“What are we doing to ourselves when we tell ourselves we’re consumers 3000 times a day. Like, that’s the limit of your agency. The assumption that you’re a narrowly self-interested creature. When you’re surrounded with that story, whether that’s true or not, over time I have become increasingly convinced, and now absoloutely insistent, that human beings are not lazy and selfish, we’re creative, participatory, empathic, wonderful creatures.”

Episode Overview:

Jon Alexander is the co-founder of the New Citizenship Project, an innovation company that inspires and equips organisations of all kinds to involve people as citizens, not just consumers. Listen to Dan and Jon discuss how we can move from individualistic and passive consumers to participatory and creative agents of change. This episode was recorded in June 2020.

- Transitioning from the advertising world to co-founding, The New Citizen Project

- For new ideas to flourish, what do we need to dismantle?

- Having creative agency and participating in the world.

- Moving from individualistic interest to collective interest.

- How a crisis can bring us together.

- Breakdown. Breakthrough.

- New utopia. Organic (unorganised), localised, shared values and understanding.

- Deep ingrained obedience, to a messy, joyful and participatory world.

- Unpicking of colonial history.

- Human goodness.

- Emergence of the citizen.

- “Its not about citizens trusting government, it's the government trusting citizens.”

- The power to unlock agency in citizens.

- Local authorities aiding a citizen future.

- Rapid democracy.

- Hope & vision.

- Holding different points of view.

- Active not passive.


Mentions:
Rebecca Solnit - A Paradise Built in Hell
http://rebeccasolnit.net/book/a-paradise-built-in-hell/
Paul Hawken - Drawdown
http://www.paulhawken.com

Janine Benyus - Biomimicry
https://biomimicry.org/janine-benyus/

Alex Evans - Collective Psychology
https://www.collectivepsychology.org/who/

Vinay Gupta - Repairing Society
https://medium.com/@vinay_12336/a-simple-plan-for-repairing-our-society-we-need-new-human-rights-and-this-is-how-we-get-them-cee5d6ededa9

Matthew Taylor - Bridges To The Future
https://bridges-to-the-future.simplecast.com/episodes

Bain - RAPID
https://www.bain.com/insights/rapid-tool-to-clarify-decision-accountability/

Paddy Ashdown - Citizens of Britain. A Radical Agenda for the 1990’s
https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/books/paddy-ashdown/citizen-s-britain/9781872180458?gclid=Cj0KCQjwreT8BRDTARIsAJLI0KLJzD0fhzz_cRPbqPhhQaDSTN6wUZYJFfgwPWkvLVXgA0e7N7UuBuYaAv25EALw_wcB


_____________

Jon Alexander:
https://twitter.com/jonjalex
https://jonjalex.medium.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-alexander-11b66345/
https://www.newcitizenship.org.uk/

Editor: Charlie Shread
Shownotes: Vicki Turner

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