8. Reforming our systems is the answer.

It is not. Better to focus on why we do what we do. Concentrating on why we seek change is rooted in enhancing freedom, not improving or increasing services, albeit that services may be a very valuable route into change, they are never an end in themselves or de facto the only route available. Rekindling democracy then is about nurturing interdependence among neighbors, not to create more dependence among citizens in services delivered by salaried strangers. Jerome Miller makes this case in most persuasive terms. He shifted the emphasis of programs within juvenile reformatories in Massachusetts in the 1970s from reforming prison systems and enhancing the quality of their programs; instead, he directed their attention towards re-functioning the communities which these young boys came from and determining whether the boys experienced an enhanced quality of life.

 

Cormac Russell

10 Deficit-based Assumptions that must be debunked