I have mentioned that the biggest problem that the empire has is the inability to hear a “no” when it comes from a source that is deemed illegitimate. There are so many placation measures in place that many people have forgotten that rejection and refusal are rights in a world where people are supposed to have autonomy. Essentially, there have been efforts to silence, rather than listen to, people who reject certain ideas–like the unquestionable morality of people with money. We have enabled terrible people for so long that we have all forgotten what it means to support people in the right to change what we value in society. Therefore, I ask, what does it look like to hear the “no” when someone less powerful offers such a response?
For community development, it looks like reviewing the previous projects of developers and the neighborhood responses. If the neighborhood has suffered in the past due to unfair property valuations and has declined interest, then the municipal government would reject proposals for projects that further alienate constituents. When development companies demand incentives, municipal governments would require verification that all units of all properties are 100% at capacity. More than 10% vacancy would allow an automatic denial, as well as a denial for the next 5 years until all units are 100% at capacity. Property management companies would be required to provide vacancy reports, and if more than 10% of the property is vacant, the company would be required to remain at its current rate until all units are fully occupied for at least one-year contracts.
In education, this would look like reviewing parental involvement for those of the upper echelons. If any students have been accused of bullying, such parents would be required to reduce their time at school events due to unfair influence. For teachers who chose favorites and/or allowed bullying to continue in class, hearing a “no” would look like removing the student from that teacher as well as rotating other students who might have enabled that behavior. When students spread false narratives about who “deserves” to continue education or who should be relegated to such jobs, that school should be graded as a failure, since such mindsets would demonstrate a failure to teach any reliable sense of ethics. Leaving people alone is more healthy than continuing to raise bigots under the guise of “kids will be kids.”
Financial rejection would look like capping all interest for people working at certain income brackets, communicating that predators may enjoy bothering the poor, but the government will not stand by and allow the populace to be preyed upon. Jobs that do not pay what would support housing in close proximity would be flagged as fraudulent, which includes every job from the custodian to the CEO. Companies that regularly demand pricing that cannot be supported on minimum wage would start losing their licensing, putting an end to the scam that is the luxury industry. Just because some idiots think that they are entitled to all the money in the world does not mean that they have done anything other than corrupt society.
There are plenty of other industries or examples that I could use, but the point is that everyone should start thinking about what a new world looks like, rather than how to keep the old one going. Being “nice” and hoping that everything works out is clearly not working, and it will take some adults in the room coming up with different solutions to change things. Instead of hoping for the best outcome, beneficiaries and sycophants need to start visualizing change and demanding it. That is what it looks like for people in power to start hearing “no.”
Chasing A Dying Empire 