8 handshakes practicalities

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These are just initial ideas that can be changed when the system is in place. But we need a framework for it to start. There are several gaps. Let's use the forum to change the details and fill in the gaps.

how many people in the meetings?
15 is the initial suggestion. Many communities find that this feels about right; any less and it feels like you're rattling around and there's something missing (a few more people maybe) - any more and it becomes unwieldy and you don't feel a central part of it any more. It's going to need more research. Or we could just start with 15 and it can be changed once the system is in place. If 15 doesn't work because it doesn't cover the world's population in a regular number of levels, then maybe 16 or 17 would work. But then perhaps that will start to feel like too many people in a group. We have to try it and see what works. Maybe it's flexible – as long as the meeting has between 10 and 20 members (for example, maybe you live on a remote island with 20 people – you wouldn't want to make 5 of those people fly thousands of miles to join another group once a month).

how do we label the meetings at the different levels?
Here are some ideas. Level 1: neighbours; Level 2: street; Level 3: village; Level 4: district; Level 5: county; Level 6: state; Level 7: region; Level 8: world.
These labels won't correspond exactly – for example, maybe you don't live in a street, and maybe the village level would in fact be a part of a town – but you'd get the idea of scale using those terms.

how long are the terms of office at each level?
Don't know. One year? Three? Five?

what qualities are we looking for in representatives?
Are intelligence, incorruptibility and compassion the main ones? if not, which qualities are more important? It can only be guidelines anyway of course. We can't guarantee that people won't choose people who they think will make decisions beneficial to them – i.e. for selfish reasons. But – if this face-to-face system doesn't produce excellent leaders, then it must mean that the majority of us are selfish. And if that's the case, then there's no saving us anyway. But surely that isn't the case?

how are representatives chosen?
Maybe some sort of secret ballot, to avoid bullying?

how often are the meetings?
Don't know. Maybe once a month at the neighbours level? Maybe once a month at every level?

should representatives at the higher levels attend all the meetings below their level as well?
Don't know. Maybe that's essential to keep in touch with the grassroots? Or maybe that would just be too much work?

is membership at the higher levels a full-time job?
Don't know. Should the top meetings be all day every day? Or one evening a month, like neighbours meetings? Or somewhere in between? For example, if Einstein had been selected from our ranks to sit at the top table, would it have been to the benefit of humanity to have taken him away from his scientific work?

do kids have meetings too?
Maybe kids have their own meetings. They could possibly send representatives to attend the adult neighbours meetings. Kids' meetings could take place in schools too. There could be a rite of passage when leaving the children's meeting to join the adult meeting.

who can vote?
There are several issues here. There may be an argument that kids shouldn't have separate meetings, for example, but should join the neighbours meetings as soon as they want to. That could certainly engender a sense of responsibility in young people, if they feel part of the decision-making. Do mentally disabled people join meetings, or rather, do they vote? It probably depends how severe their disabilities are. Do prisoners forfeit their right to be part of the decision-making until after they've served their term, or are there meetings in prison? It may be better for the rehabilitation of prisoners if they feel part of the wider society. What happens if people are travelling? Can people join meetings wherever they are? And can they help choose a representative if they don't really know the people in the group? Maybe the representative is only chosen every year, or two or even five years, and to vote, you have to have been a member of the group for at least a year, to get to know everyone else reasonably well. So most meetings would be socials where people get to meet each other, and therefore travellers could join.

what should be in the constitution?
Or should there even be one? Maybe there should be one to get started, and then the power to change it would reside with the system itself. It should probably contain the basic framework of how the system works, plus certain clauses to combat bullying, or to ensure that no-one is refused entry to meetings on the basis of gender, disability, sexual orientation, race, religion, hair colour etc.

how are decisions made at each level?
People at various levels don't have to have all the ideas pertaining to that level. Ideas can bubble up from the levels below, and the members of the meeting can act as a jury to make decisions about any ideas that surface. Interested parties could even present evidence to the meeting.

which decisions are made at which levels?
Decisions relevant to that level - e.g. at the neighbours' level – exchanging produce, getting to know neighbours (security), sharing resources, babysitting, planting a tree, parties, dog mess etc. At district or county level – road building, public transport provision, markets, policing etc. And at global level – basic human rights that should apply everywhere, like religious freedom, protection against violence and discrimination, a clean and healthy global environment, disaster relief and avoiding war.

how are ideas fed into the system?
Anyone can have an idea, which can be discussed at whatever level meeting that person attends. If the other members of the group like the idea, it can be passed via their representative to the next level to be discussed there as well – and so on. This would provide a route for anyone to have a world-changing idea that could actually be implemented if enough people think it's good. But your idea would have to be a very persuasive one if enough people are to think it's good enough to be passed on to the highest level. If it's rejected (or amended) at any level, an explanation of why it was rejected (or amended) can be passed back down using the same channels. So the sysem would contain constant two-way traffic of ideas and explanations.

how do we work out the 'constituencies'?
It's quite a mathematical challenge – especially as population is growing in some parts of the world, and falling in others. But if there are going to be 15 people at the top table, then the world needs to be split into 15 regions, based on population. That's reasonably easy. But then each of those regions needs to be split into 15 'states' to provide the members for its own meeting – and so on down to the neighbours level. Those splits probably need to be made by the people who live in those areas, as they will know the areas best. Some splits will be more easily made along geographical or cultural lines, and people who live there will know those lines best. To tie all this information together, it would probably be a good idea to build a dedicated website with a wiki, so that people can register, and work out those things themselves.

how do people find their local group?
Again, using the wiki idea. People can go to the dedicated website and enter their location in the wiki, to find the highest unfilled level in their area. Either they will find contact details for someone in their area who is forming a group that they can join, or if they don't, they can enter their own contact details and ask people to contact them to help start a group. Also, members of the lowest (if you like) level meeting, that doesn't have a meeting feeding into it, should be searching for people in their areas to feed into their meeting.

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