The Search for a New World and the Unchanging Human Being
The Missing Link in Democracy: The Transformed Human
Why can't humanity seem to build a new world?
Perhaps we’ve been looking for the answer to this question in the wrong place for years. Because our focus has always been on institutions, systems, and forms of governance. We’ve written new constitutions, proposed new political models, established new organizations, and coined new slogans. Each time, we thought we were on the threshold of a new beginning.
But after a while, the same problems came up again.
Inequality has returned in a different form.
Power has become centralized once again.
Freedom has been curtailed once again.
And many structures built with the intention of being new eventually turned into yet another version of the old world.
And why?
Because the greatest obstacle standing in the way of the new world is not the institutions of the old world; it is people who refuse to change.
The person we are referring to here does not belong to a specific era or generation. This person represents a mindset and a personality.
One who sees himself as the possessor of the truth…
Those who perceive diversity not as the richness of living together, but as a threat…
Someone who hoards authority rather than sharing it…
Those who prioritize management over collaborative creation…
Someone who wants freedom not for everyone, but only for himself…
Those who speak on behalf of the people but do not make decisions together with them…
A person who views democracy not as a way of life, but as a means to gain power…
This is the kind of person who never changes.
This is exactly where the problem begins. Because people bring not only their knowledge and experience to the institutions they establish, but also their own personalities.
For this reason, no social project can be considered in isolation from the transformation of the people who will carry it out.
Expecting to build a new society with individuals who have not undergone their own inner revolution is one of history’s greatest misconceptions.
Because the individual revolution and the social revolution are not alternatives to one another; they are each other’s prerequisites.
It is difficult for a person who has not overcome their own inner power to establish equality.
It is difficult for a person who has not become democratic within themselves to build a democratic society.
It is also difficult for a person who has not achieved inner freedom to be a bearer of freedom.
Similarly, it is difficult for a mindset that has failed to recognize women’s freedom as an integral part of human freedom to build a new world.
Because the issue of women’s freedom is not merely a matter for women; it is one of the most important tests of humanity’s ability to transcend the relations of domination it has created throughout history.
It is not a particular gender that will liberate women; it is humanity—transformed and having carried out its own revolution.
Because freedom is not a favor granted by one person to another, but rather the joint construction of an equal and shared life.
For this reason, a mindset that cannot learn to walk on equal footing with women cannot serve as the foundation of a democratic society.
A person who cannot view women’s freedom as a prerequisite for their own freedom cannot be considered to have completed their own transformation.
For this reason, a person who has not been transformed does not merely live in the old world; wherever they go, they recreate the old world.
That is one of the reasons why history repeats itself.
Because humanity has often changed its rulers but has been unable to change the culture of power.
He changed the leadership, but he couldn't change the way things were run.
He reformed the institutions, but he couldn't reform his own character.
Sometimes a palace was destroyed, but the palace mentality remained intact.
Sometimes a regime comes to an end, but the people who created that regime remain the same.
For this reason, many revolutions have reached their limits where humanity cannot transform itself.
Because a person who does not change eventually becomes the new guardian of the old world.
And this is exactly where the missing link in democracy comes into play:
A transformed person.
When we talk about democracy, we often discuss institutions, laws, and elections. Yet democracy is not merely a form of government. Democracy is, first and foremost, a matter of character.
A person who does not treat their own beliefs as absolute…
A person who knows how to listen…
A person who views criticism not as hostility, but as an opportunity for growth…
A person who can share authority…
A person who regards the freedom of others as the guarantee of their own freedom…
This is the true foundation of a democratic society.
Because if a person is not plural within themselves, the assemblies they establish cannot be plural either.
If a person is not free within themselves, the institutions they establish cannot become free either.
If a person cannot limit power within themselves, the systems they establish will ultimately serve that power.
That is why the search for a new world is, in reality, a search for a new kind of person.
Perhaps this is the revolution that humanity has neglected the most so far:
The revolution of self-transformation.
Because the foundation of the new society is not merely new ideas; it is a new personality.
The driving force behind the new society is not merely its programs; it is transformed people.
A new world will be possible only if the relationships that humans form with women, with nature, and with one another are rebuilt on the foundation of freedom.
And perhaps it is time for us to ask ourselves this question:
Do we really want a new world, or do we think we can build a new world with people who refuse to change?
Because a new world cannot be built with people who refuse to change.
Democracy cannot deepen without people who are open to change.
Freedom cannot take root in a person who does not change.
A democratic society cannot be built with a mindset that has not internalized women’s freedom.
A new society cannot be built without individuals who have undergone a revolution.
And perhaps the only truth that awaits us at the end of all of humanity’s quests is this:
Democracy cannot be fully realized without human transformation.
A new society cannot be established without human transformation.
No revolution is complete until people have changed.