Again, the development of socially sustainable organizations begins with a Vision followed by an Intention, Philosophy, Mission and Goals that are congruent with the three core values of social sustainability: quality of life, growth and equality. This applies to any organization, whether a sole proprietorship or a national government, and everything in between.
Given that the founders of the American democracy did not know what the future would bring, it appears that their intention was to simply create a sovereign nation separate from the English Crown. That having been accomplished, they then set about to design and implement the rudiments of a functional democracy where citizens had “…certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Those were the criteria of the new democracy. Those rights were later expanded and defined within the first ten amendments, which most people know as the Bill of Rights.
More than two centuries later, political and civil rights appear to have become fully expanded and defined. During that same time social change has defined this democracy as intractably dysfunctional, without a traditional means to redefine itself. The democracy that began in 1776 is now fulfilled in what I call the “First Paradigm of Democracy.” It cannot be developed any further within that historic definition. It exists as complete within the opening and closing parentheses of its history.
For democracies to evolve beyond their first paradigm origins, a “paradigm leap” is needed that peacefully moves them “out of the box” of their unsustainable beliefs without destroying the social, political and economic fabric of society. The birth pangs of the “Second Paradigm of Democracy” can already be heard in movements as “Occupy Wall Street,” “sustainability” and the anguish of egregious disparity between great wealth and poverty. That agony will continue because the First Paradigm has no objective mechanism to discover “what is fair” to balance the disparity of social justice and social equity. The Second Paradigm will.
Reliably, the “unalienable rights” stated in the Declaration provide a solid foundation for implementing the universal and timeless core values of social sustainability that will be embedded in the Second Paradigm of Democracy. While quantitative political and civil rights defined the fulfillment of the First Paradigm, qualitative social rights will become the quest for the Second Paradigm of Democracy as societies seek to become socially sustainable.
Given that the founders of the American democracy did not know what the future would bring, it appears that their intention was to simply create a sovereign nation separate from the English Crown. That having been accomplished, they then set about to design and implement the rudiments of a functional democracy where citizens had “…certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Those were the criteria of the new democracy. Those rights were later expanded and defined within the first ten amendments, which most people know as the Bill of Rights.
More than two centuries later, political and civil rights appear to have become fully expanded and defined. During that same time social change has defined this democracy as intractably dysfunctional, without a traditional means to redefine itself. The democracy that began in 1776 is now fulfilled in what I call the “First Paradigm of Democracy.” It cannot be developed any further within that historic definition. It exists as complete within the opening and closing parentheses of its history.
For democracies to evolve beyond their first paradigm origins, a “paradigm leap” is needed that peacefully moves them “out of the box” of their unsustainable beliefs without destroying the social, political and economic fabric of society. The birth pangs of the “Second Paradigm of Democracy” can already be heard in movements as “Occupy Wall Street,” “sustainability” and the anguish of egregious disparity between great wealth and poverty. That agony will continue because the First Paradigm has no objective mechanism to discover “what is fair” to balance the disparity of social justice and social equity. The Second Paradigm will.
Reliably, the “unalienable rights” stated in the Declaration provide a solid foundation for implementing the universal and timeless core values of social sustainability that will be embedded in the Second Paradigm of Democracy. While quantitative political and civil rights defined the fulfillment of the First Paradigm, qualitative social rights will become the quest for the Second Paradigm of Democracy as societies seek to become socially sustainable.