Today again

Horizontal government and other things to think about.

We have two types of government. One govern's through fear. It uses police and military to enforce it's laws, even when those laws make no sense. The other governs through agreement of people as to what is to be accomplished. Which one would you rather live under?

My favorite memory of horizontal government comes from the very first council I was included in when I was 13 years old.
I can't remember what the subject of the council was, though I do remember it was about a problem my cousin Kathy reported to One of the Elders. Within a hour the word went out that council had been called and everyone should come after sunset.

It started when Kathy shared the problem with the elder who called the council. He then spoke of three possible solutions. Then he passed the talking stick and question feather to the next person. After three rounds with everyone including me stating what we thought the answer should be, all but one person was in agreement. If we failed to reach consensus after four rounds, the problem could not be brought up again for a year. I had been discussing things with a elder a few days before and remembered what I had been told,"If you can't get the answer yo a problem, many times it is because you are not asking the right question."  The fourth round started and I waited patiently for my turn to speak. I was next to the last person in the circle, so the debate went on as it had before with the same holdout . When it finaly came to my turn, I asked why he was afraid of solving the problem. Then passed the question feather to him. His reply was, "I can't afford to help pay for the solution right now. I only make money in the summer when the tourist come and I sell my crafts and food stuff." I then passed the question feather to the village chief and asked how will we pay for what is being considered. His reply was," We have a fund for just this type of emergency set aside, nobody will have to help pay for this."  I then passed the question feather back to the holdout and he agreed that the council should do what was agreed upon. Then having used up my time, I passed the talking stick and question feather onward. The person next to me said I recommend we have consensus. In a few minutes the solution was approved.
That is the difference between top down and horizontal governments. Which one would you prefer to live under?
BTW that resulted in the family who needed help cheering me, and as a result I got my first girlfriend. Not bad for a 13 year old boy.