Our world is hurting. Every day, people encounter systems that treat them as objects to be managed, sorted, and controlled. Families strain. Workplaces drain the spirit. Communities fray. Individuals become isolated. Politics turns neighbors against one another as wealth, status, and power rise toward the top. 

 

These crises may look separate — social, economic, cultural, environmental, political, personal — but stepping back, a single pattern emerges: society trains people to dominate and submit, even when domination and submission do not make sense. 

 

Addressing the whole person and the whole society, holistic democracy can cultivate friendship and generosity, build counter-institutions, hold power accountable, overcome oppressive domination, and avoid mindless submission.

 

People dominate, for instance, when they do most of the talking, interrupt, don’t listen, aren’t curious, don’t ask questions, give power to people who look, think, and act like them, feel overwhelmed by rapidly changing conditions that consume and spit them out, compete fiercely, use their connections to get ahead, climb the ranks,  lord it over those below, pursue greater profits regardless of the costs to the environment, their workers and their community, believe they’re superior human beings, assume they’re more intelligent in every respect because they’re more educated, are bossy, use professional status to infantilize clients and patients, disrespect people, make harsh judgments, lecture, preach, mobilize followers to do what they want, manipulate or seduce people with hidden agendas, take charge, direct others, defeat “enemies,” coerce through physical force or threats, bully, imprison, discriminate against others based on their identity, exercise arbitrary power over others, mesmerize with charm, charisma, or rhetoric, persuade or convert people, demand loyalty and obedience, pay workers to gain compliance, wear the most beautiful clothes and own the most impressive goods to impress people, get the highest grades and attend the most prestigious schools, and believe they deserve their advantages due to their own efforts and talents. In short, they promote authoritarian top-down power.

 

People submit, for instance, when they let others monopolize conversations, agree others are superior human beings and they themselves are inferior, place others on a pedestal, say nothing about the explosion of greed, corruption and cheating, don't object when others are disrespected, feel self-conscious about being less educated, go along with bossy people, envy and resent wealthy elites, accept they are “losers,” resign themselves to being isolated without a meaningful community, withdraw into disembodied spirituality, do what professionals tell them to do without thinking, accept authoritative directions, internalize others’ disrespect, agree when others put them down with dehumanizing labels, automatically worship people who lecture and preach at them, follow leaders who mobilize them and supervisors who order them, buy into the notion that we must defeat “enemies,” do what others want without knowing their hidden agendas, yield quickly to being subjected with physical force and threats, allow imprisonment to undermine their spiritual freedom, accept discrimination against them based on who they are, consent to being mistreated for no good reason, are taken in by charm, charisma, and clever rhetoric, are persuaded or converted without careful thought, are loyal and obedient, violate their integrity to get and keep a well-paying job when they have other options, always obey bosses, defend selfish public policies, admire and envy people with the latest fashions, think people with the highest grades who go to the most prestigious schools are more intelligent in every respect, and believe everyone deserves their lot and has earned what they have or don’t have. In short, they accept authoritarian top-down power.
 

Society weaves our institutions, organizations, cultures, and individual selves into a self-perpetuating social system — the Top-Down Machine — that inflames the innate desire to dominate and the willingness to submit. Those who are wealthier and more powerful use their advantages to accumulate more wealth and power. 
 

In the social sphere, the Top-Down Machine shapes everyday life — at work, in schools, in healthcare, in families, and in social spaces. It decides whose voices matter, whose time counts, whose comfort comes first, and whose needs are treated as negotiable.

In the personal sphere, the Machine is internalized. It shapes psychology, identity, and desire.
 

In the cultural sphere, the Machine shapes what we notice, what we ignore, what we praise, and what we treat as normal. Culture is the air we breathe.
 

In the economic sphere, the Machine treats money as the main scoreboard of human worth. The result is insecurity, rat races, union busting, corruption, obscene margins, monopolies and oligopolies, and workplace dictatorships where some decide, and others explain themselves.

In the environmental sphere, the Machine treats the planet the way it treats people: as objects to be used, extracted, and discarded.

I
n the political sphere,  the Machine concentrates decision-making, shields elites from accountability, and turns democracy into theater.

The Machine weaves these spheres into one self-reinforcing, synergistic system. From the internal monologue of the activist to the boardrooms of global finance, this Machine reproduces a single logic: wealth and power flow upward, while accountability is pushed down.
 

Egocentric hyper-competition, magnified by the emergence of Artificial Intelligence, pushes people to climb social ladders, build monopolies, create extreme inequality, and drive nations to dominate other nations — regardless of social and environmental costs, aggravating cheating, corruption, and unfair business practices. The various elements of this self-perpetuating system reinforce one another.
 

No individual, group, or nation controls the Top-Down Machine. Everyone is a pawn. Every manager is replaceable. Everyone is a victim — dehumanized by the Machine, rendered less fully human — whether or not they recognize it.
 

Society doesn’t oppress everyone equally. Racism, sexism, and other forms of oppressive discrimination target people because of their race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or other dimensions of identity. These durable features are built into laws, institutions, cultural norms, and individual behavior over generations; they are not isolated or merely historical.
 

 Countering the Top-Down Machine
 

People avoid domination and submission, for instance, when they relate to others as equals, form partnerships, are open and honest, collaborate, cooperate, solve problems together, make decisions jointly or by rotation, think together to deepen understanding, identify as members of the human family, relieve suffering, promote fairness, enjoy life and each other's company, choose their leaders, belong to strong labor unions, have a voice in selecting their managers and supervisors, formally evaluate managers and supervisors to hold them accountable, own their own business with fellow workers, accept their obligations to care for others and enhance their development, participate in free and fair elections to equalize political power, advocate for compassionate improvements in public policy, push to reduce economic inequality and ensure economic security for all, and support one another in living well, as each sees fit, without presuming to dictate how others should live, so long as they respect others' right to do the same. In short, they promote egalitarian bottom-up power.
 

Reforming the Top-Down Machine requires more than removing formal barriers. It also requires consciously advancing diversity, which strengthens communities, institutions, and endeavors and enhances everyone’s ability to thrive. When two candidates are comparably qualified, giving preference to applicants from historically marginalized communities is ethically justified — both as partial redress for inherited disadvantage and as an investment in the broader community's future health. The goal is to build institutions worthy of humanity’s highest aspirations by assuring that everyone has a fair opportunity to flourish.
 

Historically, many individuals and organizations have resisted arbitrary, unjustified top-down power and have built counter-institutions and cultures to empower the marginalized. These elements form the Bottom-Up Community that cultivates egalitarian cooperation and compassion. Each element of this alternative system reinforces the others, countering the Top-Down Machine. 
 

These two systems press against each other, but the more powerful Top-Down Machine predominates. Our task is not to destroy it — some hierarchy is essential — but to strengthen the Bottom-Up Community and establish a balance between the two, while holding the Top-Down Machine accountable to its highest ideals with holistic democracy.
 

Holistic Democracy
 

Holistic democracy envisions synergistic growth across all spheres: social, personal, cultural, economic, environmental, and political. The aim is to make hierarchy accountable with greater bottom-up power. A model for this approach is a labor union with strong shop stewards — representatives embedded in the workplace who immediately confront management with complaints about working conditions, keeping hierarchy accountable from below.
 

As illustrated by the following graphic, power in human societies runs on a spectrum. At one extreme sits autocracy — total top-down control, no accountability, no voice for those below. At the other extreme sits anarchy — the abolition of hierarchy altogether, which tends to produce chaos.

Moving along the spectrum from autocracy, first comes authoritarianism, then moderate authoritarianism, each progressively tilting power downward. At the center sits holistic democracy. Moving on down the spectrum, there’s moderate egalitarianism, then egalitarianism, each dispersing power more broadly. Then, at the extreme, anarchy.
 

Most societies live somewhere on this spectrum. They can move in either direction. This book argues that democratic health involves strengthening holistic democracy.

 

Basic Values and Principles
 

Some key principles can guide holistic and systemic reform.

Human nature. Humans are torn between fear and hate, on the one hand, and trust and love, on the other. Both deeply, genetically embedded instincts are powerful, rooted in humanity’s origins. Large predators threatened death, prompting defensive measures. Learning to cooperate enabled survival. For two million years, egalitarian hunter-gatherers have lived in lush environments that have enabled them to meet their basic needs, fostering peaceful, cooperative societies. Population growth and environmental changes, however, have led to greater scarcity, competition, and conflict. Modern-day economic insecurity aggravates this pattern. Cooperative instincts, however, remain strong, readily available to be expressed and acted upon. Love and generosity are powerful motives, filling lives with purpose.
 

The personal and the political. Both outer political changes in public policy and inner personal changes in thoughts and emotions are essential; they reinforce one another. The Top-Down Machine’s social conditioning inflames the instincts to dominate and submit and suppresses the instincts to cooperate and love. Groups become less focused on serving the common good and more focused on their own power. Ego-driven power struggles, driven by the arrogant desire to get followers to do what leaders want, divide organizations and undermine their potential power. If people became more humble and learned to cooperate more fully by solving problems together, they’d be more effective. The personal is political in the sense that relationships involve the exercise of power; however, the political adoption and implementation of legislation is also critical. Improved living conditions cultivate personal growth, and these political struggles can be liberating personally.
 

The “System.” Many people understandably complain about “the system.” They intuitively realize that self-perpetuating, interwoven hidden social structures hold society together. However, there’s little agreement about the nature of this system; most people only refer to politics and economics. This book argues the problem is much deeper. The Top-Down Machine (though other phrases could be used) is the primary problem we face. Deep change requires confronting it.
 

Scapegoating. Placing primary blame for the problems we face on particular individuals and organizations is wrong. This scapegoating divides organizations and is a major barrier to building strong alliances. Accountability for mistakes can acknowledge complicating factors, extenuating circumstances, context, others' roles, and root causes. Violations and instances of abuse are symptoms; violators are pawns manipulated by larger forces. Directing rage only at them distracts attention from the deeper problem, the Top-Down Machine. Moreover, scapegoating foments an angry culture that mobilizes people in the short run but fails to sustain a caring community in the long run. Activists can couch winnable reforms that achieve accountability as examples of how to control the Machine step by step over time.  A focus on pragmatic systemic reforms can be sustainable.
 

A National Movement. This reform must involve major changes in national public policy. An independent grassroots movement that enables mutual support for personal growth and engages in nonviolent civil disobedience when needed could advance these goals. Local and state reforms can help, but they will never be sufficient. Federal policies create widespread injustice that imposes an avalanche of suffering locally. Compassion-minded people are reduced to helping individuals cope without correcting root causes. This reality calls for developing a massive movement, similar to, yet more powerful than, the union and civil rights movements.

Such a movement could nonviolently fight for basic needs most people already support, including: living wages, meaningful work, strong unions, more free time, affordable healthcare, dignified housing, safe communities, responsive government, and protection of the earth. It could strengthen families and friendships. It could hold leaders accountable. It could widen the space in which people treat one another with respect and fairness. With good jobs and economic security for all, more people could relax, enjoy life, and contribute more to their families and communities. And over time, it could counter the Top-Down Machine by changing the structures under which institutions operate.
 

Small circles. Can a few people in a room really shift anything big? Yes, if they set an example that inspires others to join them. Small circles whose members affirm shared principles, meet regularly, break bread, touch base, check in, discuss current events, help each other with personal problems, and engage together in political action focused on national policy could be the foundation for this movement. These circles could send representatives to networks that share reports on their activities, inspire one another to persevere, and decide on joint activities. These networks could, in turn, send representatives to higher-level teams that would do the same, eventually forming a diverse, representative team that would democratically guide the national movement. Local circles would be autonomous, directing their own activities, so long as they remained consistent with national policies.
 

Kingian Nonviolence. Martin Luther King, Jr. affirmed, “We must be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers." King’s philosophy offers a compelling guide for holistic and systemic reform. As stated in The King Center’s Definition of Nonviolence:
 

Nonviolence Is a Way of Life for Courageous People.
It is not a method for cowards; it does resist.
It is active nonviolent resistance to evil.
It is aggressive spiritually, mentally, and emotionally…
 

Nonviolence Holds That Unearned, Voluntary Suffering for a Just Cause Can Educate and Transform People and Societies.
Nonviolence is a willingness to accept suffering without retaliation; to accept blows without striking back.
Nonviolence is a willingness to accept violence if necessary but never inflict it.
Nonviolence holds that unearned suffering for a cause is redemptive and has tremendous educational and transforming possibilities…
 

Nonviolence resists violence of the spirit as well as the body.

Nonviolent love is spontaneous, unselfish, and creative….
 

Personal Commitment. Daily check and affirm your faith in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence. Eliminate hidden motives and prepare yourself to accept suffering, if necessary, in your work for justice…. Each act of reconciliation is one step closer to the “Beloved Community.”
 

King's framework, which proposed holistic and systemic reform rather than patching, offers a way forward. Everyone who relieves suffering, promotes fairness, and spreads joy already nurtures the seeds of Bottom-Up Community, whether or not they name it that way. If this movement becomes more visible, people could support it simply by talking about it — identifying the shared pattern, sharing practical tools, and pointing others toward the work already happening.
 

As illustrated by the following graphic, overlapping, interwoven, synergistic, integrated holistic democracy reforms (on the right) could counter, reform, and balance the Top-Down Machine (on the left), resulting in a Bottom-Up Community.

overlapping circles.png

Key to this approach is to avoid false either/or choices; a both/and discipline can strengthen democratic life::

• We can care for ourselves and care for others.

• We can honor particular identities and our shared humanity.

• We can love our country and care about all people.

• We can pursue prosperity and serve the common good.

• We can meet immediate needs and hold long-term ideals.

• We can practice pragmatism and idealism.
   

None of this guarantees success. Pragmatic idealism isn’t wishful thinking or the expectation of definite success. It’s the willingness to work toward what's possible when we join our efforts with others. Avoiding unrealistic expectations frees us from fantasies of inevitability and keeps us rooted in real, shared action.
 

Anger at the Top-Down Machine can motivate action, but anger alone burns out. Hope can inspire, but hope alone drifts. Together, they can power disciplined, durable reform.
 

Holistic democracy, built on both/and discipline, balances freedom and responsibility, dignity and limits, self and society — and moves toward a more compassionate world.
 

Actions (foerhcoming)

Past Examples

Future Possibilities