Check 2 - Biosphere and People: People and Constitutional Sovereignty

02/13/21 • 31 min

Not all players convey links - find us on Acast if this text is not clear.

Sovereignty - we've heard a lot in the UK about both sovereignty, and "taking back control" - but this taking back of control in the context of leaving the EU has so far barely extended to us as citizens. Why and how is the current UK system so paternalistic? What are the roots of the widespread and long-standing political apathy in the UK? What alternative models can we look to for inspiration?

In this episode we examine how the UK's First Past The Post system creates, not least in Boris Johnson, but also Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher, rulers that are effectively sovereign monarchs, and a citizenry of disempowered subject-consumers. And we explore what it would take for us to assert our sovereignty more effectively.

Talking points:

The planet is ideally sovereign, but to be practical it's people who are doing the doing
Who actually exercises power in the UK?
Centralisation leads to bureaucracy leads to powerlessness
The Welfare System as a case in point
Think Tanks vs. Thinking Tanks
People are perfectly capable, regardless of background
Switzerland's consensual democracy as exemplar
Fragmentation of the UK as an opportunity for this
Hangover of Empire in the current administration
Challenges to active participation
Leadership model in Amazon
Scientific Method, falsification and Karl Popper

Bonus Links:

Sovereignty boffin and Brexit campaigner Claire Fox celebrates the engaging effect that the UK's leaving the EU has had on democratic participation in the UK, and that this is only the beginning - neatly illustrating that for some, Brexit is a gift that keeps on giving, even if for others it is a night - long, dark, damp, and cold - with no promise of morning. Brrr.

Pioneering paediatrician and psychotherapist of family systems D.W. Winnicott's 1949 essay exploring the question of maturity in individuals and society, strongly anticipating themes of systems thinking.

From the In Our Time History Archive - now pieces of history in themselves:

Long history of psychoanalysis and democracy (2002)

Thoughts on the Nation State (1999) - prescient and rather Brexity in retrospect.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not all players convey links - find us on Acast if this text is not clear.

Talking points:

The planet is ideally sovereign, but to be practical it's people who are doing the doing
Who actually exercises power in the UK?
Centralisation leads to bureaucracy leads to powerlessness
The Welfare System as a case in point
Think Tanks vs. Thinking Tanks
People are perfectly capable, regardless of background
Switzerland's consensual democracy as exemplar
Fragmentation of the UK as an opportunity for this
Hangover of Empire in the current administration
Challenges to active participation
Leadership model in Amazon
Scientific Method, falsification and Karl Popper

Bonus Links:

From the In Our Time History Archive - now pieces of history in themselves:

Long history of psychoanalysis and democracy (2002)

Thoughts on the Nation State (1999) - prescient and rather Brexity in retrospect.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Check 1 - Biosphere and People: The Biophysical World

The first and fundamental principle of this series - and indeed this entire way of looking at things - reflects the unseen, creeping processes causing catastrophic climate change. Why do we need this? How are we to think about it? What can we do?

Talking points:

industrialisation
limits on human behaviour
secondary effects of climate change
our personal relationship to the biosphere
self-harm as an image for how we treat our environment
the future generations act in Wales
boundaries
constitutions filter through to all activities
responsibility at different levels
what people with higher incomes can do
focus on where you live

There are so many links relating to this topic, it's hard to know where to start - but to get a global view on an array of challenges on the horizon, it's hard to beat Earthtime, an open source mapping project which allows you to view other people's stories, or play around with available data yourself:

https://earthtime.org/#

New economic model: https://time.com/5930093/amsterdam-doughnut-economics/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

Check 3 - Biosphere and People: The Rule of Law

Anyone following current affairs will see how the rule of law is often stretched to its limit by autocratic leaders seeking to either evade it or bend it to their will - and while this has come to the foreground in the US and UK since 2016, it is a long-running theme in many parts of the world. However the rule of law is not only about holding the powerful to account, it's also about a fundamental feature of life under a functioning government - personal safety.

In this episode we delve into how it has emerged as a principle that requires clear articulation, what difference it makes and where we see versions of it in action.

Talking points: