By: Roman
Krznaric
Published: BBC, 19
March 2019, http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190318-can-we-reinvent-democracy-for-the-long-term
Level of difficulty:***
BEFORE YOU READ
·
Short
term thinking is creating long term problems https://www.smh.com.au/national/short-term-thinking-is-creating-long-term-problems-20181107-p50egn.html
·
The problem of “short termism” in Western democracies
QUESTIONS
1. Start
reading the text. Where does the introduction end? Now answer the questions.
·
What unrealistic
expectation Hume entertained(had) proved to be wrong?
·
We can understand
from the comparison of the man on the street and politicians that the two
groups think along radically different lines/ think along different lines/
think along similar lines/ think along identical lines.
2. Continue
reading. Where does the second section end? What subtitle would you give this
section? Now answer the questions.
·
What is this
section going to be about?
·
Why is the
political business cycle described as myopic?
·
The NRA (The
National Rifle Association) spends a lot on lobbying to protect current gun
laws in the US. We can describe the activities of this group as an effort to…
·
What does “It”
refer to in the phrase “It’s
a blind spot”? Be precise.
·
Write
the following sentence out in full eliminating the referral and making it more
formal: “But that is the reality.”
3. Continue
reading. Where does the next section end? What subtitle would you give this
section? Now answer the questions.
·
Treating the
future as tempus nullius is
unethical because we are, in fact, …
·
Where in the
paragraph beginning “Some suggest…” would you place the following: because he
would be unaffected by lobbying or being re-elected.?
·
The case of
Sweden has been included in the paragraph to support the contention that…
·
Finland and Wales
are both examples of places which …
·
The major concern
with regard to the above projects and ones like them is the fact that…
·
Watch the
following https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fivQUlC7-8. What David Suzuki is proposing is essentially what
the Athenians called…… Why would legislators in such a system be more effective
in taking a long term view? Use your own words.
4. Continue
reading to the end. What subtitle would you give this section? Now answer the
questions.
·
What surprising
observation was made at the end of the research conducted by Tatsuyoshi Saijo and his team?
·
Refer to the
previous question. What gives these people the right to file such a law suit?
Use your own words.
·
We will be forced
to stop disregarding the rights of our grandchildren and great grandchildren
due to…
·
The writer feels
we are perfectly justified in believing in a form of democracy that empowers
future generations because…
WRITING TASK
First alternative:
Read
the following short text: If I ruled the world: Martin Reese https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/if-i-ruled-the-world-martin-rees.
Now write
an essay in which you discuss to what extent you agree with his ideas.
Second
alternative:
Refer back to the second video provided
at the beginning of the task. Write an essay discussing to what extent you
agree with the suggestions the speaker makes.
WHY WE NEED TO REINVENT DEMOCRACY FOR
THE LONG-TERM; KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES
This text is based on a unique
opinion: future generations should also be considered when making decisions
that will impact them. So far, the rights of future generations have been
completely ignored but as the text points out, a gradual shift has started and
may well end up being the silver bullet against climate change. The questions
are a mixture of text explicit and text implicit questions with the majority
taking the latter form.
1. At the end of paragraph three./ The
institutions of government (such as political representatives and parliamentary
debates) would serve to temper our impulsive and selfish desires, and foster
society’s long-term interests and welfare. /Think along similar lines
2. It ends with
the phrase “…render them
voiceless and airbrush their futures out of the political picture.”/ Possible
title: The causes of short-termism/ the roots of the fixation on the now/
Because it ignores long-term issues (out of which they can make little
immediate political capital)/ Secure near-term benefits for themselves (while
passing the longer-term costs onto the rest of society)/ the fact that the
citizens of tomorrow are granted no rights/ The reality is that future
generations are disenfranchised in the same way that slaves or women were in
the past
3. It ends with
the phrase “…politicians
obsessed with the next election. /
Possible subtitle: How Not To Colonize the Future / Colonising the
future (This is the shortest answer but the following sentence will do too.
Start “Treating…”) / After “safely” /Democracies have a better record on
long-term thinking and planning than authoritarian regimes / have already
embarked on pioneering experiments to empower the citizens of the future /They
are too reformist and do little to alter the structure of democratic government
at a fundamental level/Sortition, possible answer: they would not be elected,
they would not need to worry about getting re-elected, they would not have
political concerns /
4. Possible subtitle: Is it possible? /The
future residents devise far more radical and progressive city plans compared to
current ones. / the plaintiffs are in their teens or early 20s/Possible answer:
they are fighting for their own future (they are children at the moment)/ the twin
threats of ecological collapse and technological risk/ Democracy has taken many
forms and been reinvented many times
