Building better alternatives> burning it all down
Psychologist Self Defence Principle: Parallel Polis
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.
Buckminster Fuller
In the late 1970s, Czechoslovakia was governed by a totalitarian, one party state. Dissidents would gather to try and regain liberties and democracy through political means like protesting, only to be quashed and suppressed by the state. Philosophers Vaclav Benda and Vaclav Havel gave up on the hope that the communists’ power could be overturned politically but they realized that pockets of subversive cultural activities were springing up and slowly creating a shift. Benda argued for parallel structures to be established that could eventually supplant those of the government. No more protests to bring the government down; what they needed to do instead was build a better alternative set of structures and institutions. After years of repression and even political incarceration, their parallel structures eventually replaced the communist systems and Havel became the president.
In the case of Czechoslovakia, the parallel polis was a network of underground institutions and organizations that emerged in response to the oppressive communist regime. These institutions provided a space for alternative culture, education, and economic activity, and served as a means of resistance against the communist government. Today, the concept of the parallel polis has been adapted and applied in various contexts around the world. It is often associated with the idea of creating alternative, decentralized systems that operate independently of government control and regulation.
For example, some advocates of decentralized technologies, such as blockchain and cryptocurrency, see them as tools for creating a parallel polis that can operate outside of traditional financial and regulatory structures. Similarly, some proponents of alternative education models, such as unschooling or homeschooling, see them as a means of creating a parallel polis of alternative educational institutions.
To be free of the ever increasing totalitarian nature of the corporate/ governmental symbiosis we deal with today we can’t fight it directly. We must live alternatively in a way that is better for us. If Monsanto is buying up all the farms, ideally we would rebel against that by making and growing as much of our own food as possible. If Blackrock is buying up all the property, we resist by keeping our land and our houses, maybe living in multi-generational homes or multi-family dwellings to make it work. If social media controls what we see and hear we put our phones down, disconnect, and put our attention where it will truly benefit us; on our loved ones, our creative energy, and the nature in which we live.
When everyone else is losing their heads, blaming one another and becoming more polarized; this more democratic parallel polis would be a community in which there was mutual acceptance even and especially when we disagreed. When there is enough social capital, individual freedom, and mutual respect we can have wildly disparate views on all sorts of topics and still break bread together. We can put aside religious self righteousness and pious activism and unite around greater shared values like compassion, respect, and self-determination.
A parallel structure might exist within a totalitarian state but it exists outside of it morally. We’re not going to live completely independent of Big Tech or Big Government but we can carve out a pretty nice community that reduces our dependence on powerful institutions that don’t always have our best interest in mind.