Supranational Democratic Institutions

I happen to be an advocate for global democracy, but we have a long, long way to go before we might see that happen. I read a great book on the subject a few years ago and I can't seem to find it anywhere. I probably passed it on to someone before I wrote any notes, oops. I thought the authors name was Brian Belsito or something like that, but google searches aren't helping me now. If I remember correctly, he was a member of the Integral Institute or at least somehow affiliated. If anyone can help me out, please do so.

I suppose I am a disciple of Thomas Jefferson. I revere him above all other men. I tell you this so you will have a more clear idea about what I refer to when I write about democracy. Perhaps I should refer to myself as a progressive, a liberal democrat or a socialist. They are all just labels and do not seem very constructive to me. Too many people have too much bias concerning these words which makes reasonable discussion far too difficult.

The United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and the International Monetary Fund are all institutions that exert profound influence on a global scale. These institutions are far from democratic. I believe that we need to create new democratic institutions, supranational democratic institutions to work with the aforementioned institutions and possibly replace them.

The need to form these institutions has never greater when we consider the global problems of environmental degradation, nuclear proliferation, increasing socioeconomic disparity and an escalating clash of cultures.

There are people working for the creation of such institutions, but there seems to be little momentum, inept organization and insufficient public awareness or enthusiasm for these efforts to bear fruit. Why is this so?

I suspect that the answer is that there are powerful antidemocratic forces at play. Rather than waste time and energy identifying the villains, which has already been done and continues to be done in an exhaustive manner, I would prefer to concentrate on the who and how to create viable supranational democratic institutions.

As for the who, at the top of my list is Al Gore. I can think of no one better qualified to lead a global effort for the common good. Other choices include; Thom Hartmann, Paul Krugman, Jeffrey Sachs, Leonardo Dicaprio, Amy Goodman, some of the cast and crew from Who Killed the Electric Car? Bono from U2 might be a good choice. Heck, maybe Michael Moore could help.

We need to get as many people on board as possible of course, but we are going to need the talents of some good propagandists and high profile people.

Someone from Egalitynow was quick to respond, THANKS! That warms my heart a little. Yesterday as I was working on this blog I was researching the subject and became more than a little disheartened. I have a hard time understanding it. It seems like a no-brainer to me. Modern democracy has been so good for the world. No modern democracy has ever suffered famine and no modern democracies have ever been at war with one another. Amazing! The spread of modern democracy has been a boon for the world and is still ongoing, the trajectory and implications seems obvious. Millions of people complain and rant and rave about the WTO, IMF and the structures within the UN, but it seems that few are working in earnest for economic democracy.