrum is from minimum wage $6 to $60, an order of magnitude difference. The higher wages typically require increased education and responsibility.
With defense and government downsizing, large numbers of relatively well-paid professionals are finding themselves out of work with no similar jobs in industry available to employ them. The private sector has no plan for growth, since most of it is based on the market sector and with no real growth in wages and no increase in market, there is no room for additional goods and services unless they can compete with other products or services. Because of this we see unemployment up to nearly 10% in California, with no improvement projected in the future.
The fact that our wages are high also makes it more difficult to compete against other countries, especially for doing any work requiring manual labor. Our education problems have resulted in lower math and science skills and fewer graduates with technical degrees making it tough to compete in high technology work. Further, many people decide on what to study based on the income level and job potential of the degree they pursue. Under more ideal conditions, people would pursue what they are best at -- and be employed to use their skills and talents, thus resulting in high motivation, satisfaction, and performance. When people are motivated primarily by money, great inefficiencies enter the system.
The classic way for government to impact employment is to generate legislation that opens markets, encourages growth, or removes restrictions thus allowing industry new opportunities. It is not clear that such actions will work in the current environment. Industry thinks on too short of a time scale in this country. Also, the profit motivation, and greed cause inefficiencies that prevent a greater overall economic priority.
Becoming Leaner and More Effective
Doing more with less. TQM is rampant. Al Gore's recent Report on Reinventing Government goes a long way toward understanding this and defining specific steps to make it so. The bottom line is that we can empower workers to do more so that the overall job is done better with fewer people. Bureaucratic red-tape can be reduced and government employees can deliver quality services that are focused on the customers needs.
Along with this, it may be useful to redefine what government does as well. The services provided by government should be in line with what the people truly need. It is not yet clear how best to determine what government should do. The best way I can think of is to derive the functions for government from the assessment of what the New Order of the Ages will be.
Transitioning from Defense to Commercial Work
The government is already encouraging contractors to think about how to transform Defense related work into commercial work. Several contractors have actually found commercial applications for parts of their work and even developed and sold products. In general, however, it is unlikely that this will work on a large scale. There just don't appear to be enough customers, and defense contractors are not used to having to compete in the commercial world.
If the role of government were suitably scoped, there is no reason that such talents as those designing weapons could not be employed toward peaceful ends of working out solutions to some of societies problems. In particular, they could work on machines that make various tasks and activities more efficient. They could also work on basic technology required for longer term social change that is too far in the future for commercial companies to address. Much of the lasting benefits from defense work come from pushing technology beyond the state of the art and being asked to do things that cannot currently be done. This same attitude could be applied to the needs and services provided within a society as well. In particular, prototype communities could be built to determine how best to establish infrastructures that empower people to work and play effectively, and be happy. This is not that different from setting up environments and infrastructures that allow people to fight effectively. Constraints are different, and the general environment is more free, but the basic problem deals with optimizing variables under a set of constraints. Similar thinking is required to solve the two problems.
Flexibility: The Key to Dealing with Massive Change
Stay flexible! That's about the only way to deal with massive change. Trust that we have the raw material to deal with anything. After all, we have a destiny to achieve. We were the nation set up to lead the world through the transition to a new age. Our Founding Fathers knew what was in store. They were there at the first birth. We now are at the threshold of a second birth. God guides our endeavors, however. We have what it takes to get us through. And, we will get through it. How we do so, and what we experience in the transition are dependent on our choices and actions in the coming years. It can be easy or difficult. Literally, it is up to us.
One thing is certain, there will be massive change. The current problems in our country and in our world have to be addressed by more then bandaids. Those that can be corrected need to be fixed. For those that can't, we need to recognize what we did that caused the problem and then take responsibility and act in whatever manner possible to right the situation.
We are on a roller coaster ride, it's best to sit back and enjoy it. We will be safe through it all. It may get scary at times, but that is only temporary. The focus should be on the society in which we want to live. That is the final destination. However, to get there we must first define what it is. We need the dream of what that society is to be. It is from the dream that it will be made so. Such is the nature of reality creation.
The major driver for the government through all this should be to stay focused on what the people need and to provide whatever services are required effectively and efficiently. The key is to put the customer first and do whatever it takes to provide quality services. This will help ensure that the people get what they truly need. Specific organizations should be restructured whenever necessary to allow them to provide their services better.
Personal Choices and Options
You have a brain and a voice. Let your government know what is right and what is wrong at every level in which you interact with it. Don't tolerate mediocre service, demand to be treated with respect and provided with the quality services that you are paying for through your taxes. These people are employed by you to serve you. They are not slaves, however. They deserve to be treated with respect as professionals as well. Are there services that are not provided that could help many people. If so, write down your ideas and send them to your congressperson. Also, share your ideas with others and have them do the same.
On a social level, look at the society that you are part of on a local level. Is it as supportive as you would like? If not, how would you change it? Who would you live around? What kind of a contract would you establish for the mutual benefit of your local society?
Everything in our experience is a reflection of a part of ourself back to us. The best way to handle problems is to fix them in the source, not in the reflection. Think about how what you believe and what you do result in what you see, and take responsibility for your part in it. No, you did not create it all, but, you participated in its creation in some manner. Trust your inner self to move you in the way that is proper for the time and circumstance. Follow the promptings of your soul -- do what comes from your heart. We, collectively, create our reality. At the moment, we're doing a less than spectacular job, but that can all be fixed in a heartbeat. All it takes is alignment, realizing that there is a whole that we are in the process of creating that is much creator than any one of us. That creative unity can do far more than any of us could hope to achieve. However, unity requires a submission of the individual will, to the higher will of the entire entity. Note, I specifically did not say "common" will. This is not a matter of democracy. The entity created through uniting the group will be One -- it will be the collective "We", yet more than that at the same time. The synergy factor comes into play in these situations, and a new level of consciousness is allowed to enter the world in physical form. Further evolution will be guided by the expression of this new consciousness.
What One Individual Can Do!
Each individual can only do whatever their personal vision, abilities, and talents allow them to do. As a minimum, each should do whatever their inner voice directs them to do:
- If you see a hungry person and are moved by it, give the person some food. I've noticed several outside of grocery stores lately. It's a simple thing to buy an additional piece of fruit or loaf of bread. If many of us did this there wouldn't be any hungry people around.
- If you see a homeless person and are moved to help, do what you can. Advise them as to where the nearest shelter is, take them there, or take them into your own home if such feels right to you. You might also write a letter to the local government voicing what you feel about the situation and telling them what you want to be done about it.
- If you see a jobless person and are moved to help, find some work they can do in exchange for getting some of their basic needs met. Food, shelter, and clothing require funds to acquire -- and a significant amount of funds at that.
As to the future, dream of what could be, beyond limitation, beyond imagination. Focus on those areas that are most interesting to you and imagine the new world as clearly as you can, knowing that the intensity of your imagination will help to make it so. Think on as global of a level as is possible for you, then act locally in a manner consistent with you vision. "Think global, act local". Try it! It definitely works.
You are not a powerless individual in the face of a huge government bureaucracy. You are a part owner that pays for the entire government to work for us. It's not us against them, it's us helping us. The U.S. is really us.
[ON TO CHAPTER 4]
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Copyright © 1995, Wayne Hartman, Revised -- (16 Sep 95)
