Ontological Foundation of Democracy

This is the first of three installments, with the other two being published next week and the following week.

This started out as an essay on the importance of ontology in forming a democracy. Once Russia invaded Ukraine, a relook at democracy was needed. Yuval Noah Harari, in his talk about how the future may look drew my attention to history. Reiterating what Harari said: Wealth and the rulers of the past, the plutocracies were all drawn to the idea that wealth and power was based on land ownership. In the 20th century, that changed to machines. Those that had the most machines or machines that could produce wealth were the rulers. We are now in a time where wealth and power will be based on data. Data of all kinds, not just what you like to eat, wear, and do but data that tells someone about your health, tells them about your emotional life, even about your gender preferences in your private life. The data will know you better than you know yourself.

This is not about privacy, but the idea that we will have little choice in our actions unless we know ourselves. In turn, this allows a small group of oligarchies to rule masses without protest. Apparently, as I am writing, this is happening in China where evidently collected data on citizens is being used to help direct and calm people before an outbreak of unrest can happen.

As I write this, according to Freedom House, America’s Democracy rating has declined 11 points putting it out of range of democracies such as France and Germany and on the same level as weaker democracies such as Romania and Panama. This is more than sad it is a dangerous legacy to give the world.

The lack of Democratic insight and understanding throughout the USA has reached a point where we are losing our interconnection as a society. We no longer recognize equality of being and the need for understanding that sameness is not equality. During WWII, the loss of sovereignty of countries and individuals and the stripping away of the basic right to life was an ontological disaster. The Prosperos emerged out of ashes of WWII. Thane saw that ontology was the answer to demolishing plutocracy, dictatorship and tyranny of all kinds. In both, the general population becomes slaves, unable to pull themselves out of the darkness of toil for survival.

Check back next week for the second installment starting with a section entitled, “A Small History”