Humanity is leaning over a precipice of nuclear, ecological, and economic annihilation. The root cause of these interrelated threats is the corrupting, divisive, and dictatorial power that oligarchs (arms, oil, banks, media, etc) exert over national governments, political parties, and our lives.
We call this phenomenon International Divide and Rule (IDR). Instead of taking responsibility to tackle global threats, nations focus their resources on competing with each other in a geopolitical race to destruction. This competition between nations is weaponised to maintain existing oligarchic power structures in the classic divide et impera style.
Global People Power’s vision is for ‘Earth Citizens’ to assume democratic power and responsibility as a diverse human family united in tackling this systemic root cause of threats to all life on earth. We seek to establish Citizens’ Assemblies that create rules without rulers; global policies to solve interrelated global challenges. We will utilise Non-Violent Direct Action to drive all nations to empower national citizens to vote on the implementation of those policies (immediate & unilateral or synchronised & multilateral).
While making demands of corrupt political-economic systems is a necessary component, our approach focuses on assuming collective power. To tackle threats to all life on earth we need new (local to global) systems change achieved in a way that avoids alienating large sections of society. This requires a culture and tactics that are inclusive of a broad set of values and identities. Our movement must be demographically diverse to win defections from the pillars of support of corrupt political-economic institutions.
We seek to give a unified voice to an existing fragmented global movement towards participatory democracy by squarely addressing the broadest range of issues with the most narrow of conflict root-cause targets. The ultimate root cause with the broadest public support mobilised across the political spectrum and across borders is, we believe, the battle against systematised and globalised corruption and to ‘Overthrow Oligarchy’. #OverthrowOligarchy #OO
However, this challenge also requires us to seed a new vision and scientifically rigorous grand narrative around what a world beyond oligarchic influence would look like. This requires a narrative that appeals to our innate sense of fairness and the universally held values of a preference for cooperation over destructive competition , and participation and self-determination over oppression and dominance. It requires a ‘prefigurative politics’ approach that doesn’t ask for permission but starts funding and assembling the new systems of participatory democracy.
This Strategy attempts to outline the theoretical and practical elements needed to achieve this ambitious goal of uniting a broad-based mass movement, a cultural wave pulsing relentlessly towards participatory democracy as a means of overthrowing global oligarchy and decommissioning its weapon, IDR. It is designed to reclaim the sovereignty of national governments and local communities within a context of global cooperation, and in doing so tackle the causes of global threats, not just the symptoms.
It is essential that we (as civil resistance movements) work better together as a meta-movement to ensure we are working towards the same, or similar ends, and are following well-researched steps for success. We welcome any feedback or contributions to strengthen this strategy and look forward to working with you on the journey to building a more participatory and democratic global order of “sovereign” nations free from oligarchy. Together we can overcome systems that are dividing and killing us by creating new systems that enable us to unite and thrive.