Sketch for Washington diorama: Government In the Days of the Afterculture

A new nation, a new Native American people. In the distance the old capitol is slowly disappearing beneath vegetation like a pyramid in Yucatan. In the foreground at the base of the Washington monument a new government meets, a council circle of “Clan Mothers” engaged in a lively discussion. A thick stand of bamboo hints at weather changes. Supportive material will elaborate areas of the diorama’s "story," stressing the relevance of the Afterculture to problems of contemporary life.

The scene suggests a profound shift from our coercive patriarchal "dominator culture" to a cooperative “consensus culture.” Following the insight of the People of the Longhouse (Iroquois) these Clan Mothers are empowered to both pick and remove the male chiefs who conduct the day-to-day affairs. Here, they are in the process of removing a chief. Props and attitudes should telegraph the nature of the situation, and that we are looking in on its moment of resolution.

In the background, intensive small gardens typify sustainable, localized agriculture.

Not shown: Appropriate technology. Somewhere in the scene, a solar oven made from automotive rear-view mirrors warms a pot of tea. Kids will get a real kick out of discovering this and other creative tools in the scene that demonstrate the elegant re-use of materials salvaged from our age. But these people are NOT interested in rebuilding our industrial world. Instead, in the tradition of the Lakota, who utilize every scrap of a slain buffalo, the people of the Afterculture are using and reusing the vast pool of "left-overs" from our time.