What will the future say about you?
For about a decade, PBS has been airing Finding Your Roots, with Henry Louis Gates as its moderator.
Dr. Gates and his team of genealogy researchers track down the ancestors of American celebrities. They put together the picture of grandparents, great grandparents, and further — to see where that celebrity came from. Ancestors had hardships, war stories, businesses, leadership positions, and accomplishments. Some ancestors were upstanding citizens; others were nefarious. Sometimes familial lines were clear; sometimes there were affairs and infidelity to produce offspring. And sometimes ancestors were just ordinary people, not really standing out for anything except a quiet, unassuming life.
Quite often, Dr. Gates takes his Caucasian guests to their ancestors in the days of American slavery. Sometimes the guest’s ancestors were abolitionists and fought to liberate the African Americans. These guests are proud their ancestors’ activism. Other times, the ancestors were slave owners who saw nothing wrong with that set of values. In these cases, the guests are disappointed that their history comes from such dark stock.
So what is your political legacy going to be? Are your descendants going to be proud of the mark you left on the world?
Imagine your descendants of 100 to 150 years from now being on a program similar to Finding Your Roots. What will they find out?
Will your descendants see you as a supporter of the upcoming oligarchy, intent on taking the rights away from many other Americans?
Will your descendants see you as an activist, who put their life and livelihood on the line to challenge that upcoming oligarchy?
Will your descendants see you as someone who went beyond traditional activism — and started building a new democracy? When everyone around them said this new democracy is impossible?
As the Civil War is often a focal point of American history (and Finding Your Roots), maybe these times are also a turning point in American history, as American democracy is clearly being challenged.
When the democracy of 2125 becomes known as much better than the democracy of 2025, the names of the early TDG builders will have a place in the history books.
Tiered Democratic Governance can be your political legacy for the future — and your purpose for today.
Think about that.
Published on Medium & Substack 2025
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