Nothing grows naturally
or resiliently,
and certainly not perfectly,
from the top down
or from the outside in

Including pyramids
and sustainable nutrition economies
and healthy
organic
democratic systems.

Some things
that do grow virally
from outside in
and/or over-powering
top down:

autocracy
cancer
kleptocracy
pyramid schemes
viral colonies
capital expansionism
invasive species
toxicity
pollution
trauma

I once spoke at a condominium meeting
about cooperative democratic values
for self-governance

Advocating for transparent
and inclusive choicemaking

And grassroots community maintenance

And social
and skill-sharing events

Sweat-equity
and time/talent exchange
cooperative economies.

The condominium’s attorney,
whom the large majority of members
were about to terminate
along with the autocratic landlord
investor board chair
who hired him
to come to this annual meeting
and explain,
rationally
and legally,
why the residents could not do
what they wanted to do,
which was mainly to get rid
of him
and his organized trauma
straight-white-male Patriarch,

This smug condominium attorney
stood up
when I had finished
to lecture members
and correct me
about we actually do not live
together in a co-invested democracy;
we live in a from-above Republic.

He was slyly speaking
at both the local condo level
and the national corporate
capitalized Republican level

Because, he continued,
unit owners have elected leaders
given exclusive authority to vote on
governance issues
that the uninformed
and unelected laity
lack responsibility
(and possibly
StraightWhiteMale capacity)
to decide.

He misjudged his audience.

This republican authority from above
and from outside
power-over totalitarian business,
rather than power-within democratic empowerment,
was precisely the problem
this meeting had been organized
to resolve,
by democratic recall.

The attorney had his power analysis
backward.

If we are,
in our core
root residential membership
a healthy
and actively cooperative
win/win intentional
health-is-social-wealth
democracy FIRST
FOREMOST
FOUNDATIONALLY

The grassroots of our self-governance
are more likely to elect empowering
and enlightened republican leaders
with a resonant
and resilient
empowering within view
valuing transparency
and multicultural inclusion

For sustainable local
and global choice-making
from the integral
happy
synergetic
robust top

The celebrated envy
of all our benign
and collaboratively empowering
neighbors

Noticing with multicultural wonder
and polycultural awe
that nothing grows naturally
or resiliently,
and certainly not perfectly
or sacredly
or democratically,
from the top down
or from the outside in.