Jon Alexander Profile picture
Jun 4, 2020 10 tweets 3 min read Read on X
Can't believe I hadn't come across this profound work by @simonjduffy before

"#Citizenship reminds us that we can each live a good life, in our own way, while also living together with mutual respect."

Intro on link, more highlights in THREAD below
centreforwelfarereform.org/library/keys-t…
Three implications of being a Citizen:

❤️Being RESPECTED

❤️Being EQUAL in fundamental worth and dignity

❤️Being DIFFERENT: we "have many different gifts which [we] bring together to build a better world"

And then the 7 keys to Citizenship...
1. FREEDOM

Being a Citizen means being in control of your own life - able to make decisions, mistakes, make your own way...

***EVERYONE can be in control***
2. DIRECTION

Being a Citizen means having a life of meaning - your own meaning. When our lives don’t fit our passions, interests and abilities we are diminished - but if we can find a path that is right for us then we help other people to see us with respect.
3. MONEY

Money is important, but maybe not for the reason we all think. It is the means to be independent, to set our own course and to achieve our own goals. Too much is an obstacle to citizenship - but citizens do pay their own way.

[Hence his support for UBI]
4. HOME

We all need a place we can call home, not just a shelter, but a place where we have privacy, can be with those we love, where we belong.

🔥When we have no home we appear almost rootless - when we say someone has gone into ‘a home’ we mean they’ve lost their home🔥
5. HELP

We live in a world where we imagine that needing help is bad, even though we all need help everyday and the giving and receiving of help from others is the key to a good society.

***The challenge today is to get help without having to give up your citizenship.***
6. LIFE

It is by giving back to our community that we can really help others to understand our worth - in many more ways than we think: by just being there, by buying, by joining in, by working, by laughing, even by crying.

But we cannot contribute if we are absent.
7. LOVE

The beginning and end of Citizenship is found in love. Through meeting, working and joining in with other people we can form relationships, friendships, find lovers and make a family. Love is also the best guarantee of a new generation of citizens and a better world.
For clarity - all the words and the insight above are Simon's

Follow him @simonjduffy

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More from @jonjalex

Mar 6
NEW

Circular Power Politics: A Politician's Guide To Five Opportunities To Lead With And For The People

Very excited to put this out into the world today - the key output of a year of work with @OmezzineKel @lisamwitter @ApoliticalFound

Link and summary in 🧵 Cover page of new Apolitical Foundation report "Circular Power Politics"
Why did we do the work? (1)

Because existing "linear" politics - where people vote for politicians then leave them to it - isn't working for ANYONE

People are feeling left out, and the good politicians we do still have are coming under unsustainable pressure

BUT... Image of linear political systems where citizen elect politicians who then go and do democracy for them
Why did we do the work? (2)

...It's also true that new ways of doing democracy are emerging all over the world

These represent a shift to what we call "circular power politics" - where politicians build positive power by working WITH citizens, not just FOR them Depiction of "circular power politics" where citizens' power is in a reinforcing cycle with politicians' power, and democracy improves as a result
Read 8 tweets
Mar 23, 2023
Today - on a day when we arguably couldn't be any more in need of a different vision for how UK politics could be - THIS is launching

It matters for UK nature, but it might be even more significant for UK politics

Here's a bit of the back story 🧵

peoplesplanfornature.org
Around the time I finished writing the first edition of CITIZENS, @reenwilson and I were presented with an opportunity by @HelenMeech, a friend and former @NewCitProj colleague now working for @Natures_Voice...
Sir David Attenborough was in the process of filming what might well be his final ever documentary series, Wild Isles...

Even in the hectic media landscape of today, an Attenborough series always creates a cultural moment.
Read 18 tweets
Oct 3, 2022
This is the central dynamic of our times, and it must be broken

Here's how it works, and how to break it 🧵 Diagram showing a reinforcing vicious cycle between two thin
We talk a LOT about people not trusting institutions (politics, business, even NGOs/nonprofits)

But we don't talk enough about INSTITUTIONS NOT TRUSTING PEOPLE

And they don't

The implicit assumption is people are selfish and lazy, so institutions need to do stuff FOR us
That *kind of* works when things are going ok for most people

But when they're going badly, what humans need most is AGENCY

We need to be able to shape the context of our own lives

And institutions doing stuff FOR us stops that

They decide FOR us

They withhold power FROM us
Read 10 tweets
Sep 30, 2022
What if we Brits responded to our ridiculous government not (just) with anger, but by stepping into a much deeper, richer way of doing democracy?

Oh look… 👀

peoplesplanfornature.org
The big UK nature NGOs are coming together to crowdsource a “People’s Plan For Nature” - starting by gathering stories and ideas from all over the country and then using a randomly selected citizens’ assembly to digest all that, hear from experts, and produce recommendations
These recs will cover not just “asks” of national government, but of councils and business too - and also crucially what community groups can just get on and do
Read 5 tweets
Sep 30, 2022
I think @ColombeCS @Venzon_Andrea are going to be high up my “favourite new friends of 2022” list

Here’s their 5 points on how to build a movement from @ForumAthens

And keep a close eye on @atlasparty

✊🔥 Image
1. WITH not FOR 🤝

“You want to build a movement? You do it WITH people. Say it again. WITH. You don’t do it then take it to them. That’s uncomfortable - but essential.”
2. Data matters but is only the beginning 👩‍💻💃

“Gather and understand data - then use it to bring people together - online and especially offline”
Read 7 tweets
Sep 20, 2022
A 🧵 for those piling in on me as a result of this reply to @mrjamesob

TLDR: we are a decent people, one awful govt away from power and possibility, but if ALL we do is lament their awfulness, we are on a fast track to fascism
First thing to say is I’m to a large extent a fan.

I believe in accountability.

But I also believe it’s at best not enough.

We need to build the future we want, in spite of this govt - not just watch them destroy us.

No one is coming to save us.
I also believe that at worst, this sole focus on accountability and black humour ends up with us being complicit in our own destruction.

@ETemelkuran is very good on this. Step 6 is “Let Them Laugh At The Horror”.
Read 24 tweets

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