Jessie MNGL Suzuki, PhD

I was recently invited to speak to a high school biology class.   The last student to ask me a question threw me a mind-bending curveball. He didn’t ask about my research, or about being a molecular geneticist. His question was, “If you had unlimited resources, what would you do?” He probably thought I would say “cure cancer” or “defeat death”. In the moment, I blurted out, “Overthrow the government! –JUST KIDDING, FBI agent who is listening– I would travel!”  The kids looked briefly stunned. I’m always surprised when I get invited back to these types of things.

But the question has been haunting me ever since, and I finally have an answer.

I would start YouTube channel called A More Perfect Union. Each show on the channel would focus on an aspect of United States life in need of reform: Education, Transportation, Housing, etc. The hosts would go around the country and talk to people on the frontlines of the country’s most pressing problems. Always the focus would be on those people most affected by problems, so, A More Perfect Union: Health Care would interview doctors, nurses, epidemiologists, and surgeons, but also patients, activist caretakers, people who have had to delay or forgo care, rural patients, people with stigmatized diseases, and victims of medical malpractice.  Millions of dollars and creative marketing would be poured into making sure every American was aware of this massive undertaking. Targeted ads would alert people to subject area shows most likely to be important to them personally. A person who is taking care of their aging parents would be encouraged to tune in to A More Perfect Union: Elder Care. The team of writers and producers would be pulled from all walks of life, but marginalized people would be the majority. Each subject matter show would have two showrunners, a black woman and an indigenous woman, with direct subject matter experience and expertise.

Season One of all subject area shows would have the goal of identifying what is currently working and not working. Advertisements on these channels would direct viewers who have first-hand subject matter expertise or experience to join discussion boards, paid focus groups, and national conferences.  If you are a plumber watching the show A More Perfect Union: Urban Planning and find yourself burning with a need to point out an ignored perspective about how waterway design affects plumbing in large apartment complexes, you would have multiple opportunities to get that idea included in the discussion. Some of these conversations might bring up a large unexplored area of need, in which case a new show can get started to address that subject area. For instance, maybe AMPU:Criminal Reform gets too big and needs to split into two shows, one about Crime and one about Drug Addiction.  The structure of the shows would be responsive to the discoveries of the show. The goal of the season is to identify issues, resources, needs, and considerations related to the current function/disfunction of that sphere of life.

Season Two will be sharing the country’s reactions to Season One. What came out of all those focus groups and conferences? Let’s talk to some people who were very active on those discussion boards. Let’s get some feedback. What got missed in the first season? Each season, the season finale for each show will provide a summary so that people who are not watching that particular show can get caught up on the major themes and ideas. For example, an advocate for the unhoused who has been watching and contributing to the discussion  AMPU: Housing might want to watch the season finale wrap-ups in Criminal Reform and Foster Care, because those problems are related to their interests and expertise. Maybe that  same person isn’t really interested in AMPU: Chemical Regulation, so they don’t watch that show or even the finale; they leave it to the folks who are passionate about environmental hazards. I imagine some people with time on their hands would want to watch the season finale of every show so that they can always weigh in at the water cooler.

This is when a spinoff show starts up, called AMPU: ShowDown! This is live broadcast; contentious issues get debated on air. Let’s say AMPU: Education has been embroiled in a fight over phonics vs frequency words for teaching reading. Each side gathers its best and more fervent advocates armed with facts and figures. But wait, this isn’t a traditional debate! Each side has to summarize the opposing view! Using one of the many alternative models of debate that actually emphasize shared understanding instead of disconnected grandstanding, the “opposing” sides find as much common ground and shared humanity as possible. The “winner” is declared based on whoever integrates and respond well to the most diverse set of ideas.

Season Three is Questing for Solutions. What are possible models that would resolve these problems? How does it work in other countries? Other systems? How did it work in indigenous societies before colonization? What would it look like in a better world? In a perfect world? This is where we dream big, individually and as a country. What might Forestry Management, Science Funding, Telecommunications, or Disaster Relief look like? This is where the passionate people who have the most first-hand knowledge on any aspect of society get to spin out their most hopeful and creative musings. Sure, it might cost an astronomical amount of money or take a long time, or require changes in other spheres, but let’s just dream here. What would a more perfect Voting system look like and how would it work? Have any countries figured out a better way to handle Mental Health?

Again, the conferences and focus groups never stop gathering public reaction throughout this process. I imagine almost every person in America at some point getting paid to weigh in on at least one subject near and dear to their heart. This enterprise would require an army of data collectors, interviewers, and researchers. Every interview won’t end up on the national show of course, but could be archived on a website, and the repeating themes and issues would be collected and addressed on the show.

Season Four would again reflect public reaction to Questing for Solutions. None of the airtime would go to people saying it can’t be done or its too hard. Naysayers can go start their own podcast. All AMPU airtime will be dedicated to people interested in contributing to the grand thought experiment, well-informed problem solvers. What nuances were missed in the Season Three solutions? It’s a nitpicker’s paradise! Did the Transportation Reform fail to consider that the Chemical Regulation show is adamant about banning the use of several common products currently used in construction? We are not at perfect solutions, we are still just gathering information, getting all sides of the story, considering the real concerns of real people, and thinking –together– about what solutions might look like

Season Five is Synergy. Each episode looks at how changes in one sphere of American life would affect other spheres. So maybe the first episode of AMPU: Housing, Season Five looks at how the proposed changes to housing could affect Education, the second episode looks at how Housing changes would affect Transportation, and so on. As always these shows are dramatic, accessible, information dense, and big-hearted.

Season Six is the public’s reaction to season five. The synergy episodes probably  got a lot of people watching a new subject matter show. Now they are all caught up on all five seasons and they have new reactions. Let’s meet with folks and see what they thought about these complications. Lots of moments where someone looks meaningfully at the camera and says, “This changes everything!”, or, “Back to the drawing board!”

Which subject area shows would you watch, dear reader? Which shows would you just watch the season finale summary? Is there a specific system where you have personal knowledge, primary insight, and a driving passion to see dramatic reform? Could you stomach the long process of consensus building? Understanding and agreement is possible, even among highly diverse and polarized groups, if harmony and progress is the goal, but it takes structure and time and resources. Does it seem like this process is taking too long? Are you getting antsy?

If over these handful of years a really good, well-thought-out vision started to emerge of how our national systems could be changed for the better, can you see how that clarity would change us? If the nation could hold in our collective mind’s eye, a clear vision of a better future –thoughtful, battle-tested, all sides considered –can you see how the status quo would become intolerable? Some easy changes might get implemented immediately, and other, bolder reforms would feel less scary, less uncertain, more possible. The ultimate goal is to listen to all the people of this nation, especially the most vulnerable, include everyone in a productive conversation that makes revolution clear, close, and irresistibly tangible.

Season Seven is the New Constitutional Congress. The MPU:New Constitution show would have been running for years, with experts and critics thinking through the consequences of different types of constitutions. Now it’s time to pull it all together. Time for a plain language draft. I’m talking, clear, unambiguous, every sentence understandable to the average American, a document that reflects all the learning, communicating and consensus building over the previous seasons of every show. Can you imagine a new document, a new government…of the people?

That’s what I would do if I had unlimited resources. And I would travel.