DREAM OF DEMOCRACY 7: Implementation

Last time around, we agreed to assume, for the purposes of discussion, that the constitution of Canada B has now been drafted. This process complete, Canada B will now be said to exist as an alternate form of government for the land mass we all inhabit—you know, that big, cold chunk of ground north of the 49th parallel. Our gorgeous land mass can now be said to have two ardent suitors: 'Canada' and Canada B. Which will prevail?

Let's see. Upon the completion of this new constitution, Canada B will exist as a legitimate alternative and it will immediately become possible to take out a citizenship in this new Canada and still keep hold of one's old passport at the same time; there will be no inherent contradiction here, thanks to a principle I call 'layering'.

The assumption might be that, if we now have two different constitutional documents, that they are fundamentally at odds and that one must 'defeat' the other. In other words, the question arises, 'is revolution (defined as the unwelcome replacement of one government by another) necessary?'

No. Canada B must prevail because it is a superior version of Canada and for no other reason.

Obviously, violent or coercive implementation of Canada B would de-legitimize the entire endeavor from the start. The main critique here is that the current 'Canada' lacks sufficient legitimacy: clearly it's replacement must do better. How, then, to go about implementation?

The answer lies in the fact that Canada B will be a larger and more complete system than 'Canada'. Canada B's constitution can and should be designed so that it can be layered on top of 'Canada's. Like icing doesn't change the basic shape of a cake, the new constitution will be the same as the current one, only more so.

A citizen of Canada B, prior to Canada B's being fully implemented, need find no reason to disobey the laws of 'Canada'. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the existing system other than its relative state of incompleteness in the areas of adequate protection for land and people. When human beings evolved away from being monkeys, we didn't abandon monkey DNA, we incorporated it into human DNA. In fact, human beings are 99.9% identical to apes, genetically. The same will be true of Canada B: just like 'Canada' only...more so.

So the goal is that Canada B be layered atop 'Canada'. As soon as the new constitution document is complete and made available, people will be free to declare themselves citizens of Canada B. Passports can be issued, oaths of allegiance sworn. Label pins given out so that new citizens can identify one another. There will be no problem with these new Canada B citizens obeying the laws of 'Canada' until such time as that nation's constitution is replaced by the more complete constitution of Canada B.

Of course, holding citizenship in Canada B will necessitate one's refusal to participate in certain activities permitted in 'Canada' such as exploitation of the environment and the labour and resources of other nations, but mechanisms can and will be devised to avoid such violations of the laws of Canada B. For example, if the price of consumer goods are calculated to be 15% cheaper than they would be if 'Canada' engaged in non-exploitative trade relationships with poor nations, it will be a small matter to develop an online calculator that will give Canada B citizens an annual sum which they can remit to reputable international aid/justice organizations until such time as Canada B becomes a reality and such relationships are repaired.

Once the idea of layering is accepted and Canada B has obtained a few dozen or so citizens, it will be time to move on to the main implementation strategy: Permeation. This is where the whole idea gets intersting (and fun). We'll need to start thinking about our parliament and how to win over the majority of the 30 million or so people who currently live blissfully unaware of the existence of a new and superior version of Canada.

Tune in next time for the final installment of Dream of Democracy.