Adapting to Transformational changes 4 –Synergistic Democracy (Synocracy) that nurtures all people

I have talked many times about our need to become more collaborative, but what models exist in the political arena that use collaboration and not disruptive competition.  The concept of Synergistic Democracy was first proposed by Barbara Marx Hubbard (World Future Society).  The term Synocracy seems to have been independently created by both Hubbard and Barry Carter(author of Infinite Wealth), but essentially meaning the same thing, “working together in a creative, innovative, and productive manner”:

Synocracy (Synergistic Democracy) is an emergent form of self-governance…the next stage of democracy in which each person has the opportunity to express his or her creativity for the good of the self and the whole. It is a form of governance that facilitates all citizens in finding their unique potential and where best to express it within the whole. It leads toward a co-creative society in which all people are free and responsible to do and be their best.  Barbara Marx Hubbard

In the 1920s, Stamford Psychologist, Lewis Terman, began a longitudinal study to identify and follow gifted children (geniuses).  He used a standardized IQ test and then other intelligence tests on thousands of school children to identify those at genius level.  Then a whole battery of tests on the geniuses to collect data about what made these children unique.  Bear with me. He followed the children into adulthood and then separated them based on what he thoughts were achievements and accomplishments using their genius talents.  After parsing through all the possible data he came to a startling and unexpected conclusion.  While being a genius may confer an advantage,just as height does in Basketball, it does not mean that someone who is a genius will automatically succeed!  The startling answer is found in the concept of ‘privilege,’ just like any other socio-cultural aspect.  Those in an environment or group in which an individual is nurtured tend to succeed.  In the case of geniuses, that success factor can be summed up as supportive family and community.  Collaborative support ‘floats all boats’ and allows creative genius to blossom in everyone,because nearly everyone has some amazing spark of genius (besides analytical thinking) to contribute to the whole community if allowed to bring it forth.  If everyone has the option and nurturing to express their inner talents the whole community benefits.  This is not how modern society works.  Only the privileged ones get that option.  The rest of us struggle and only those lucky enough to find themselves in the right place at the right time get to benefit.  There is the neoliberal belief that individuals are self-made, but there is no data to support this.  Indeed, the socio-psychological data supports that only those with a nurturing community of some kind manage to rise above the rest.         

Synergistic Democracy can also be based on Gestalt (an organized whole that is greater than the sum of its parts).   Gestalt psychologists argued that these principles exist because the mind has an innate disposition to perceive patterns in stimuli based on certain rules. While originally used to describe how we visually organize shapes and images within the mind, it can be extended to how we view relationships within the mind as well.  These principles are organized into five categories: 

1. Proximity – things near are perceived as more connected. 
2. Similarity – familiarity and unfamiliarity are recognized
3. Continuity – is the ability to connect one thing to another seemingly unrelated thing
4. Closure – occurs when gaps can be filled in to show a whole that is more meaningful.
5. Connectedness – seeing everything as part of a complex system.

Once a person sees gestalt in how a community functions then the connection of each person’s contributions to that as a whole become more complete, and the ‘gaps’ needing work become obvious.   Majority rule democracy (which first arises with Ancient Greece for small cities of 10,000 people) was a big step up from feudalism (a system in which people worked and fought for a hierarchy in exchange for land to work and protection from external threats) is the best way to organize humanity, but it can do better.   Today we seemingly have only two choices; 1.majority rule democracy with resulting hierarchical control, or 2. the dictatorships of communism or fascism.  Majority rule implies that all people are treated equally.  Unfortunately, as George Orwell said it in Animal Farm: “All [humans] are equal, but some are more equal than others.”  This comment is about the hypocrisy of democratic governments that proclaim the absolute equality of their citizens but give power and privileges to a small hierarchical elite.  So we have not rule by the people but representative rule by the few beholden to the even fewer.  The use of majority rule means that in party systems (such as in the USA’s two-party system, even though there are 9 other very small inconsequential parties) there is no need to gain consensus from all of the elected officials.  The elected minority most often simply have little recourse except to push for their agenda in a subsequent election, thereby giving an inefficient ying-yang politics.  In effect, majority rule is not neutral but an adversarial system of governance.  Obviously you cannot please everyone, but you can do much better than forced 51% decision making with groups pushing elites agenda’s.       

Any relationship wherein the participants are more happy, more effective, and more productive than they would be without the relationship. A synergic choice is any choice that increases the happiness,effectiveness, and productivity of the participants in the relationship.  The sum of the whole relationship in terms of happiness, effectiveness, productivity, profitability, satisfaction, etc. is more than the sum of the parts – more than the sum of the individual’s ability to be happy, effective, productive, profitable, satisfied, etc. outside this relationship… We are in transition as a species toward greater cooperation. The growing threat of self-destruction through domination, control, and self-centeredness is a mighty evolutionary driver that is awakening millions of people within our evolving species to move toward more cooperative action.   Wilkenand Hubbard, Synergistic Democracy

If we are to succeed as a species we must focus our efforts and processes to cultivate social synergy wherever we can with gestalt and synergistic interactions.  A political system based focused solely on money in how it allocates benefits cannot work and really has not worked,because it rewards individual self-interest through a competitive system.  Synergistic democracy works from a shared purpose that we work together for the benefit of all.  We have to mimic the way nature works and that is a system that has been around successfully a very long time. 

TBC…