John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Having studied US political donors from Vietnam to Iraq, I wonder if "the United States government" is really the culprit in these deadly wars. Or if "the USG" was just the political marionette of various blocs of investors. Legislators & presidents were paid to do a job, & they did it. 132
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Paine's 'Common Sense' would have been seen as exotic & impracticable in any year before 1776. As we get closer to our Global Spring, I think we'll see our 'utopian' literature come in from the cold. It'll be seen as practical, even essential. 010
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 03/08/2026I've studied Donald Trump's patterns for some months now. Here's how I think it works: He announces new negotiations on Wednesdays; announces that he will obliterate Iran from the map on Fridays; and declares victory on Sundays. 010
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 02/08/2026Westerners spend a lot of time telling other countries to democratize. We spend billions teaching them how. We even use ‘democratization’ as a way to undermine their governments. We seem less concerned about democratization at home. 110
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 02/08/2026My latest Substack: open.substack.com/pub/johnmacg...open.substack.comThe ownership of powerOur social, economic & environmental problems are mostly the result of us not having evolved democracy through the last century. 000
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 16/07/2026Few grasp the bipartisan nature of the permanent state. The apolitical core of plutocracy. In the 1960s, the Kray twins—Ronnie & Reggie—headed a crime syndicate that terrorised London. A liberal is one who thinks he's under threat from Ronnie. 101
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Democracy lost its global clout because its environmental threats evolved & it did not—like an animal species that remains static as those around it develop longer claws & faster speeds. Failure to adapt—in a moving world—creates not stability but decline. 110
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 07/07/2026Carl Jung wrote: “𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲.” 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 05/07/2026𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀, 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗶𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺... 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 02/07/2026The hallmark of our era is the transition from flawed democracy to unaccountable elite rule. (Followed by falling real incomes, 'structural' war, mass homelessness, declining human health...) But this remarkable transition is absent from the national conversation (symptoms aside). 120
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Modern political analysis seems designed to miss the larger patterns. For example, each American war—Vietnam, Iraq, & now Iran—is retrospectively labeled a 'mistake' or a 'loss'. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 30/06/2026If I were one of the 0.1%, I'd tell the TV stations, social media platforms & politicians I own to ramp up political polarisation: - 𝗜𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 - 𝗜𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳 - 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗲 110
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 09/06/2026We think of politics & government as a vast, slow-moving machine—clogged by compromise, riven with conflict, mired in secrecy. But in a rational political system, governance need not be hard. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 07/06/2026Why do we focus on society's problems at the level of policies & political parties, rather than structural causes? I know there are inequality, war & environmental breakdown—but these things flow down from governance that's largely controlled by... 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 26/05/2026My field is #governance (or design of governance). For a decade my goal has been to find a democratic design to replace the one now reaching senescence. I’ve not been in search of some new, monolithic blueprint. 111
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 24/05/2026I interviewed Mark Lane (right), before he died. I asked him what Lee Oswald's mother had said, when he met her in December 1963. Lane: 'The first thing she said was, "My son was CIA."' 110
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 21/05/2026Democracy was invented in 508 BC to separate political power from wealth. But its modern version—representative democracy—is easy for organized money to game & capture. That’s the root cause of our war, ecocide & inequality. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 19/05/2026As a political entity, “the United States” is now more or less a marionette controlled by blocs of political investors. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 12/05/2026Donald Trump’s redeeming feature: he’s the global elite with the mask off. (Little is hidden.) American decline has reached the asset-stripping stage, & he doesn’t really mind who knows about it. Even his lies are inferior to his first term ones: he doesn’t feel the need to try any more. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 07/05/2026When an elite uses its control of politics to shift wealth upwards—as it generally does—you’d expect that common people would fight back. And that world history, therefore, would be a history of peasants’ revolts. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 06/05/2026We’d lose 80 to 90% of our social & geopolitical problems if national decision-making were no longer dominated by organized money. That can’t be achieved till Western societies adopt democratic political systems. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 05/05/2026Jung wrote: “𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲.” 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 30/04/2026𝗪𝗲 𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗻𝘂𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹, 𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗸, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.” - 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙂𝙚𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙇𝙚𝙚 𝘽𝙪𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙧, 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙎 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙂𝙚𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙃𝙒 𝘽𝙪𝙨𝙝 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 29/04/2026The US recession beginning in 2008 led to lost output of $10 trillion in the first year. By 2011, the value of US home equity had dropped by $9.1 trillion. 8.7 million jobs were lost. Fines were raised on some financial institutions, at a fraction of their fraudulently obtained profits. 220
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 28/04/2026The goal of China's leadership class is governance of the nation. It may contain a few duds & crooks—but the basic mission is adhered to. Contrastingly, Western governments contain people who are sponsored—financially underwritten—to produce particular policies. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 26/04/2026‘Learned helplessness’. That’s us with politics. We rage at our politicians. It never changes anything. A few struggle to improve one part of the system—e.g. voting. Victories are rare & hard-won. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 25/04/2026The flaw in both communist & Western democratic systems has been that they're invariably captured—communist ones by the most violent & ruthless clique in the revolution (e.g. the Bolsheviks, or the people around Mao) & Western democracy by donors. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 22/04/2026After he was forced to sign Magna Carta, King John threw himself to the ground… "...𝗴𝗻𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵, 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀, 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘄𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗻𝗮𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗻". 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 19/04/2026I took this photo of slaves for The New York Times in northern Burma in 2005. Slavery is probably the worst ‘unfreedom’. Though there are others: serfdom, religious persecution, surveillance, censorship, consumerism. To say nothing of ‘wage slavery’. There’s one unfreedom that ushers in the rest: 121
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 16/04/2026This disastrous war is the product of one man. But he's a man the system made inevitable. Until we rewrite that system, we're in a positive feedback loop. The loop was described to a business audience in 1896, by US Senator Boies Penrose: 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 15/04/2026Our transnational elite knows it has to sideline its internal differences over liberal & conservative values in the interests of control. To date, the global 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘴 has had no such insight. Thus one rules the world & the other does not. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 04/04/2026The longer I contemplate this war—so harmful to Trump's base, his public standing & his legacy—the less explicable it seems unless he is under pressure of blackmail, the threat of assassination, or both. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 31/03/2026I'm surprised we bother to complain about our awful politicians. When it's reasonably obvious that a bad system design will select for them automatically. In an age of mass media & lavish campaign donations, republics designed for the 18th Century will naturally generate leaders like ours. 111
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 24/03/2026Today's Substack newsletter: open.substack.com/pub/johnmacg...open.substack.comHemmed in, confined(Oppressed, drained, disbelieved) 011
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 23/03/2026Democracy didn’t fail. It was abandoned. We transitioned to oligarchy. 111
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 19/03/2026Few grasp the bipartisan nature of the permanent state. The apolitical core of plutocracy. In the 1960s, the Kray twins—Ronnie & Reggie—headed a crime syndicate that terrorised London. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 17/03/2026Since the Stone Age, human governance has veered between 'res publica' (for the public) & the mafia model. Presently, we in the West are quite far down the mafia end of the spectrum. How do we deal with that? 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 12/03/2026As we try to stare down the possibility of a world war, it's tempting to think that getting rid of Trump would end our problems. But US Middle East policy is not the policy of Trump (or Biden or Obama or Bush). It's the jurisdiction of the permanent Establishment, & the donors. 110
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 02/03/2026The paralysing roadblock to fixing the world is: How to go about it—& which bit do we start on? - A global federation? - Therapy for 8.1 billion people? - Global decentralization? - More UN projects? - More activism? 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 25/02/2026We have egalitarian Stone Age wiring. Any political design that conflicts with our basic nature will just be a problem-generator. (Example A: feudalism; example B: neoliberal capitalism; example C: Soviet communism.) 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 25/02/2026Campaigns to right wrongs—war, inequality, inflation, ocean pollution—are gaining less traction than before. Our captured, compromised political framework has become more like itself with age. And has now reached the stage of recycling profitable crises. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 23/02/2026Soviet Communism’s been gone 36 years. Now the Western system is having its 1989 moment. These systems affected hundreds of millions of people over centuries. Their enemies believe they collapse because they’re unfair, exploitative, antihuman, etc. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 19/02/2026Lack of a concrete post-uprising plan is the central reason the Arab Spring uprisings (and most uprisings) failed. An agreed-on plan for the new governance structures: (i) gives rebels an ideal to rally around (ii) maximises the chances of a victory that is sustainable. 010
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 17/02/2026‘𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝟭𝟳𝟳𝟱’. - 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙨 𝙋𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚 We won’t escape our polycrisis through tinkering. A systemic crisis requires wholesale change. But that requires a new zeitgeist—a general change of mood. 100
John Macgregor (democracy re-design) @johnmacgregor.bsky.social · 09/02/2026Power resets like the present one generally see deckchairs rearranged (a Bill Gates or a Mandelson are sacrificed): but no significant, structural change. Everything will NOT be different once all the Epstein secrets are out—just a few faces. There’ll be some new rhetoric. 110