the good country party

Globalisation should, according to Simon Anholt, be something for us all:

Anholt’s party is called the Good Country Party. It has, so far, no logo or headquarters or manifesto beyond a website which will make its debut this weekend. It is based on a simple premise. Globalisation, the great shaping idea of our time, has so far, Anholt argues, been driven entirely by corporations and technology. Popular politics has failed to create super-national spaces or structures to balance and counter those forces, or find solutions to the problems they create. The Good Country Party will be, he hopes, the first such place.

But how will the Good Country Party actually work?

One of his ideas for the party is that every individual member creates “mini-worlds. “Coming up with new ideas and solutions to problems is immensely difficult if people come from the same backgrounds,” Anholt says. “That is why immigration creates thriving economies. Once you start getting five or six people together from different backgrounds, different ages, different nationalities, religions, whatever, then you find that your inspiration is generally much more interesting.” Technology and globalisation put the tools of this mixing at everybody’s fingertips. “In many people’s social media groups there are maybe five or six people from very different backgrounds or countries,” he suggests. “I think people should start doing a deal with that group. Any time they are faced with a difficult challenge, they should promise to consult those five or six people about it. Create a mini-world and brainstorm.”

Simon Anholt interview: ‘There is only one global superpower: public opinion’ | Politics | The Observer

Last month at a TED Talk he talked about the need to 'stir it up':




Good Country Party (part 1) | Simon Anholt | TEDxAmsterdam 2014 - YouTube

Published on Nov 28, 2014

www.tedxamsterdam.com

Simon Anholt is an independent policy advisor from the UK, who has worked to help develop and implement strategies for enhanced economic, political and cultural engagement with other countries.

He has helped national, regional and city governments to develop and implement strategies for enhanced economic, political and cultural engagement with other countries. Here, he discusses the need for consideration of global impact upon national decisions made by country governments.

Anholt is considered one of the world’s leading thinkers and practitioners on ultra-wide scale human engagement. Over the last thirty years, he has instigated and led three new fields that influence and measure attitudes, culture and activity at the global scale. 

Good Country Party (part 2) | Simon Anholt | TEDxAmsterdam 2014 - YouTube

Here he is in Berlin from earlier this year:

Published on Jul 2, 2014

It's an unexpected side effect of globalization: problems that once would have stayed local—say, a bank lending out too much money—now have consequences worldwide. But still, countries operate independently, as if alone on the planet. Policy advisor Simon Anholt has dreamed up an unusual scale to get governments thinking outwardly: The Good Country Index. In a riveting and funny talk, he answers the question, "Which country does the most good?" The answer may surprise you (especially if you live in the US or China).

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Simon Anholt: Which country does the most good for the world? - YouTube

Here is his website:

Start doing good today

Join the Good Country Party

To those in power who believe that only strength counts, and that people are always self-interested, I say “We tried it your way, and it didn’t work. Let’s try something new.”

Is human progress at least as important as national politics?
Do you think nations should collaborate more and compete less?

The Good Country Party is for people like you. People who see global issues as just as important or even more important than national issues; who are more concerned with international co-operation and human progress than with domestic politics; people who see their humanity as more important than their nationality; people who want a say in how the world is run.

The Good Country Party is a forum for collaboration, a shared learning space, an ideas exchange and a focal point for the collective action of hundreds of millions of global citizens worldwide. The Party is committed to helping its members help their families, communities, companies, schools and universities, cities, regions and countries – and of course themselves – to become gooder: to collaborate creatively with each other and produce more courageous and imaginative solutions to local and global challenges. Membership of the party is free and open to anyone, anywhere, of any age.

We’re right at the beginning! Starting today, we want to build more and more good content, talks, information, data, discussion, debate and interactive materials, so it becomes a rich and valuable place for anyone who wants to make the world work better. If you have any ideas for more content, please let us know!

Simon Anholt

The Good Country Party

He started with the idea of the Good Country Index:



The Good Country Index: Ireland crowned the 'goodest' country in the world | Daily Mail Online
Ireland is officially the 'best country in the world', says study - Home News - UK - The Independent
Guess which country does the most good for the planet? | ideas.ted.com
Simon Anholt: Which country does the most good for the world? | Talk Video | TED.com
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