Dynamics of Power

Power is an essential requirement to get anything done in physical or social systems. Across millennia, hierarchies are the primary means by which power is distributed in a social system. Advances in technology are driving changes in what we do, how it is done, and with whom we do it--redefining the way power is distributed. Individuals are taking greater responsibility for their choices within a social system irrespective of historically dominant hierarchical patterns. What are the consequences?

Egalitarian Education

The Land-Grant Colleges of the United States were established as an egalitarian education system to deliver well-rounded learning experiences to a diverse immigrant population; raise a trained workforce prepared to engage in economic growth, government service, and community activism; and, develop an informed and educated citizenry capable of participating at local, state, and federal levels of government. These egalitarian principles, applicable during the decades immediately following enactment of the Morrill Act in 1862, remain so today.

Human Equivalence

When technologies integrate so efficiently and effectively that their collective capacity and capability equal or exceed human performance, human equivalence is reached. Converging on this point presses us to make major changes in our relationships with those technologies, our environment, and one another. Although these changes are unpredictable, our commentary on trends, conditions, and events establishes shared frameworks through which purposeful actions and collective influence are possible.

Knowledge Broker

A knowledge broker provides fundamental ground truth from wherever they are located in the social system; integrates data points of ground truth into patterns that attract, channel, and deliver resources to reinforce or countermand current circumstances; responds purposely and appropriately to integrated “ground truth” points and patterns. A knowledge broker fluidly crosses from one of these three roles to the other.

Organization Design

Organizations that focus on building relationships between and among people behave differently than those that are concentrated on producing things. As such, they have a different design. More distributed, webbed, flexible, and integrated, these organizations require members to be self-learners, have confidence in themselves, and be committed to contributing in ways that develop their strengths and leverage others to downplay weaknesses. These designs are participatory and lend themselves to those same guidelines that characterize participatory democracy.

Participatory Democracy

Political systems are power distribution structures. The vast majority are hierarchical. This includes representative democracy in which the governed elect those who will govern as representatives of the electorate. Whether appointed or elected, political hierarchies are influenced by changes in power dynamics. As individuals take greater responsibility for their choices, they will increase direct involvement in political processes. Participatory democracy is born!

Social Agriculture

When people meet their these basic needs for nutrition, shelter, clothing, warmth through agriculture in a particular place, they are able to invest in their relationships with one another especially through education and participation in self-governance and community-building. Furthermore, when technology relieves people from the toil associated with agriculture, but retains their close connection to the life-forces it taps, the full potential of the community as the cornerstone of civilization can be expressed.

Social Justice

Social justice is a condition whereby all members of any community have unhampered access to those basic needs of food, fuel, fiber, and feed provided through LOCAL agricultural practices. All civilizing possibilities for education, democracy, and local economic stability stem from the ability of a community to first have food security and safety. This, then, becomes the standard upon which social justice is measured. No food security and safety, no social justice. It’s as simple as that.

Strategic Framing

The world of ground truth, patterns, and appropriate responses is complex, adaptive, and therefore, in a constant state of flux. Navigating these spaces requires frameworks that present purpose, principles, and values at their core, yet provide enormous latitude within strategic spaces for experimentation, learning, and adaptation. Such frameworks are strategic in that they identify where relationships need to be pursued, strengthened, or let go yet have the flexibility to be responsive in light of changing circumstances.