I’m proud that my neighbor, Bryan Suddith, is seeking to be elected the mayor of Kettering. I’ve told him that, of the 41 precincts in Kettering, my goal is to help him to get his highest percentage in our precinct, Kettering 4-K. I’ve distributed flyers throughout the precinct advertising that this Saturday at 4:00 PM in front of Bryan’s house at 609 Schuyler will be a neighborhood gathering to greet Bryan and Melissa and participate in Q / A and discussion. The flyer emphasizes, Bring a Lawn Chair.
Next week, my focus will be to visit with infrequent voters and unaffiliated voters registered in this precinct. My pitch is simple — “Bryan is a great guy, talented, a history of service, a member of Kettering Council, endorsed by the retiring mayor, Peggy Lehner, etc. — and, HE IS OUR NEIGHBOR. Let’s help our neighbor get elected as our mayor.”
Unknown to me, the League of Women Voters forum for Kettering mayor scheduled at Christ Methodist Church was cancelled last night. As it turned out, Bob Scott, the other candidate seeking to be elected mayor, a week earlier had informed the League that he would be unavailable. Anyway, I enjoyed the forum for the Kettering City Council candidates and the forum for the Centerville School Board candidates.
Below is part of the e-mail I sent to Bryan in anticipation of the forum:
Here is a question:
“Mr. Suddith, what is your vision for the future of Kettering? How can that dream be actualized?”
The context of all conversations about the future is the astonishing reality that we are on the verge of the arrival of super intelligence that far exceeds that of humans. Ray Kurzweil, since 2005, has predicted that the arrival of the Singularity will be in 2045, but with the enormous sums of money being spent, many experts now are predicting AI super-intelligence will arrive much sooner. It truly is beyond the capacity of a human mind to conceive of what these machines might do — great good, unlimited material abundance and economic liberty and fairness for all, or great harm, painful totalitarian control and, even, human extinction.
Amazon just reported that in the next few years, it will fill 600,000 jobs with robots. I fear massive unemployment soon will lead to a time of great social turmoil. Many citizens already have given up on a system of democracy that has let them down and I fear this trend will grow.
The future of Kettering is tied to the future of America and, in fact, the whole world. We truly are all in this together and our only hope is that somehow American democracy will be repaired so that it can finally empower governments of, by, and for the people — for the common good, for being a force for good in the world. We have a long way to go.
The Kettering of the future I’d like to see you advocate is a Kettering that is famous for starting the democracy of the future — a vibrant 21st century participatory democracy — a community that practices a politics of unity, that has a well-informed and empowered rank-and-file, an engaged youth, etc.
It seems like fate that in Kettering we have the Kettering Foundation funded by Charles Kettering in 1927, now with $500 million, and that its mission is to advance thriving democracies throughout the world.
In order for American democracy to thrive, we need a big upgrade to the system. We need to develop the democracy of the future that will use technology and artificial intelligence to empower the rank-and-file to meaningfully participate in their democracy. There is no better place than Kettering for the democracy of the future to be developed. It seems a good bet that the Kettering Foundation would be receptive to working with a Kettering mayor who offers a plan.
Now, the fun part will be to write a draft of a plan to establish the democracy of the future in Kettering — as a starting point for discussion. For multiple reasons, Kettering would be an ideal place for an upgrade to a 21st century participatory democracy system. Kettering would be an ideal place for the start of a participatory democracy grassroots movement.
This question about a vision for the future of Kettering is a great question for Bryan. To get to our best future — a future where the astonishing power of AI is used for the common good — will require a united citizenry. We need to invent a politics of unity and Bryan is gifted in all the skills and the background of experiences needed to do just that.
I can’t seem to help myself, but I’m becoming pessimistic about the future. The division and hostility in today’s politics is so great, there seems no answer. We need to elect leaders who have the character, skills and experience needed to build unity and who have the commitment to do so. I have a lot of confidence in Bryan Suddith.
