Mechanics of Changing the World: Political Architecture to Roll Back State & Corporate Power

The Mechanics of Changing the World argues that war, tax havens & environmental overshoot are insoluble within the current political framework. That present-day politics is a 'displacement activity'-a substitute for the one thing that can end our crises: to rewrite the political system that generates them.The book argues that the many risks we face shouldn't be addressed by another 'monolithic blueprint'-but by governance that can 'evolve into' them. It capitalizes on the egalitarian nature of our evolutionary past, via a suite of democratic tools that decontaminate politics, decentralize information, cleanse the electoral process, & raise 'civic IQ'.This 'third draft' of the democratic ideal flows from the Athenian & Euro-American 'drafts': rewiring democracy, institution by institution, to match it to the things we've learned about human nature-& human society-since 1789.The last half-century has seen the antiwar movement, perestroika, Tiananmen, Occupy, & the Arab Spring. All had strong ideals, and strong popular support-yet none built anything lasting.One-off campaigns-whether against lopsided trade deals, poverty or surveillance-are fragile. Changing the world needs more than inspired troubleshooting. It needs architecture.