Political representation and economic participation is controlled by those few people with the money and power to demand and receive preferential treatment. This circumstance robs average people of economic opportunity and political relevance.

The Realism Manifesto proposes a vision for how average people might reshape the way political and economic decisions occur, and in doing so reclaim the American Dream. It offers ideas to take back government from special interests and the politicians they influence.

One idea in the Manifesto is a different approach to political decisions that rejects partisan, special-interest dominated politics, and suggests a non-partisan ideology called Realism. Although this common sense approach should not be a radical idea, the inability of government to protect society’s interests from special interest influence requires a shift in the political mindset.

Overcoming the stranglehold of entrenched political parties and wealthy elites will require a people’s movement with the capacity to disrupt the political-economic hegemony. To accomplish this, the Manifesto proposes a network of communities that collaborate by means of a shared protocol. This structure is called a Civic Internet. A Civic Internet could enable society to concentrate its influence and transform the relationship between average people and establishment power structures.

An important social structure that can emerge from a Civic Internet is Community Government. Community Government occurs when people receive public benefits through private community collaboration, a form of community self-reliance. This will enhance people’s independence and freedom. By networking many communities, large-scale Community Government will allow society to influence public policy for the benefit of average people.

Yet great political power also requires great economic power. So the Manifesto proposes an idea called Community Capitalism. Under Community Capitalism average people use a Civic Internet to leverage their incomes and wealth in order to shift the balance of power from corporations and government to consumers and voters.

Through Community Capitalism people will demand better value, negotiate more equitable employment, and own and control a larger share of the economy. In this way political and economic decisions will favor society’s interests over those of wealthy elites and the politicians they influence.

But getting there requires that people with different worldviews find common ground upon which this vision might grow into a new political and economic reality. This common ground exists in the families people build, the jobs they need to live, and the desire they have for futures of hope and possibility. It is from these shared dreams that productive conversations can emerge.

For a one-page summary of the main ideas in the Manifesto you may click here.