We call these the seeds of Living Democracy. This is certainly a long-term understanding of social change, but it's also one in which each of us can find a place for ourselves, no matter whether we're a teacher, an engineer, a student, or a political figure. My life's work has been focused on poor communities and communities of color. I found contemporary formulations having to do with gaining power to be simplistic and unsatisfying - and they also have demonstrably failed. When one goes deeper than the prevailing rhetoric, one begins to understand that power is much more multi-dimensional than is often recognized.
Power is buildable from expertise, numbers, creativity, even humor.
Power is buildable by people who enter into constructive relationships with those in authority, with institutions that have as much to gain from us as we do from them. Entering into relationships with people with whom we initially appear to be in conflict can expose sources of power that we often don't realize we have. But they have a very weak analysis of how we're going to get there. We need to focus on the steps that lead from here to where we all wish we were. I think it's inconceivable that we could make this transition towards a sustainable culture without many more people having a sense of ownership of the process of getting there.