Neither the elephant nor the donkey intend to become the knight in shining armor who will solve our serious public problems. They are quite comfortable serving the rich and institutionally powerful.

Only we the people can do what is necessary to put our public affairs in order. This may seem impossible, but is not. We do not rule, do not have genuine democracy, for a simple reason. We are not organized for it!

What does “organizing for democracy” mean? It means we form local, neighborhood associations, all over this truly great country of ours. It means in each one of these we meet periodically but regularly: to discuss, respectfully with one another, the issues we consider important, to form work groups to investigate these and identify solutions, to network to refine these into mandates deliverable to government officials, to verify public acceptability of such policy proposals by statistical polling, and finally, to select, elect, and monitor persons to government who will be faithful public servants.

I have pondered and simulated ways we might so organize. The book: “The Neighborhoods Network” explains the above in considerable detail and is available in .pdf form for download at: www.theneighborhoodsnetwork.org. Check it out.

Robert Kubala

Issaquah