If the Labour party won’t be the great leveller, what

Readers respond to an article by George Monbiot about the firm grip that oligarchs have on democracies

George Monbiot’s article is spot-on (Things are not going to get better as long as oligarchs rule the roost in our democracies, 27 June). We need to return to the relative equality, fairness and functional state that we had between 1945 and 1975. Monbiot draws attention to the historian Walter Scheidel’s assertion that only four forces have ever significantly reduced inequality: “mass-mobilisation warfare (such as the two world wars), total and violent revolution, state collapse and devastating plagues”.

None of these seem to be particularly attractive solutions. A fifth option could be an innovation in participatory democracy, the Citizens’ Mandate for Change, available online. It asks people what changes they want, summarises them monthly and sends them to politicians. The accompanying book, Saving Our World: Plan B, explains how, if this idea spreads widely enough, it has the capacity to effect transformational change. Is this, perhaps, our path of greatest hope?
John Seymour
Presteigne, Powys