Questions for Reimagining a Free People in the 21st Century

Modern Political Ideology Part 7

Questions for Reimagining a Free People in the 21st Century (USA Version)

We ended the last essay, Part 6 of our Modern Political Ideology series, with this:

We must innovate toward a people-centered politics that transcends party lines and pierces the techno-feudal fog. This is the work of a generation—but generations have done it before. The tools are in our hands. The questions are clear. What remains is the will to act—and the courage to reimagine what a free people can be.

So, what are the clear questions?

These questions are not rhetorical—they are design principles for democratic renewal. Each demands thought, experimentation, and above all, public imagination. Answering them will provide a roadmap for transitioning from a system of passive dependence on corporate rule to a system of active citizenship, shared accountability, and resilient local governance.

I. Civic Power & Democratic Structure

1. Who decides what issues are debated—and whose voices shape those debates?

2. How do we rebuild institutions that serve citizens, not donors, consultants, or data miners?

3. Can citizens’ assemblies become a permanent part of the democratic process in the United States?

4. What powers should be returned to states and communities to reinvigorate local self-rule?

II. Economic Systems & Human Dignity

5. What is the purpose of an economy if it no longer provides stable livelihoods for most people?

6. Can economic dignity be restored without confronting corporate dominance of policy?

7. In an AI-driven economy, what should be the purpose of work? Is it to earn a wage, contribute value, grow in skill—or all of these?

8. Do we protect human work or subsidize it, and if so, how?

9. Should there be a universal attempt to provide employment, housing, and health care in a wealthy society?

10. Is today’s unemployment system, with its passive benefit model, adequate for navigating long-term workforce transitions?

11. Should society offer guaranteed transitional jobs tied to public goods and care work as an alternative to jobless support?

12. Would a revamped unemployment system or new transitional job guarantee structure better protect dignity and purpose than a universal basic income?

13. Does redistribution through taxation do enough to address upstream distortions in who controls wages, property, and data?

14. Should federal taxation shift toward consumption, economic rents, financial transactions, and externalities rather than income?

15. How do we fund public goods without further empowering administrative bureaucracies or Wall Street intermediaries?

16. How can we redesign markets to serve communities instead of extracting from them?

III. Autonomy & Solidarity in the Human Community

17. How do we reconcile the modern desire for personal autonomy with the social need to support family formation, child development, and intergenerational continuity?

18. Should parenting be treated as unpaid labor or as a public good worthy of investment?

19. Is the care of children and elders something society can outsource—or does civic vitality require family-centered support structures?

IV. Corporate Power & Regulation

20. Why do we tolerate a system where the largest corporations write the rules that govern them?

21. Should the largest banks and institutional investors continue to dictate the flow of capital in a democratic republic?

22. What mechanisms can separate corporate money from democratic decision-making?

23. Can capital be restructured to serve long-term community outcomes over short-term profits?

24. Should market winners have permanent control over foundational digital infrastructure (cloud, data, platforms)?

25. At what point does “innovation” become enclosure—of labor, information, or public life?

26. Should monopolies in tech, finance, and media be broken up for the sake of public sovereignty?

27. Do we need new anti-feudal trust-busting models specifically for artificial intelligence companies and large data platforms?

V. Digital Infrastructure & Public Goods

28. Who owns the algorithms that govern speech, news, and access to opportunity?

29. In a system increasingly mediated by platforms and AI, is democratic speech still free and participatory?

30. Can the internet be reclaimed as a public commons instead of a surveillance marketplace?

31. How do we protect pluralism and deliberation in a political economy built on attention capture?

32. What digital rights should be constitutionally protected in a democratic society?

33. Should there be publicly governed alternatives to profit-driven platforms?

VI. Education & Civic Capacity

34. What must students learn to become not just workers—but self-governing citizens?

35. How can civic education help Americans engage with disagreement rather than retreat from it?

36. Are we willing to reimagine education as a tool for moral, political, and economic agency?

VII. Political Culture & Constitutional Reform

37. Do we still believe that self-government is possible in a nation of 330 million?

38. What constitutional amendments—if any—are needed to restrain bureaucratic overreach and corporate influence?

39. How do we resolve the growing imbalance between federal power and local needs?

VIII. Moral and Philosophical Commitments

40. What does it mean to be free—when countless decisions that affect us are made by distant entities?

41. Is economic inequality a moral failure or simply an unfortunate side effect of growth?

42. What is the roadmap to reset generational inequality, which is particularly manifest in housing affordability and education debt?

43. How do we reward individual effort without cementing a caste system of inherited advantage?

44. What virtues must a republic cultivate to survive the temptations of comfort and control?

IX. Strategy & Movement Building

45. How do independent and civic-minded Americans organize without being captured by existing parties?

46. Can a movement rooted in people over markets scale fast enough to matter?

47. What does a functional alliance between left and right independents look like in practice?

48. How do we unify citizens who are exhausted by culture war but hungry for purpose?

X. Meta Questions & Human Flourishing

49. How do we maintain One Nation without forcing One Model?

50. Are there limits to what GDP can measure and why does this matter?

51. What alternative metrics and qualitative variables (time wealth, ecological health, civic trust) should guide future legislative and regulatory frameworks around the political economy?

52. What is the optimal modern structure for human progress that is consistent with liberty and dignity for all?

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Request to readers: please reference the number of the question you are answering in the comments.

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Notes:

The Common Sense Papers are an offering by Common Sense 250.

Vision: We aspire to transform U.S. politics through innovation and principled leadership.

Mission: We champion independent political reforms that improve the common good through the voice of the people for each generation. We support deliberative democracy and the use of citizens' assemblies to inform legislative decisions.

Purpose: To act and operate as a social welfare organization in improving the effectiveness of government, providing tools for a healthy democracy, and promoting social welfare by debating needed reforms for a civil society.

Guiding Principle: Centered on Citizens in Pursuit of Happiness

Notes on Neoliberalism, Corporate Techno-Feudalism, and Political Ideology:

1. The Downfall of Neoliberalism: It Worked (Part 1)

2. The Downfall of Neoliberalism: Side Effects (Part 2)

3. Corporate Techno-Feudalism: The Rise of Dark Capitalism (Part 3)

4. The Eruption of Techno-Feudalism: AI, Economic Upheaval, and the Coming Political Reckoning (Part 4)

5. The Political Patronage of Corporate Techno-Feudalism: How Big Tech Captures American Politics (Part 5)

6. The People’s Republic: A Counter-Ideology for Human Flourishing (Part 6)