Feeling Frustrated that our Leaders are Ignoring the Most Important Issues? You are not alone! We face challenges that threaten the foundations of our civilization, like climate change, the end of cheap oil, and the almost ceaseless violence - real and simulated - in the media, but our leaders hardly seem to notice, let alone to be doing anything about it.

People are beginning to realize that we can’t just leave things to our leaders, who most often seem to “lead” from far in the rear.

Wise Democracy Victoria is seeking ways for “we the people” to lead the leaders. Read on and learn about the possibilities for real change that will emerge when we unleash the power of genuine democracy.

Like a match in a haystack, the ‘latent energy of democracy’ is there, ready to be tapped. It only takes a few people at the right time and the right place. You can help provide the spark!

Our group has come together to engage our neighbours in a new form of public conversation, called the “Wisdom Council,” which provides an innovative approach to exploring the issues you feel are most important. The Wisdom Council is being organized by a group of Victoria citizens who care about the health of our democracy. Wisdom Councils were first used in the U.S. and have spread to Europe. Victoria is the first Canadian city to introduce this process.

WHAT IS THE VICTORIA WISDOM COUNCIL?
A Wisdom Council is a small group of randomly selected people who symbolically represent all the people of Victoria. The time commitment is short, just one Friday evening and one Saturday, during which the Council members discuss matters of their choice. A trained person facilitates the discussion, typically enabling great breakthroughs in a short time. Council members discover what issues are most important to the group; they explore possible solutions, and they create a unanimous statement summarizing their work. The statement is presented to the people at an inclusive community meeting following the Wisdom Council.

The intention is to receive the broadest possible publicity in the hope that it will generate a public discussion of the issues identified by the Council. In other communities, Wisdom Councils have often resulted in important changes for the better, and a reinvigorated sense of local democracy.

The following is a short excerpt from Tom Atlee’s excellent article “Deep Democracy and Community Wisdom:

“Communities are wise to the extent they use diversity well. The wisest know that every viewpoint represents a part of the truth, and that it is through the cooperative, creative interplay of viewpoints that the wisest, most comprehensive and powerful truths emerge. So they engage in that interplay, that dialogue - a creative controversy or consensus process that winds its way to wise public judgment.
The best government is that government which enables communities to do this - to nurture and utilize their wisdom and resources - especially their diversity - in such a way that they require less and less government.

A community that can manage itself in a wise and sustainable manner is one that has mastered democracy. They know they can’t depend on leaders (from dictators to saviours, from representatives to experts) to do things for them. They know that democratic citizens and leaders work best in partnership with each other, co-creating each other’s power. They know that leaders must be seen as living extensions of their own will and wisdom, which must be kept active. They know that passive “followership” abandons leaders, deprives them of the wisdom and creativity of the community, and opens them up to the corruptions of alienated power.

A democratic community grows beyond dependence and paternalism. In a sense, the more democratic a society is, the more it has “come of age.” Movements for democracy might even be seen as the maturation process of a culture. A mature society knows how to handle itself in dynamic context with others, drawing on its inner resources (its diverse members) and relating responsively and creatively with its environment.
The more it knows how to nurture and use the rich diversity of individual views and capabilities within it, the more wise (and democratic) a society will be. It will resist small-minded leadership and even the dictatorship of the majority. It will cherish dissent as a wise individual cherishes doubt - as a door to deeper understanding.”

WHO ARE WE?
We are non-profit group of ordinary citizens who live in greater Victoria. We welcome anyone who is sincerely interested in creating processes, narratives, and institutions that will generate and encourage wise democracy. We are associated with the international Center for Wise Democracy (www.wisedemocracy.org).